Happiness, simplicity and letting go!

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak ~ Hans Hofmann

First tonight a little note about the image above, this was one of the many things written on the walls of the temple at Burning Man this year.  Each year the temple, the heart of the city, is a place where people say goodbye and more importantly let go of the things in life that are making the sad.  Over the next couple weeks I’ll be showing you more images from the temple, more wisdom photographed from its sacred walls.  Tonight, let’s talk about one way we can try to be better, simplifying our lives.

Tonight I’m a bit more focused on the actual physical act of simplification, and artifact of the process I’m involved in, getting ready to move.  I’m in the process of selling my house in anticipation of my upcoming adventure, and I’m starting to simplify.

Tonight that has literally meant throwing things away as well as piling things into piles for a yard sale, donation or sale on Ebay.  I often find the process of throwing things away one of the most mindful things I do.  There is real immediacy in that moment of decision, how important is this thing to me?  It makes you consider what is truly important in your life.  One of the things I always find most interesting in the thought process is when I come upon cards.  Birthday cards and holiday cards are these really personal communications from people you care about, very often people from your selected family.  Deciding whether or not to keep them tells you a lot about yourself, are you sentimental, extremely practical, whose cards can you throw away, whose can you not?

It’s good from time to time for all of us to simplify, to take stock and to remember what is truly important to us.  In the simplest of exercises we can often find the deepest of meanings.  Have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

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