原文: The Many Paths to Simplicity

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.” - Henry David Thoreau

In the comments of yesterday’s post on simplicity hacks, a few readers seemed to think I was prescribing a path to leading a simple life. That wasn’t my intent, and in fact, I think such a prescription is impossible.

There isn’t one way to simplicity — there are as many ways as there are people who seek a simple life.

What I was trying to do in that post was to provide a few tools for overcoming common obstacles along the way … tools you could use or disregard, depending on your personality and situation.

Today I’d like to explore what it means to lead a simple life, and how you can get there — or more accurately, the many paths to getting to the many destinations.

What is the Simple Life?

There is no single definition of simplicity. My vision of a simple life will be different than yours, or anyone else’s — and none of us is wrong.

I’ve read about someone living in a log cabin in Alaska, with no electricity or running water or television or Internet. They chop wood from the forest outside to burn for heat and cooking. They use water from a nearby stream for drinking and bathing. They walk or bike to town to go to the library or to use the Internet. That’s a pretty simple life by most definitions — but when I talk about leading a simple life, I don’t mean you need to live in a log cabin in the woods — I certainly don’t.

I’ve also seen photos of pretty expensive houses, decorated in a very minimalist fashion, spartan in their simplicity, but also decorated with expensive furniture. These houses are gorgeous, and their minimalist interiors are extremely attractive … but it takes a lot of money to get to that point. This is one kind of simplicity, but it’s not for everyone.

I’ve also read about people who live extremely frugally, rarely buying new items, making things last as long as possible, re-using plastic bags and bottles, growing food in a garden, buying things second-hand in thrift shops when necessary. This kind of frugality is one kind of simplicity, and to some extent I use many of these ideas myself. But it’s not the kind of simplicity for everyone.

So what’s my idea of a simple life? Again, this isn’t what you need to shoot for, and it’s not even what you need to agree with. We can each have our own vision. My idea is that I make room in my life for the essentials — the things I love to do and the people I love to be with. I remove the non-essentials as much as possible, and leave a life that isn’t overwhelmed with tasks and projects and errands, but has space … space for what I want to do, and space between things. So that I can live a peaceful life, move slowly, work happily, and spend time with the people I care most about.

This might mean that I live frugally (so that I can work less, or save for what’s important), or it might mean that I sometimes splurge, because life is too short not to enjoy things while you can. I find ways to enjoy myself without spending money, but at the same time I am not afraid to treat myself and my family now and then.

What’s your idea of a simple life? It’s almost certainly different than mine. And that’s good — we don’t want cookie-cutter approaches here. We want something that makes sense to each individual person, that fits their personalities and dreams and life situations.

Think about what your idea of a simple life is, so that you can find your path to get there.

The Many Paths to Simplicity

So with each person pursuing a different destination to a simpler life, how can we find the paths to those destinations? There isn’t one answer.

We must each find our own path, obviously, but we can still learn from others. I’ve learned from many people along the way, and in fact I still learn from all of you each day. I think I learn more from the comments of my posts than you learn from the posts themselves, but that’s what makes this conversation a wonderful thing.

My best overall advice is to think about where you want to go, and then figure out a path to get there. And then take the first step. Once you’ve done that, you can worry about the next step. You will probably take a different path than the one you first envisioned, and in fact you may get to a different destination than you first imagined. Just take it one step at a time, and see where you get.

That said, I’d like to offer some ideas that may help you find your path. These are not to be adopted wholesale, and in fact some of them contradict each other. That’s because they represent different paths — and again, there is no one right path. Take inspiration from them, try some out if you like, but don’t take this list as a prescription to anything.

• Take it slowly. There is no need to rush to a simpler life. Take deep breaths, and take things one step at a time. Baby steps. Enjoy the process.
• Do a major rehaul. Sometimes it can be revitalizing to do a rehaul of your entire life. Wipe the slate clean and start from scratch. Now, that might mean moving to a new house and only bringing the possessions that mean the most to you. Or it might mean getting a new job that you love and setting your own schedule around the things you love doing. Or it might mean doing a major cleansing of your house, getting rid of most of your junk. It could mean just dropping all commitments except the things you love most.
• Remember what’s important. Why are you trying to simplify? Is it to make room for the things you love? Then be sure to identify those things, and keep those things in mind during this process. Is it simply to reduce your stress and live a more peaceful life? Then remember that on your path to simplicity.
• Adopt changes gradually. As one commenter pointed out, and as I have said in the past, if you adopt one small change at a time, you can make major changes over the long-term without the changes seeming very big at all. Make one small change, and soon that becomes the norm for you. Then make another, and that becomes the norm. Each step seems small, but they can add up to really big progress over months and years.
• Try different types of simplicity. You don’t have to pick one way. You can try frugality, then minimalism, then cabin-in-the-woods simplicity, then chuck all your responsibilities and hang out on a beach all day. See what works for you.
• Join a community. There are online communities and maybe even groups within your neighborhood that are going for a common goal. That might be frugality, or decluttering, or living with a minimal impact on the environment.
• Take assessment. I’m a big fan of stepping back and taking a look at my life in general, reflecting on what I want my life to be like, on what kind of progress I’ve made, on what needs to be done. It’s good to do this at the beginning of your path to simplicity, and every now and then along the way.

What’s your path to simplicity? What have you learned along the way? Share in the comments!

