Simple Living. It's Ridiculously Complex.

{Hello to any new readers from Planning With Kids! If you haven’t been here before, you might want to check out these popular posts: How to Start, 12 Things Happy People do Differently and The Myth of Work/Life Balance.}

 This blog is about creating a slow home. And another term for creating a slow home is creating a simple life.

What is Simple Living?

The same as success or happiness, it's vastly different things to different people.But to me, and on this blog, simple living is:

• living in a decluttered home
• living in an organised (enough) home that works for me and my family
• treading lightly on the earth in as many ways as we can
• trimming excess and unnecessary stress from our lives
• eating a balanced diet based on unprocessed whole foods and limited meat
• being mindful and present and intentional in our interactions with each other and our family and friends
• being kind to myself - with solitude and exercise
• growing some of our own food
• being content with our lives as they are right now
• being out of consumer debt and living within our means

And in each of those things, I am failing. In some cases, very badly. (Cough cough - being content right now. Cough. Consumer debt. Cough, cough.)

So How Do We Learn to Live More Simply?

1. Priorities:

You need to know why you're making these changes. Why you crave a simpler life, a slower home, a contented heart. It's the why that drives everything else. So spend some time getting to know your heart before you move ahead.

This is something you can't copy from someone else. You need to determine your own priorities, because they need to work in your life, your home, your family.

To determine these priorities, sit down for a minute and visualise your perfect simple life. Run through your ideal day of simple living (while not ignoring reality!) and take note of what makes you light up, what leaves you feeling content and what feels best for your family.

Then note down the first five elements that come to mind. These are now your simple living priorities - your starting point. (You can always shift them later so don't get too caught up in choosing the right ones.)

2. Choose One Thing:

Of the five priorities you've listed, choose one. Then choose a small part of that and make it your first baby step.

For example, if you choose:

• living in a decluttered home - choose to clean out your wardrobes and donate what you don't need
• eat a wholefoods diet - choose to have a green smoothie each day
• tread lightly on the earth - choose to make your own laundry liquid

The truth is it doesn't matter WHAT you choose, it's that you start.

3. Adopt it Whole-Heartedly:

Once you've taken that first baby step, keep doing it like it's your job. Repeat it until it becomes part of your day-to-day life. This way you are building a habit that will last, which is important if you want your simple life to last the distance.

4. Take Baby Step #2:

Choose your next step and work it into your life, day-by-day. And continue putting one foot in front of the other, making strong and intentional changes each step of the way.

Accept That There is No Perfect Life Waiting For You

What you will invariably discover as you take this journey towards simple living is that it's not a race. You will discover your own way, what works, what doesn't. And you will learn that there is always something to improve, something new to try, a different perspective. As you master one part of the process, it will reveal ten new things to work on. It's endless.But please don't let that stop you from starting. Once I realised that there was no finish line, no perfect life of simplicity waiting for me around the corner, I relaxed into it. And simple living started to become our lifestyle rather than another list of jobs to add to the to-do list.And that in itself has been worth every second.

Tell me, what does your ideal simple life look like? (Without swapping the suburbs for a beach in Thailand!)