Today You Are Here: Simplicity

We were sitting criss-cross on the ground in front of the fire. Warm chili filled our bellies, mugs of hot chocolate were at our side. It was only the two of us for miles around. Occasionally we heard a bird call or a squirrel chatter, but the pervasive sound was one of stillness. We discussed what we would wear to stay warm through the night. We talked about breakfast plans. The sky got darker and we threw a few more branches on the fire and scooted closer. Marshmallows were roasted and we sat in silence as the flames diminshed into glowing embers. “I like this lifestyle,” I told him. “The one that rotates around sleeping and eating. The one that is entirely focused on the essential aspects of staying alive.”

That was our weekend. An expedition in the wilderness. A backpacking trip in the middle of the woods. Three days of simply living.

Today is Monday. There is more in this day than food and bed preparation. Alarms went off early and we got out of bed without waiting for the sun to warm the world. Lists of things to do and appointments to make and meetings to have and rehearsals to plan are on the forefront of our minds as we mindlessly spread cream cheese on the bagels popping out of the toaster and inhale the coffee that automatically brewed while we were still asleep. Today we’re back to ‘real’ life.

I miss the simplicity we found in the woods.

How do we bring the quiet, deliberate way of backcountry living into the busyness and to-do lists of today? How do we keep from treating our physical needs as necessary hinderances to our productive days? How can we instead make space to savor the eating and sleeping and dressing and cleaning? How do we find simplicity in a world that begs us to streamline all these mundane basics of staying alive and hurry onto what’s important?

I’m not about to abandon all the things that demand my attention. I value my work. I see the worth in the items lining my to-do list today. I care about contributing to the world around me in a meaningful way. But I’m not going to let the drive to accomplish these things pull me away from the appreciation of good food, of cozying up in a warm bed, of the water that runs off my dishes. I’m not going to let the urgent tyrannize the important.

I’m moving slower on this Monday. Long sips of hot coffee. Deep breaths of the crisp fall air. A few extra moments to sit in the stillness of the morning. And through this quieter pace I’m pulling some of the refreshing simplicity I found in the woods into the patterns of my daily life.

{This is a part of my Today You Are Here series. Join me over here for the 31 days of October as we practice being present together. Or enter your email address below to have updates sent directly to your inbox!}