Simplicity Essay
Simplicity is a rare thing. I really like the idea of compassionate simplicity. It’s about people’s relationships and how we work together. Like Gandhi said, we “choose to live simply so others can simply live”. Compassionate simplicity is about seeing others as your equal and knowing that just because you have the newest technology doesn’t make you any more important. Money doesn’t form relationships, and I wish more people knew that. This speaks to me because simplicity isn’t just about conserving money it’s about being cooperative and fair to others. Like Duane Elgin wrote, “Simplicity means feeling a strong sense of kinship with others.” I feel that’s an important piece of simplicity that we often forget.
My favorite idea was, “Simplicity is simultaneously a personal choice, a community choice, a national choice, and a species choice.” This quote by Duane Elgin is really powerful. Everybody needs to make a choice when it comes to simplicity. In our world today with all the technology it’s really hard to simplify your life. But if everybody chose to reduce what they use and consume, the world would be a much better place, especially when it comes to the environment. But for the world to be a better healthier place we need to make the choice; the choice of simplicity.
Simplicity can be easy or hard. But in the end it’s our choice to make a difference. Our world is in our hands, and consumerism is becoming a big issue. Ecological Simplicity is something we need to acknowledge more closely. “Simplicity means choosing ways of life that touch the Earth more lightly and that reduce our ecological impact on the web of life” – Duane Elgin. It’s true if we just reduce our intake of materials we would have a more ecologically friendly world. That would mean a healthier world and not as much pollution. Being ecologically friendly isn’t hard but I think to many people take the worlds materials for granted and don’t give back. If we just gave back the world would be a much better place.
