This recent series has been about reflecting on how we might simplify our lives and create more space for our important values. To that end, I thought I would share a list of resources that can help you start down that path. I mentioned a few earlier in my previous posts, and I’ll include them here as well.
- Read Minimalism, by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. Or take a look at their website: https://www.theminimalists.com. Another book you might try is Essential: Essays by the Minimalists, which is a sort of “best of” their blog and essays.
- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown, is definitely worth a read. Some good insights and relevant stories, combined with a very readable approach, make this a great resource to start looking at what is truly essential both in life and in business.
- Leo Babauta and Zen Habits (zenhabits.net), has over 200,000 subscribers and aims to help the reader to be more mindful in considering what is important and fulfilling in their own lives. Zen Habits has twice been named one of the Top 25 Blogs by Time Magazine.
- Courtney Carver – https://bemorewithless.com/ Another leader in the “less is more” category. Be More with Less is about simplifying your living, and creating more space by focusing on only bringing into your life those things that really matter. Project 333™ is the minimalist fashion challenge that she started which challenges you to dress with 33 items or less for 3 months. (Full disclosure: I have a ways to go before this happens in my life.)
- Elaine St. James is a best-selling author whose book, Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter, written in 1994, started her on a journey of writing a series on the topic and becoming one of the most widely read writers on the subject.
- I would be remiss if I didn’t include Walden, or Life in the Woods, by Henry David Thoreau. I still have the copy I read for a high school literature class, and go back to it from time to time. For those who aren’t familiar with him, in 1845 Thoreau set out to conduct an experiment in simple living by building a hut on the edge of Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts. Walden is his record of this experiment, comprising his writings and journal entries of that time between 1845 to 1847. His reflections on essential living in the natural world are classics, and ones I still turn to today.
Walden Pond State Reservation, Concord, Massachusetts - Many women, including myself, became devoted to the ideas fostered by Sarah Ban Breathnach in her 1995 book, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. It spent 2 years at the top of the best seller list, sold over 7 million copies, and gave birth to a series of books on living simply, authentically and richly.
These are a few of the resources that I’ve appreciated that have enriched my life over the years. Maybe one or two might resonate with you. If you’re looking to find ways to make your own life simpler and easier, maybe some of the thoughts shared might help you start down that path. Being open to exploring new or different ideas is the first step in the journey.