Live light and simplify

“Live light and simplify” was the title of the magazine article. It was a hot and humid summer morning. Hale found herself lost in thoughts while standing in front of her wardrobe. It felt like they were having a staring contest. For this very reason she missed the bus again. Even though she had plenty of clothes she couldn't decide what to wear. “I should really go shopping…” she thought. Wasn't that the reason why she hoarded so many clothes? Her solution was always the same: to buy more.

But this Problem did not end there. Even if she found something to wear she had no shoes to go with it. If she did find a shoe she lacked in the jewelry department. She had to find matching earrings and of course a necklace. And if all of this was not prepared the night before she would be brooding in front of her wardrobe just like she was today.  Finding things to wear became a never ending issue. This was almost the biggest problem in her life. Whenever she felt upset she would go out and buy new clothes. She was trying to solve her problem by doing more of what she was doing but her unhappiness grew each time. The strange thing was the fact that she did not realize her problem. 

She was deep in thought in front of her wardrope. Whenever she went out shopping it was never enough, she kept wanting to buy more. She assumed that this would make her happy but it was doing the opposite. Plus now she had extra cleaning, laundry, and ironing to do. They were starting to become a burden to her. There were even times where she went and bought new things not to do any of that work. There was no space in her closet so she even thought of buying a new one. She was trying to come up with her own solutions but none of them were really solving her problem. This situation was getting really uncomfortable for her. Some of her clothes were brand new, they even had their tags on. Then there were some she was saving for special occasions. But since she gained a few pounds they were all useless after all. In hopes of losing the extra weights she could not give them away.

There was one more person complaining about this issue. Her mother; who was tired of cleaning after her. Hale’s mother started to think that she should step in and do something about this.

“Look at this! These are dresses you have not worn even once. You go and buy similar stuff all the time when there are brand new ones right here. Either don’t buy new ones or give these away!” her mother said.

Without knowing the reason why Hale put some of her clothes away. Maybe it was her mothers words or her own discomfort in this matter. One of her friends wanted to borrow a dress to wear on her birthday. She thought she would give them to her. This was a big step for her.  Once the ball gets rolling the rest would come. While she was prepearing her friend’s bag she started to sort some more. Before she realized the bag was full of clothes. Her mind immediately felt at ease. Why didn't I do this before? she thought regretfully. She felt as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

Experiential Design Teaching says: “Anythingunused is a burden to a person.”

Sometimes we purchase things we don't need thinking it could someday be useful. Sometimes we buy things we don't need just because we like them. Little by little things we did not give much thought about turns into a pile we forget.

But in nature there is no excessiveness. Every living being except humans consume only to meet their needs while also benefiting wherever they are.  Even their waste meets others’ needs. A flower, simple and beautiful. Sky and sea, simple yet give peace to on-looking. Simple things do not tire the eye. When inspected one can find many intricacies. The shape of the flower petals, its buds, its roots under the ground…  Each part has unique special features. Humans too, as they simplify their life they don’t tire themselves nor do they tire others.  There starts to be a consistency in both their appearance and behavior.

Hence, anything more than what we need becomes a burden to us. Anything left unutilized starts to harm us. By simplifying ourselves we can let go of our unnecessary burdens and start to exist with our behavior rather than our looks.

In hopes of letting go of the burdens that drag us back…

 

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Yahya Hamurcu