Jazzy John, a friend, practises kendo, the sword-fighting martial art of the samurai and is passionate about Japanese culture. He told me recently about the importance of simplifying my life, as he has with his. He expressed the virtues of letting go, of reducing the quantity of possessions and working toward defining what is essential in life. He wears the same clothes every day and has the same simple routine every day because his mind is therefore less cluttered and able to make the most rational and accurate decisions when it really counts. When he moved into a small flat with his partner he had to reduce his possessions so he held each one in turn and asked himself "do I have use for this or do I have a connection to it?" If the answer was no, he threw it out and he has, so far, regretted none of those decisions (my personal mantra when it comes to possessions is "is it useful or beautiful?" and if it is neither then it goes to the bin/ recycling/ charity shop/ given away. By "useful" I also mean psychologically or emotionally useful, ie. something that makes me happy or content such as my records or photographs).
When Jazzy John fights at kendo he has one major rule- relax. When he tenses up his teacher spots it immediately and screams at him- "RELAX". No progress can be made otherwise.
I spoke to another friend recently, Mark, about a martial art he attends, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which involves wrestling and grappling. There is a persistent quality of the loser in any bout- they don't relax. The winner is the one who detects the almost imperceptible muscle tension of their opponent and knows when to squeeze, to grip or twist. The winner keeps it simple, they unclutter their mind, realease the tension in their muscles.
A work colleague has recently completed her final exams to become a personal trainer. She wants a tattoo relating to her new profession and asked for ideas. The answer was immediate to me- samurai, blossoms, koi carp, crocuses. She should turn to the Japanese art of bushido and its seven tenets- justice, courage, mercy, respect, honesty, honour and loyalty- to help express her drive, her empathy and her wish to empower others.
A friend, Andy, and I were discussing the nature of early philosophy which was germinated in questions about how to live. In many schools of philosophy the key is one of simplicity- question everything, put humans at the centre of your world, do no harm, have courage, be flexible and so on. We echoed the conversation I'd had with Jazzy John about Japanese culture and about the beauty found in the deceptive simplicity of Japanese paintings and poetry. Some paintings may have taken weeks or months of planning and may have been painted as a series but there would be one final piece that is representative of the idea. And that final piece might be made of only two or three lines with only two or three colours but could be understood easily and have a great depth worthy of reflection. Similarly there is often a great deal of preparation in creating a haiku, a Japanese poem, but it ends up 17 syllables long.
The most poignant haikus can be understood immediately but can then be used as a model, a framework, to extrapolate thoughts and to explore ones own ideas.
The most poignant and simple schools of philosophy, humanism for example, can be used as a framework to understand so much in life.
The simplest ideas can be used to live well (ask yourself if your actions do any harm and whether they directly or indirectly add to the total sum of human flourishing).
Consider and reduce. Consider, reduce.
After Ruby died four years ago I shattered and broke into the tiny constituent parts of what makes me me. Then I had to rebuild myself from this complicated mess into what I wanted to become (bearing in mind restrictions that I had little control over such as genes, gender, body shape, fitness levels, finances, etc). What am I reduced to, what counts in my simplified life, what is left after distillation?
For me, this is what is left: simply it is love, tenderness, subjective beauty, taking no bullshit, being utterly unafraid, learning, advocating for and empowering others, awareness of my privilege as a white, able-bodied, middle-aged, straight, cis-gender male, self-reliance, being silly and doing no harm.
