Simplicity | World Simplicity Day

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
                       – Henry David Thoreau

Today morning, I saw a notification on my calendar saying “World simplicity day”. I got intrigued and searched on the internet about world simplicity day. That search took me from simplicity to Henry David Thoreau to Dead poet society, one of my favorite movies.

First, let me say my thoughts on simplicity in four simple parts.

Our Greatness🙋‍♀️

One should never try to buy things just for the sake of showing our well being to others, even a little. Things never make you more extraordinary than others. Even any role in our life, such as a job, position in the family, can never make greater or lower than others. We are all the same.

Happiness is not in items😊

Also, if we think that having these things make us happier. We will never be happy. Happiness from objects is temporary; everyone will get tired of that entity and move on to a new entity. This cycle is everlasting. The same entities that brought us happiness will now bring unhappiness. Looking for objective happiness is like pouring water into a bottomless bucket. We think that it will fill, but it will never get filled. In the same way, object happiness is like a insatiable mania. We should only seek happiness within us, not outside.

Time⌚

We have lots of items in our life. Some things are essential for our life. Some items are there just for the sake of having them. Some people buy villas and spend 4 hours everyday just maintaining them. My dad’s friend has a 55 inches 4k TV, but he never watches anything in it. He only uses his iPhone for watching shows.
The point is, when we have more things, we have to spend more time maintaining and securing them. This consumes more time and energy. Having more fewer items means less time for maintaining them. Hence more time for other things and fewer worries.

Securities will be Liabilities🔐

Sometimes, we tend to give importance to certain things because those things give us some advantage and importance among others. From time to time, we may defend them in exchange for our morals, values, and even life. This applies to objects such as smartphones, video game consoles, to positions and roles such as our jobs, our existing identities, among others.

The same items that give importance over others become our liabilities. Those liabilities bring us pain and suffering. We tend to make ourselves suffer more just for fake significance and respect.

In my opinion, simplicity is about living a simple life by having only necessary items and viewing life as it is without self-made complications and conditions. To live simple, we have to be simple with our possessions and our morals.

Coming back to World simplicity day, it is celebrated to commemorate Henry David Thoreau. He is a poet and a philosopher. His works provide insights on understanding oneself and living an uncomplicated life.

Some of his inspiring quotes are below.

“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.””It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.””The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.””Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.””Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.”

Check out his quotes on BrainyQuote.

When I was reading about him, I found this quote.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
                       – Henry David Thoreau

I quickly recollected that this quote is mentioned in Dead Poet Society, one of my favourite movies. This movie is about a teacher👨‍🏫 teaching students to look beyond education and live life, in a school controlled by a typical conservative administration. It is very inspiring. If you like 3 Idiots, then you would like this movie too.

Conclusion:
We have to look within ourselves for happiness. Our securities will become our liabilities. To live a simple life, we have to be simple, not only at the items we have but at heart.
World simplicity day, it is celebrated to commemorate Henry David Thoreau. He is a poet and a philosopher who advocated simplicity in life.

What are your thoughts about simplicity? How can be follow simplicity in our life?

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