Word of The Day: Simplicity

I have the tendency to take a small idea and run with it until it's so huge that I'm completely overwhelmed and I don't even remember what the initial idea was. I love the energy of creating and innovating and visioning but without fail, I get so caught up in it, that I spin out of control. And while this is something that has been pointed out to me several times, my brain seems to have a hard time dialling back and just settling with a simple thought or idea.

And yet, I'm drawn to simplicity as a life choice. I've been pursuing minimal living for years now and love having "less" in my home. I love taking a few moments to sit quiet and journal. Or slowing down my dinner prep to include sitting with a wee glass of wine. Or relaxing on my deck with a blanket and the tiny white lights strung up for added romance.

Lately, the vision of simplicity includes gardening and having chickens. I've started the garden, with some mild success, but the chickens are still in the negotiation phase.

Today though, I'm faced with the reality of having to make some choices. What is actual simplicity; good for my soul, and what is a vision of simplicity... one that I will inevitably run with and make too big and unsustainable?

In my vision of owning chickens, I am also looking really cute in my overalls and gum boots... neither of which I own and I'm thinking, neither of which I'll actually look good in. In my vision, I talk to my chickens and feed them and they love me. And while this may be true, what I'm leaving out, is the poop cleaning, and the rain and the frustration when I have a head-cold and just want to go to bed instead of dealing with more demanding beings.

Because in my house, there are already 7 humans, 1 cat, 1 dog and 4 budgies. We've no shortage of beings that need food and poop cleaning. Will adding 3+ chickens add to the frenetic pace I'm desperately trying to avoid or will I really be able to settle into the routine of feeding and cleaning and loving on more needy creatures?

Even with sorting out simplicity, my brain is fast at work, weighing pros and cons, talking me into or out of my next great idea or adventure. So I'm working on slowing this brain down, and with ADHD, this is no easy feat. But it's so necessary if I want to pursue a life that I choose and not one that my brain takes on and runs with until I'm a worn out shell of a human being.

I know that I crave simplicity and I also crave excitement. I know that I crave calm the same way I crave chaos. But at the end of the day, only the simple parts can be sustained. And it's in the simple that I find lasting fulfillment. Oh, the excitement and the chaos definitely feed my soul, they are needed, but it's a temporary fix.

So what does my simplicity look like? Routine? Blah... I'm not a huge fan of routine... and yet I know that it has a place in my life. Book reading, wine drinking, chicken feeding? Yah... they sound lovely...but what will be sustainable and what is just a passing fancy? Or do things come and go? Maybe...

I've got some processing to do, to see what simplicity looks like for me and my family. And as long as I can let the small ideas stay manageable, I might actually have some fun with this.

For now, I know that I love:

Baking bread

Sipping wine

Writing

Hiking

Beachcombing

Talking on the phone

Drinking coffee with friends

Reading

Camp fires

And maybe I love:

Gardening

Feeding Chickens

The choice is mine. I choose to pursue simplicity in the forms that work for me.

What are your forms of simple living? Where do you pursue simplicity?