Slave to Simple

I love simplicity. Let me just start there. And really, if I were the bragging type, I would go on to say that I was way ahead of the curve on this whole trend.

Actually, I'm way ahead of the curve on lots of trends. Remember that whole "hair chunking" thing? Yeah... like all the sorority girls had that when I was in college. Dude... I totally did that when I was in high school. Except I never actually thought it was cool, I thought it was a bit extreme, and that no one would ever actually pick up on it. Because I was alternative, see. So, my hairstyle was a little crazy out there. Then, somehow, it got cool. But of course, I was past it by then.

And honestly, I'm kinda done with simplicity, too. Like, not really. But kinda.

Let me explain...

I was toting simplicity WAY back in 2004 when I signed up for (*cringe*) eHarmony. The profile asked me what was one thing I was passionate about, and that was it. Simplicity.

And I still am, but I'm find that as it's becoming a trend, it's also becoming contrived.

The Bible says that it's the heart of the matter that really matters. (That's my paraphrase, but there's all kinds of evidence for it.) It's what's in a heart that will eventually manifest itself in a person's life. So it goes with simplicity.

There are things that we can do to simplify our lives and they bring real relief to an over-scheduled, cluttery existence. But as I've walked this journey for years in the direction of simplicity, I've found that the goal can itself become a clutter in my mind and heart. The goal can raise questions and create burdens to wrestle with. It can stir me and stretch me in healthy ways; it can condemn me and guilt trip me in ways that hinder my progress and push me further away from truly living simple.

One of my favorite bands ever is MxPx. When I was in college I listened to them a lot, saw a couple of shows. And a song that currently comes to mind is "Tomorrow's Another Day." The lyrics that hit me hard go like this:

"There's nothing quite like being sure of what's inside your heart/It's mostly simple, but not so easy to know just where to start."

See, I think that when anything becomes a trendy thing, it becomes really easy to just do it because you want to fit in, or because you're supposed to. I'm not into that.

Galatians 5 in the Bible starts out in a funny way.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

It seems pretty - uh... duh.... - that being freed means we have freedom. But somehow we always want to put restraints on ourselves.

And sometimes for me, those restraints come in the form of feeling like I'm failing because I'm not downsizing fast enough. I didn't find my 15 minutes to declutter today, and now I'm a slave to that guilt. I kinda want to keep this paper and that knick knack.... even if I don't absolutely love them. And that breaks the rules.

Sometimes, I feel like I'll always be too complicated as long as I'm in America. After all, the simple life of America is far more complicated and overrun by technology and distracted by activities than anything they have in 3rd world Africa.

But you know what? I'm finding out that that's okay.

My heart is that I want to live my life in a frugal way, a simple way, and above all a godly way. And in that, I'm not accepting that simple looks like a certain thing. I'm not beating myself up because I don't have it all together and there's more than could be eliminated. I'm happy with where I am, even while I'm happy to journey a little farther.

What simple looks like for me is an honest life of what I love and what I'm called to. And I beg God to never let that look like raising chicken and milking cows on a farm where I take baths in a metal washtub.



This post is part of the Simplicity Theme on Total Mom Haircut.