Read time 1 minute. The beautiful simplicity of Zen practice.
You’ve probably heard:
“Keep it simple, stupid.”
Which is… charming, I guess.
But also—pretty harsh.
I mean, really:
“I’m trying to keep it simple, Jerko.
You think I like making things more difficult?”
And bingo.
There it is.
Because most of the time, it’s not the task that’s difficult.
(Okay—a lot of the time.)
It’s the overthinking.
The second-guessing.
The pressure to prove.
Simplicity isn’t about barking orders at yourself.
It’s about letting go of what doesn’t need to be there.
That’s not stupid, gorgeous.
That’s beautiful.
(Maybe that guy’s stupid.)
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
then simplicity is in the mind of the doer.
Look, sometimes things really are difficult.
Life throws curveballs.
Deadlines stack. People flake. Your brain spirals.
All the more reason to keep it simple whenever possible.
Charlotte Joko Beck simply says:
“Our practice is not to get rid of preferences. It’s to no longer be caught by them.”
And when we’re not ruled by them?
Things start to move.
Cleanly. Quietly. Effectively.
“Keep it simple, stupid” is what people shout when things get messy.
But around here?
We sharpen stillness like a blade.
Then we cut a hole in the noise—
and get down to business.
(Looking at you, Jerko.)
Not because life is easy.
But because you don’t need to make it harder than it is.
This is our definition of simplicity:
You don’t force it.
You stop resisting—
and it rises on its own.
You look marvelous.
Keep it simple, gorgeous.
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