[EF 16.15] Three Reasons to Go Simple

In response to Blog English Club’s Friday challenge last week, I’ve been interested in writing a post about simple things. In fact, this is my first participation in the challenge and I’m hoping my English will improve as I keep practicing over and over. Well, I must confess that writing in English, even in bahasa Indonesia, is definitely not a piece of cake for me. It takes great care and effort to compose words in order to produce clear-cut sentences, those easy to understand and free from ambiguity.

So, how do I make of the word simple? I’m confident each and every one of you knows what simple means. And everybody has their own interpretation of the word and how it is implemented in their daily life. And this is what comes up in my mind about simplicity.

Simple is Practical

Remember when you traveled and found it very hard to manage stuff we carried? Yep, it was no surprise if it happened. It’s very likely that we took too many things with us so that traveling became a heavy journey, especially when we wandered alone.

A luggage and a small backpack are sometimes all we need in order to travel in convenience. This will enable us to move faster as we bring things we really need. In addition to practicality, less objects we carry will save our energy. Imagine if we take a wardrobe and our TV set with us, lol 😁.

Simple is Comfortable

It started off with a Facebook status. A friend of mine, Mas Chandra, updated on his timeline saying, “I happened to take a quick peep at one’s room at a boarding house. I was amazed to see only a praying mat and a bed there in the room.”

Pardon me for not providing an accurate quote as I couldn’t access his account when writing this post due to poor Internet connection. But I can recollect what he implied in the status. He was impressed by the man’s decision to live in simplicity while he can actually afford more than what Mas Chandra saw at the time.

He further talked about one of his teachers in admiration. It was said the teacher was taking his tote bag whenever he’s going out. This deeply inspired Mas Chandra and so he followed his track by carrying a similar bag in many occasions. I’m guessing the use of tote bag is due to environmental reason as it is recyclable and acquired mostly from blogging events for free. While it is durable for long-term use, it also shows simplicity in look.

In relevance to this, I immediately recall my memory of a unique professor I once read about. Some of you may be familiar with Alan who is an author of English-Indonesian dictionary published in this country. When invited as a speaker on an occasion with Indonesian translators, Alan attended in batik shirt and a simple tote bag. That filled me with awe and honor since he appeared very simple.

Speaking of simplicity, I need to refer to a fellow blogger Mbak Anne who once wrote a post about decluttering. What she wrote did really strike me. One point suggested we must reduce things we posses to the level we truly need. I must agree with her because possessing less objects will likely make our life lighter.

We don’t have to be in charge of managing too many items while we actually need only some. We can donate the rest while pondering carefully when making new purchases. To tell you frankly, I currently own two pairs of blue jeans and three pairs of trousers. That’s part of my being simple. My wife never ceases to encourage me to buy more, but I denied. Too many options will present another problem where in fact I keep wearing the favorite pairs again and again. This will save my time, and yes, I can’t be fair even about selecting what to wear.

I’m not saying that possessing many things is bad. The word many itself is relative. Everybody has the privilege to define it based on his actual circumstances. As for me, simple means less things, and that makes me really comfortable. Enjoying things I really use and require. You know, I’m no longer an employee who’s supposed to have a frequent meeting with particular people. Simplicity keeps me relaxed and more reassured. Of course I do want to have things I love. I just got to pick which I extremely need on the basis of financial ability and state of urgency.

Simple is Miracle

When I write miracle, I mean a unusual event or achievement. It doesn’t refer to extraordinary events that involves divine intervention in the prophetic sense. What I’m trying to say is that being simple is often incredible.

When faced with a problem, we often tend to think in complicated way. We are tempted to believe that our problem should be dealt with complex manner whereas it is actually a matter of perspective. A simple thought is sometimes  effective. A simple way of thinking quite often helps us approach an issue more easily.

However, being simple is not as easy as it seems. Either our brain is already complicated or our situation is very difficult, sometimes going simple comes later when we have given up hope and realize that it is already late. But I suppose this post is not too late. Don’t you think so?