How can I live more simply?

Yesterday, some friends told me they couldn’t understand how I have time to do everything that I do. Accepting their premise that I do or have done “a lot”, I think that being present plays a major role.

I have always been agnostic about digital media, and I still am. After all, this site has brought me great comfort recently, comfort that I struggled to find elsewhere. But I find that so much social media and digital content has what my friend calls the movie popcorn effect. You keep eating it even though you don’t particularly like it, then you feel sick after.

Limiting my time and exposure to digital media–simplifying my input-and being engaged and present makes a world of difference.

I have made other efforts to simplify that have helped me be more engaged. I scrapped my car and use a bike or public transportation to get around (I do use my partner’s car some weekends). I started making more of my own food, not just meals but things like peanut butter and vegetable broth. I have an herb garden so that I don’t have to keep buying herbs that wilt immediately. All have opened me to living more richly.

Both my partner and my mother have a real fixation on “should”. I have said it’s my mother’s favorite word, and I see her become so distraught and frustrated over it. It’s also such a meaningless word and so full of guilt. It refers to something that hasn’t happened yet but ought to for a desirable outcome. Who has determined what outcome is desirable, though, and how can we be sure that that will be the result of our actions?

I think that eliminating “should” is scary because it means acknowledging ignorance and accepting culpability. But it also opens up a world of freedom.