“The simplest things are often the truest.” - Richard Bach

译文: 活得简单的几种途径

“当你的生活变简单时，世界的准则也会变得简单，孤独不再孤独，贫困不再贫困，脆弱不再脆弱。”----亨利·大卫·梭罗

在昨天那封“简单黑客”的邮件的注释中，一些读者似乎认为我描述了一条通往简单生活的捷径。但这并不是我的初衷，事实上，我认为那种方法是不可行的。

活得简单并不是只有一种途径——有多少人就有多少种通往简单的途径。

今天我想探讨一下活得简单意味着什么，以及人们这样才能做到活得简单——或者可以更确切地说，是探讨要做到活得简单的几种途径。

什么是简单的生活？

对于简单并没有单一的定义。也许我对于简单的生活的理解会不同于你们的，但是我们都没有错。

我曾经了解到有一群人生活在美国阿拉斯加州的一间小木屋里，没有电也没有自来水，没有电视也没有网络。 他们到外面的森林去砍伐树木用于生火取暖和煮饭。他们从附近的小河获取饮用水和洗澡水。他们徒步或者是骑自行车到镇上的图书馆去，或者到镇上去上网。根据大多数定义来说，这是一种很完美的简单的生活，但是当我提及过着简单的生活时，我并不是说我们非得要住在小木屋里，我真的不是这个意思。

我看过许多昂贵又漂亮的房子的照片，这些房子不仅装修得简约时尚，而且里面摆放了昂贵的家具。这些房子外表非常的华丽，并且他们那简约的内部装饰相当吸引人。但是要达到这样的效果要花很多钱。这是简单的一种形式，但并不适用于每一个人。

我也曾经了解到有些人过得十分节俭，几乎不添置新东西，他们尽可能利用原来的物品，如重复使用塑料袋和瓶子，在园圃里种粮食，当需要的时候才到二手的便利店买需要的东西。这种简朴的生活方式也是活得简单的一种形式，并且在某种程度上，我也采取上面的做法。但是，这种简单的生活方式也不适用于每一个人。

那么我是怎样理解简单的生活的呢？再次说明，这并不是你必须做到的，并且它也不是你必须同意的观点。我们可以有我们自己的观点。我的观点是我会给我认为在我生命中重要的东西留有空间——我喜欢做的事情以及我喜欢的人。我会尽快地清理掉生活中不重要的东西，让我的生活不被任务和差事所束缚，让我有足够的空间做我想做的事情。这样我才可以过着一种平静的生活，生活节奏慢，我可以快乐地工作，花多点时间和我关心的人在一起。

这就意味着我可以过得很俭朴（我可以少做点工作并且多留点时间给重要的事情），或者这意味着我有时会挥霍，因为生命如此短暂，我们要趁我们还可以享受的时候享受生活。我找到了一些不花钱就可以享受生活的办法，但是与此同时，我也会时不时地和我的家人采用这些方法。

你对于活得简单是怎样理解的？你的观点当然会不同于我的。这很好——我们不需要俗套的态度。我们需要一些对个人有用的想法，一些适合他们个性，梦想以及生活处境的想法。

想想你是怎么样理解简单的生活这个词的，这样你就可以找出适合自己的途径让自己的生活过得简单。

活得简单的几种途径

每个人都怀有不同的目地去追求简单的生活，那么我们怎么样才能找到达到这些目地的方法呢？答案不只一个。

很明显，我们必须找到适合自己的途径，但是我们仍然可以向别人学习。我已经向很多人吸取了经验，并且每天我都不停地向别人学习。与其说你们从我的发表的文章上学到了东西，不如说是我从你们给我的评语中学到了许多东西，这是这些评语使得我们之间的交流变得更有意思。

从整体出发，我认为最好的建议就是先想好你的目地是什么，然后拟定出一条达到目地的路线。然后开始实施。一旦你开始迈出了第一步，你就很可能担心下一步该怎么做。你很可能更愿意采取一条路线，这条路线不同于你第一次想象的路线，并且事实上你可能会到达一个与你想象中不同的目的地。每次采取一个步骤，看看你得到什么。

我想提供一些想法，这些想法也许可以帮助你找到适合你的途径。这些想法不适合被同时应用，事实上，它们中的一些是相互矛盾的。那是因为它们代表的是不同的路线——值得声明的是，并没有真正正确的路线。我们能做的是从中获取灵感，然后选择一些你喜欢的方法加以实践，但是你不可以认为这些想法适用于任何情况。

•  放慢节奏。简单的生活要避免匆忙。深呼吸，然后有条理地逐步完成事情。步子不需要迈得太大，享受生活的过程。
• 做一个彻底的检查。有时做一个彻底的检查可以给你的生活注入新的活力。一切从头开始。这意味着你可以搬到一所新的房子，仅仅带上你最需要的东西。也可以意味你换了一份你喜欢的新工作。还可以意味着你可以对你的房子来一次大扫除，扔掉大部分垃圾。你可以只留下那些你最喜欢的东西。
• 尝试不同类型的简单。你不必仅仅是采取一种做法。你可以先尝试节俭，接着尝试简约风格，还有尝试一下住在小木屋里的简单生活，你还可以扔掉所有的责任在沙滩上游荡一天。你可以尝试不同的风格，看看那种风格适合你。
• 加入一个社团。有网上的在线社团，也有在你居住地附近的团体，你加入这个社团只是为了达到一个平常的目标。这个目标可能是为了节约， 或者是为了 整理凌乱的屋子 ，或者是为了忍受环境上的一点小改变。
• 评价自己的生活。我很喜欢回顾过去和思考现在的生活，思考我想要怎样的生活，想想我已经取得了什么进步，思索下一步该怎么做。在你开始决定过简单的生活时，或者是在简单的生活中，这样做是非常有好处的。

你活得简单的方法是什么？在这期间你学到了什么？你可以在评论中和我们分享。

“最简单的东西往往是最真实的。”——理查德·巴赫