There is a picture that used to hang on an exterior wall of a building in Savannah. I have loved that painting and the quote since the first time I saw it. It resonated with my soul and with the journey that I have been on for the past several years. A friend of mine saw it recently and commented - "that is it exactly".... We (society) make things too complicated; we forget to see the trees for the forest, we become overly focused on the details and miss the simple key ideas that bring us back home.
Over the past eight or nine years in particular, I have been working my way back to a life of simplicity and depth - where my days are composed more of tending my yard and garden, playing with the dogs and kids, slowing down and hiking as much as I can, reading wonderful literature and thought provoking texts, futzing in the kitchen over canning and comfort meals, and working through my consulting work to help my handful of amazing deep clients who are working to make a change in the world regarding health and equity. “There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
One of the greatest compliments I have ever received was when a friend's son commented that he enjoyed being at my house because 'Ms Va only has one rule - don't be mean to animals.... well and don't be mean to people.... so I guess just be nice'....She and I laughed that my home is the one that most of the kids (and their parents know) is the 'hippy house' - art happens, food is simple and not custom ordered ;) and yeah the general rule is to just be gentle and kind - to ourselves, to each other, to our earth, to animals.... Life is simple, but so deep and rich when we allow ourselves to slow down and really savor that simplicity....
I'm no longer focused on rushing to make sure I'm at every cool event, or that my house is a show place, shoot I'm not even trying to create a show place garden or yard, I'm not in and out of stores to entertain myself or buy more things for my home, I'm worrying less about the image I leave and more about touching lives and living my fullest life. I'm tuning out of news and TV and into the stories and environments around me that I can touch....
This
is the most revolutionary thing a woman can do: the next precise thing, one
thing at a time, without asking permission or offering explanation. ~ Glennon Doyle,
Untamed
I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. ~ Langston Hughes
I'm working to stay in the deep part of the river - where the water is both warm and cold in turns, the current is strong but often slow and steady, where there is a richness of experience - instead of in the shallows where the water may be warm and the rocks visible but where we can miss the depth of experience because we are so focused on the complications of navigation. Some of us stay only in the warmth of the upper level and the shallows, others stay in the cold dark depths - and the richest life is found in the depth of both - being able to swim and navigate and feel the fullness of all. I am turning my attention to my own heart and spirit and to savoring my connections and each experience....
Recently I was listening to Untamed and one of the concepts really struck me - the idea of continually checking in with ourselves - to ensure that each decision we make (from as significant as relationships/connections to as everyday as what to do for dinner) is made in alignment with our spirit and our heart - that it is true to ourselves. Much like maintaining our axis in tango - it really is that simple. A simple check in of "is this true to me? what is the most right and truest decision for my journey?".... Staying true to ourselves let's us truly savor those connections and experiences and to be the richest, fullest versions of ourselves for those around us....
There is no one way to live, love, raise children, arrange a family, run a school, a community, a nation. The norms were created by somebody, and each of us is somebody. We can make our own normal. – Glennon Doyle, Untamed
So much of the heavy topics that are facing us today really are pretty simple at their core - for me and my home it does come down to - be gentle and compassionate (aka not mean, kind :) ).... It's not the noise about what political party you identify or don't identify with, or what organizations you identify or don't identify with - it's about how you walk through this earth and how you embrace yourself, others walking the world with you, and mother earth....
At the end of the day it's simply about Black lives matter, they matter and deserve respect and honor and value; people need love and patience and compassion regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation (or any other characteristics); mother earth deserves respect, love and care; children deserve to be loved and protected and educated; everyone deserves nurturing and support for mental and physical health; access to healthy food should be a given and not something special. It isn't about whether you support a particular movement, politician, or espouse the exact same ideals of how to achieve these things - These are deep core principles, they are simple.... They get muddied when society wants to introduce all the complicated shallow components - the nuances of terms and language. Society seeks to use the shallow complexities to divide and separate and move us away from these simple deep principles.
“Escape from complicated life! Take refuge in simple life! You will find three treasures there: Healthy body, peaceful mind and a life away from ambitious fools!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan
It takes great depth to love and support one another - but it is a simple thing - maybe the simplest - but it also creates great depth and strength among all of us.
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and
Delight. When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we will not be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
Edgar Meyer
