“How To Find The Joy In Simple Life” (Medium)

Medium published my new article “How to Find the Joy in Simple Life”

In simplicity lies the key to happiness. Thus, the change the world needs now is not only to get back to basics, but back to simple. If we could have a look at our planet from a higher perspective, like astronauts describe their view from space, we would realize with clarity how the Earth encompasses one humanity in a stunning and circular, yet simple way, without divisions.

The coronavirus is leading us to a new dimension of existence. It has dramatically altered our routine and habits so we can look at ourselves from a different viewpoint, reconsider what is essential and what is superfluous.

The virus cleans us of our complex and artificial life, our twisted and cumbersome life, and brings back the importance of family warmth, the thought of proper education and the simplicity we need.

We begin life in a very simple way, close to nature. A man and a woman conceive, a baby is born and needs only basic food and care. Then, as the baby grows and develops, the demands for more possessions and attention grow, as well.

In our prime, we chase money, diversions and amusements, and success in our careers. We squander our energy and end up feeling empty.

As we age, we become drawn again toward simplicity. This is not necessarily just because our energy diminishes over the years, which is a physiological reality, but mainly because all the fancy and intricate trappings of the world we constructed no longer impress us. A person at this stage in life tends to realize that the simpler things are the most meaningful. Nature is this way also.

Instead of complexity, nature is drawn toward simplicity. This is why we start life in a simple and natural way, and we also finish it in that same fashion. It seems that the more we develop as a society, as we become more evolved human beings, we reach a peak from which we, as a society, begin to crave for a simple but meaningful life.

If we examine the culture we have created over the years — music, paintings, dance — all the human ways of expressing deep inner feelings and thoughts — we will see that every thing that inspires us and that we admire is, at the end of the day, close to nature and relatively simple. This is the future of humanity.

So after completing the current, complicated phase the world is going through, it will end and we will feel increasing attraction to a simpler life in which we will experience a myriad of flavors, the most important one being the flavor of love.

Simplicity does not necessarily mean a meager life with nothing to do. Instead, it is a life in which we come to identify more closely with nature, so that we begin to feel the role we are born to fulfill, and what nature wants from us. Subconsciously, we all want to find the answer to this question, to discover the secret of life and its purpose. That is life’s simplest question, and also the deepest.

The coronavirus is accelerating an inner scrutiny within us. Under the pressure of nature, essential questions awaken. The virus cleans us of our complex and artificial life, our twisted and cumbersome life, and brings back the importance of family warmth, the thought of proper education and the simplicity we need.

Life is short, and the lifestyle that has gripped us up to this point has left us no time to think about its purpose. The coronavirus gives us a chance. It invites us to think and understand how to truly live rather than to just exist and survive. How? By finding joy in the small but meaningful things in life. It is much simpler than it seems.