Live simply

Our friend Lin (with the beautiful garden) emailed us a quote she’d recently read.

“Live Simply so that others can Simply Live”

It is a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, and it’s an uncomplicated sentiment summing-up how so many people feel. It also defines the direction in which some of us are aiming our lives, attempting to break free from the trajectory of our culture of consumption. As Lin had with us, we shared these words with our neighbour Laura and the next morning, Laura gave us a tea towel she had made for us with the quote, green letters stitched on white cotton. In a full-circle moment, I remembered that one of my heroes, Henry James Thoreau, was feeling much the same way when, in 1854, he moved to Walden Pond to simplify his life. He wrote about stripping away his life’s unnecessary pretenses and adornments, living close to the earth and embracing nature’s beauty. He wanted to live by what he needed, not by what he wanted, though they were often one in the same. I've since learned that Gandhi also regarded Thoreau as an inspiration and often referred to his work while engaging in his own mission of enlightenment and reform. From Thoreau to Ghandi, from Lin to us, from us to Laura and back again – the same timeless message traveling around the world.
We don’t need to know what our carbon footprint is, or buy a product to offset it, we just need to stop taking more than our share.