I was around a kiddo today who was playing, and it got me thinking about simplicity on the spiritual journey. It got me pondering the ways we sometimes go for the complicated instead of the simple – without realizing that simplicity is the great stepping stone to true progress and personal growth.
More on that in a moment…
If you read The Nobody Bible, then you know that I have a particular penchant for simple. Basic. When I’m reading in the area of spirituality and personal growth, I pay particular attention to how the author presents the journey they’d like me to take. How do they invite me in? Is it with a plain and honest discussion of a life journey, or is it a complicated set of winding and wending formulas and incantations? In other words, is the person giving me something approachable I can use, or will I spend years trying to master even the first chapter?
Now, I’m not saying long formulas and disciplined practice over years is bad. It’s not! There are wonderful disciplines that can get us deep and far and create lasting joy for us. Even the “simplest” of practices require time to master. I’m talking more about usability here. Utility. I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of stuff going on, and I like books that have a takeaway message that gets me to the heart so I can go out and apply the teachings in my life today. Learn, build, and grow. Chia seeds now until the Redwoods grow in later. Take meditation for example. A simple technique is:
1) Breathe;
2) Focus on breath;
3) When a disturbing thought comes, let it pass;
4) Continue breathing.
Breath is “simple.” Disciplined breath is hard. Practice the simple until the hard is simple, too.
If the journey to inner peace is going to be long (and it will be!), I’d like to be able to chart my progress and use what I’ve learned instead of simply waiting for the great “secret” to be revealed. I want to be in the moment with something I can use, without complicating things too much. I want to know breath is the gateway technique I can use and practice now as I learn more.
Anyway, I was with this kiddo and she decided to play with a green ball. She threw it and yelled, “ba!” (Her word for “ball.”) She banged on it with her hand and yelled, “ba!” She rolled it and yelled, “ba!” Then, as quickly as the playtime had started, it ended. She put the ball down, looked at me, yelled “ba!” and crawled away.
See, for this child, a ball is a ball. Throw it, pat it, roll it, leave it, it’s still “ba!” It isn’t a study on childhood activity or the complexities of muscle movement. It isn’t a discourse on the benefits of solo play versus sharing. It isn’t a commentary on green, blue, pink, or purple and what the color suggestion might say about her future personality. It was just, “ba!”
Until it wasn’t.
Someday this kid may take a more disciplined journey with that ball and be a basketball star. She may love bowling. She may fix machinery that uses ball bearings. She will learn slowly, grow over time, and put in the hard work to master a skill or craft that uses a ball. Who knows? Who cares? The point is that TODAY, in this moment, in this NOW, “ba” is “ba” and it was simple, nourishing, and fun. Whatever it will be later, it will be.
Don’t think that success only comes from complication. Once you go down that road, you’ve created the only real barrier to progress.
Keep it simple. Keep it ordinary. Keep it “ba!”