There is simplicity, and there is minimalism. I used to strive for minimalism, but now I realize that this has the potential to keep you in a lack mindset. A lack mindset has the connotation of never having enough, which is also a great self-reflection.
Are YOU ever enough? Or do you need to do more or be more to be enough?
As a child, I was enamoured to pride myself in doing without. In describing a lack of mindset, you understand that this can potentially have an extremely poor outcome. We do NOT want a lack mindset; we want an abundance mindset. Minimalism could be perceived as lacking, whereas simplicity would not.
To me, Simplicity is eloquent and wise.
When you come from a place of abundance, you quickly give and give, rather than hoard. Think of money for example. People that are comfortably secure with finances tend to have no difficulties giving. I realize this is not always the case (think of Gramma, a millionaire who picks up a quarter on the sidewalk and stashes it in her purse), but that is because of being stuck in the childhood programming of save, save. If Gramma would do the inner work, she may have been a billionaire instead.
To me, simplicity is a table full of local fruit, cheese, olives, fish or meat, and some rustic bread (yes, I am dreaming of Italy)…all fresh, local, and in pure form, with dazzling displays of their fruity flesh on beautiful dishware and a white table cloth.
Overdoing it overdoes it.
The art of Simplicity is an important art to practice in all aspects of our lives.
Cluttering your home can also clutter your mind. To be completely frank, many of the women who book with me feeling overwhelmed are the same women that have a lot of clutter in their life and in their homes. They crave peace of mind, but the kitchen sink is full of dishes, the laundry room has mountains of clothes, they are tripping over their kids’ shoes and the front door, and they cannot find their keys.
Simplicity is a clean home, one green palm branch in a simple glass vase of water or three bright blueberries majestically placed on a bowl of glistening white yogurt, surrounded with the pale yellow hughes of banana coins and slivers of bright red strawberries to satisfy both visionary and taste palettes. Simplicity calms the mind and allows you to be in the present.
This is what simplicity is for me and my colleague and friend Nicole White, an interior designer and coach. Together we will help you design your home and your mind in a way that alchemizes a place of peace and tranquillity in your life.
The Communion: 5 Individuals 5 weeks of guidance and integration. Respond here if decluttering your mind and a section of your home interests you.