I get most of my inspiration from other peoples words. I knew that I was a word person when I was in an art museum in Florence and I mostly just wanted to read the quotes by famous people. The art was nice, but the words moved and impacted me.
Most recently, I was in the Chicago Cultural Center with these great big domes that were full of stained glass and were stunning [you should go there if you are ever in Chi]. But yet again I was drawn to the words written on the edges of the dome; “Books are the legacies a great genius leaves to mankind which are delivered down from generation to generation as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn.”
BYE. What a beautiful sentence full of intricate words and thoughts.
I will talk more about books and words another time. Anyways, the premise of this blog post comes from a book I just finished called Essentialism. First of all I highly recommend it to anyone who feels stressed, busy, and like there are not enough hours in the day. I promise you, there are enough hours. God gave us 24 hours in a day for a reason, right?
Three things that I want to share with you about the main points in this book:
1. Life is like a closet. Eventually you might have piles of things in your closet you don’t wear, don’t fit you or you don’t even like. Why are they still in your closet? Getting rid of old clothes is like ridding your life of the cluttered obligations and responsibilities you have built up that you don’t even know why you said yes or what purpose it serves. If you don’t have time, don’t say yes to another ok thing or even good thing – say yes to only the best – the things that fit you, flatter you, that you love and bring you joy (this goes for clothes as well as in life). Capsule wardrobe anyone?
2. Being an essentialist means you recognize that you can’t do it all. You understand that less is most definitely better because heres the thing – we can multitask, but we can’t multi focus. Ever been talking to someone who starts texting? Where did that conversation go? We can’t be in one conversation here and then be thinking about another conversation happening over there. We just can’t. So less is better in the way that when we place our efforts on fewer things, we can devote head on focus and brainpower that we wouldn’t otherwise.
3. An essentialist enjoys the moment. “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” – Socrates. The question we must ask ourselves is ‘what is important right now?’ We have lists on lists for what to do next week, next year and so on – but what if we just had a list for today and then for that hour? Learning how to prioritize and get your head out of the future can help us in the daily struggle of being present.
I’ll leave you with this:
“Life is available only in the present moment. If you abandon the present moment you cannot live the moments of your daily life deeply.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh