the simple life

one of my favorite pictures taken in Oregon

I haven’t been doing a lot of writing, but I have been doing a lot of living. I Graduated. Started a career job. I covered 1100 miles in a one day drive to Portland. I've said goodbyes and I've welcomed new changes. I've traveled.  I've created a home. I've set some goals and realized new dreams. I'd like to think I've done a lot. 

In the process of living, I have also been doing a lot of thinking.

I think it’s hard to not get caught in the “what ifs” and “what’s next” questions when you finish one chapter and start another. I’ve have only been asked the “So what are you going to do now/what is your plan?” question 3402473832 times since graduating college.  I don’t blame people for asking, it’s really a great question. A new blank chapter is beginning and there’s a whole lot you can fill the pages with, so it might make sense to think of some kind of outline.

The more I write, the more I enjoy writing. However, I have always hated outlines. My teachers and professors always got on me about this. They would tell me how I had great ideas and thoughts but I really needed to make an outline first; I remember them telling me that outlines are for my own benefit but I saw outlines as restrictions. I wanted to let my mind roam and organize the ideas later. I guess that works great if you have indefinite amount of time. What I have learned (stubbornly) is that writing without an outline means you run the risk of diverging from the main idea. Cue the tangents and run-on sentences.

The more I write, the more I realize outlines aren’t restrictors, but rather enablers. Outlines help me the big picture and scattered, isolated, thoughts and dreams in my mind come together. An outline in my opinion, seems to br like the more easy going sister of a controlling, OCD inducing, stress creating thing we call “plans.”

Plans seem to be restrictions... but only if we make them out to be that way.

One of my favorite songwriters, Tyrone Wells, wrote a song called “simple life” and I wish I could just play it for people when they ask the question of what I am planning to do with my life. He writes:

Everybody wants to tell me

Where I should be going

Everybody wants to point the way

All these different voices

Calling out my name

Feels like more than I can take

When all I want to do, is

Do justly

Love mercy

Walk humbly

Live a simple life

Looking out an open window

Anything is possible

Lift my face up to the sun

Even if I lose my way

I won't be far from grace

I will find my way back home

I will remember to

When it's complicated

We just need to simplify

Need to simplify

Reading through the lyrics I couldn’t think of a better way to live.

In the very complex world we live in today, we often forget how simple things really are. The complex, intricate and messy concepts and occurrences we try to get a grasp on are often quite simple. Life can’t be put into an equation, but for much of it, most can agree that input equals output. What we put together, invest in, spend time with, think about, etc. gives us some sort of outcome. Life is trial and error. Most of all, life is learning to (sanely) do it all… and then some. Throw in spouses, friends, family, work, pets and you’ve got a fair share of other variables to deal with.

So how do I want to outline my life? I guess that’s what I have been thinking about. What do I want for the framework to include?

In a typical outline, you start with the subject and break it down to include an introduction, followed by body paragraphs and a conclusion at the end. In my school writing days, I liked to write the introduction and the conclusion first. In school they teach you that the middle body part is the most important, it is the “meat” of the editorial sandwich. But I liked the introduction and the conclusion writing best because that is where I say the big picture. The intro and conclusion may be the “bread” but you can’t have a sandwich without the bread.

Wells outlines 3 great points in his song: Do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly. As a human race, we have a tendency to take the extremes of either over thinking or under thinking. Living simply doesn’t mean not thinking, it means thinking about that what actually matters. Living simply means tackling the hard questions and being okay with the fact you can’t figure them all out now.

Living simply means living with a purpose. A purpose of treating others the way you would want to be treated. A purpose of living the life God intended you to life. Living simply means living with a bountiful of love. It means showing mercy and accepting grace. Living simply means taking responsibility for your actions and admitting you made a mistake or asking for help. Living simply means forgving the wrongs done. Living simply means putting others before your self. It means to love without expectations. Living simply means be able to experience the present and live hopefully for the future. 

I don’t know about you but the simple life seems like the best one of all. The simple life is a life that produces love, grace, and beauty with faith as the root giving strength to make such a life possible.

So to all the people wondering what it is I am going to do now… I am going to live the simple life.  That’s the outline of my life. 

Simplicity isn’t a restriction, simplicity is empowering.