Living simply. Is it really that simple?

"One Wall Street banker put it bluntly: 'net worth equals self worth.' Under this definition, there is no such thing as enough." 

Ever since I got back from Haiti I've struggled with what life should look like for me. I've been blessed to experience life outside of the borders of the US and after living in a third world country, your world can't help but be rocked. 


I've been on one end of the spectrum before Haiti, wanting nice things, designer jeans, diamonds, lots of makeup. And I've been to the other side after Haiti, angry, refusing to spent any extra money,  bought no new clothing, secretly criticizing those who did, and basically feeling "better" than those who didn't care (so-to-speak) about other people in the world. 


I'm happy to say that I've fallen somewhere in between since then (where I want to be) but how I'm supposed to live in light of my experiences and knowledge has been and always will be a struggle. Sigh. Living out a paradox is so difficult.


How do I live in this culture (America) in spite of and alongside my experiences?

In the last couple of years I've run into a lot of blogs and websites talking about living simply. Living simply seems to best fit my struggle.

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And then they have post after post after post about cloth diapering and and recycling and reusing and organic food and saving and spending and this and that and on and on... 


... and while I have a desire to live simply, all I could think was, "Is living simply really that simple? 'Cause it sure seems complicated to me!" 


I wanted to either go curl up in bed until the world went away or run away and become Amish.

Well, obviously, neither of those were good options and I didn't actually act on either of them. 




Hence, throughout my processing, comes this series of posts. I've really spent a good year thinking about what simplicity looks like to me, how it should be acted upon and what I should expect of myself and other people. 


I think simple is the best way to live, but not everyone is going to live that way. Heck, everyone's definition of simplicity is different! We're all different! It's okay. 

(Oh, and this post here just about sums it up for me.)




*all quotes this week taken from Simpler Living, Compassionate Life