As spring arrives, there’s a sense of change in the air. While change happens in every moment to every living thing, there are phases when this constant change becomes more apparent.
Spring is a time when not only do we see new growth in plants and trees, but we sense a distinct shift in our own energy, thoughts, and dreams. Due to this re-animation, we may feel invigorated, enthusiastic, and eager to make changes in our lives. Alternatively, we may feel more tired. When the days become longer, the body readjusts hormone levels, which can bring a need for more rest. And lastly, this new energy can be difficult to adapt to because it forces us out of our winter hibernation.
For any and all of the above feelings and sensations, I appreciate the writer Henry David Thoreau’s advice: “Simplify, simplify.”
Thoreau was an American essayist, poet, and philosopher who wrote on nature and its relation to the human condition. He spent two years, 1845- 1847, living in a small house he had built by Walden Pond in Massachusetts, and he wrote a book, Walden, about the passage of the four seasons and how they represent human development. He felt that nature is the outward manifestation of the human spirit.
By minimizing our constant busyness, letting go of unnecessary tasks, and detaching from incessant thinking, we allow space for new and creative ideas to arise from the deepest part of ourselves.
Rest, observe the growth of new life, and simplify, simplify. Do what’s meaningful and let go of the things that don’t serve you.
Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add his ten toes and lump the rest. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail . . . Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and reduce other things in proportion.—Walden
Simplicity is the law of nature for men as well as for flowers.—Journal, February 29 1852