I am grateful that I am a Mother. I am more grateful that I had the ability to choose whether or not I would become a Mother.

My prompt for this week is Simple/Simplicity. Here’s how it was used in the books that I am reading:

  1. We can all take actions to minimize our environmental impact, many of which are simple and would collectively make a big difference. Charles Wheelen
  2. The simplest solution is usually correct. Nina de Gramont
  3. What these management consultants with their calculators and spreadsheets will never work out is that the library is about so much more than simply books. Freya Sampson
  4. It has been Byron’s observation that remote sensing, obtaining information about locations without physically being there, is a heck of a lot simpler than gaining understanding of another human being, even when they are right there in the same room with you. Charmaine Wilkerson
  5. I wanted his imagination to run with that, puzzling out different scenarios, each one more outrageous than the last, so when I finally told him, the simplicity of it would be irresistible. Julie Clark
  6. But it’s not that simple, is it? Kazuo Ishiguro
  7. If anything, he wanted a very simple life filled with nature, books, and perhaps a few children. Min Jin lee
  8. Ask open ended questions, not something that can be answered with a simple yes or no. Rob Walker
  9. Simplicity is subtle, so the joy found in it can sneak up on you. Melissa Michaels

How I’m going to look at simplicity this week:

  1. Is simplicity so subtle that we underestimate it?
  2. Why do some think simple is bad?
  3. Are the greatest pleasures in life the simplest?
  4. #2- are the simplest solutions the most correct?
  5. Do we make things more complicated than they need be?
  6. Is anything really simple?
The Poems of Our Climate
by Wallace Stevens
I

Clear water in a brilliant bowl,
Pink and white carnations. The light
In the room more like a snowy air,
Reflecting snow. A newly-fallen snow
At the end of winter when afternoons return.
Pink and white carnations — one desires
So much more than that. The day itself
Is simplified: a bowl of white,
Cold, a cold porcelain, low and round,
With nothing more than the carnations there.

II

Say even that this complete simplicity
Stripped one of all one's torments, concealed
The evilly compounded, vital I
And made it fresh in a world of white,
A world of clear water, brilliant-edged,
Still one would want more, one would need more,
More than a world of white and snowy scents.

III

There would still remain the never-resting mind,
So that one would want to escape, come back
To what had been so long composed.
The imperfect is our paradise.
Note that, in this bitterness, delight,
Since the imperfect is so hot in us,
Lies in flawed words and stubborn sounds.

poetrynook.com

26 thoughts on “Gratitude and Mindfulness: 6/25/22”

  1. Even things that may at first appear simple probably aren’t. We can choose to look at things at the surface level of simplicity and stop there. Sometimes I think we do that to guard ourselves mentally and/or emotionally.

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  2. There are many questions you can answer with a simple yes or no? For example: can I afford it? Is this person or company good for me to work with? Do I love this person? Do I want it? Do I need it? Sometimes it depends on the stage of life we are in and if too many people finger the pot, we get confused because sometimes all we need is a simple yes or no from ourselves to figure it out. From there, we can go into stats and numbers, and more involved data and if we see a particular company or work has many openings, we can infer that we are not the only ones being treated shabbily (for example) or if we learn to trust our gut instinct about people and situations, not always trusting completing the opinion of others with nothing to lose.

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      1. I think instinct of each person knows what is best for him or her, so for me my initial reaction tells me often the truth. I usually feel my first instinct or gut reaction towards yes or no works. Will I always act upon it? No, because most of us have logical reasoning, analysis skills and sometimes we overthink and sometimes we hit the mark. Just my thoughts.

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  4. Life seems rather complicated today but to put it simply I think it has to do with respect. Respect for the person, respect for opinions that differ from our own, and respect for the individuals right to decide for themselves. Hugs, C

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  5. I remember a long, rambling committee meeting about catering at home matches when we had no access to a kitchen. We agreed to buy in pizzas as a short term measure. Then we embarked on 10 minutes about the washing up. I was losing the will to live when one of the members, who didn’t usually contribute much, said “Buy paper plates and throw them away.”

    Simple is often good and effective, but it isn’t always easy to achieve. 🙂

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      1. Yes. It had been a long conversation about pizzas, pubs, chips, pies and finally washing up and none of us had spotted it was getting ever more ridiculous until one man stepped in and deflated us all.

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  7. I do think people can over complicate situations because it is for their own interests. That is why if you find someone who gives you a straight answer, not necessarily your answer, keep them around. If only for entertainment!

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