We are not meant to live in isolation. What makes us healthy and whole is the connections we form with one another.  With our families. Our friends. Our colleagues and our community…  The thing we need the most to feel healthy has become harder to get.

After more than 30 years in the field of social work, I know one thing to be true. We do not need to be victims to our situation. We have choices to make, each and every day about how we want to live our lives. How we choose to show up for ourselves and each other.

Practice #10 - Simplify

After I graduated from college I joined the JVC. The Jesuit Volunteer Corps is a service organization, like the Peace Corps or Vista or City Year that offers volunteers an opportunity to make a difference in the world by serving the needs of our disenfranchised. JVC has four core values: Spirituality, community, simple living and social justice. We were given a place to live, transportation and food to eat. We were given a job, friends and a small stipend. (At the time I joined, it was $50 a month.) With those things in place, we were set loose to live the values of JVC for a year. “To live simply so that others could simply live.” Hard how could that be?

It turns out, really hard. It’s an experience I write about in The Cardinal Club.

I was reminded of that promise last year when I walked the Camino. Carrying your life on your back while you walk 500 miles has a way of humbling you. Of reminding you of what is important. I’m not going to lie. It wasn’t easy. There were plenty of hills to climb. My feet ached. I grew tired of wearing the same clothes every day and living without the conveniences and the “things” I thought meant so much to me. But I also know that I never felt calmer, more centered or at peace than I did on those 31 days of that journey.

Try this:

Begin a simplicity practice. Look for moments of simplicity in your day. Walking the dog or hearing the sound of birds singing. Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. Clean out your spice drawer. Give away that bridesmaid dress. (You’re never going to wear it again). Use the camera on your cell phone to snap a picture that captures a simple moment. Ask yourself, what is it about this image, this scene that says simplicity to you. Notice how you feel. Find peace in living simply.