Not altogether. iQuitting completely would be a little bit over dramatic. But I’m iQuitting or at least reducing a number of habits. Bad ones. I used to be a slave to e-mail. I still find myself checking the e-letter-box each morning with an alarming neurosis, but I’m slowly improving. It feels good not to check … Continue reading iQuit (part 2) Simply giving up
iQuit
If I get yet another e-mail that smugly notifies me that the e-mail received was ‘sent from my iPad’ or ‘iPhone’, I will set up an auto-filter that highlights these e-mails to warn me that they were sent by someone with little time (or at least someone that is SO busy that they have to … Continue reading iQuit
It’s out of the Diary
Spontaneity is dead. I’ve only been back from Kenya for a couple of weeks and already my diary is chock-a-block full for every evening and weekend for the next couple of months. How did this happen? I’m sure this isn’t part of the simplicity process? Certainly it is nice to feel so ‘wanted’ by others … Continue reading It’s out of the Diary
Simply Getting Used
I’ve been working reasonably hard recently. My body, not used to such unfair punishment, has been complaining. After a day in front of the computer and on the phone, my neck, my back, my throat and my free-spiritedness hurts. Yet after a couple of weeks, I’ve noticed the pain, or perhaps the realisation of the … Continue reading Simply Getting Used
Making a Meal of Life
Imagine you are a gourmet chef, preparing the meal of your lifetime. With one caveat – you only have your local supermarket to shop in. How carefully would you select each and every spinach leaf? How long would you spend at the butchery counter, trying to find that perfect cut of beef? Think of the … Continue reading Making a Meal of Life
Attention!
Ladies and Gentlemen, can I have your attention? I said ATTENTION Google makes billions of dollars by grabbing tiny pieces of it from the periphery of your web experience. Other marketers make their living by capturing it through billboards, magazines, newspapers, the television and prevalent logos. I'm asking you for yours for a moment now, … Continue reading Attention!
Underdeveloped Development – Simple Mistakes
For over a century the 'mazungu' (or white person) in Africa has been losing his temper with the inefficiency of the African. Even today, I’ve witnessed continual annoyance as things go wrong, or directions aren’t followed, or patience is tested. All too regularly, frustrations are voiced aggressively. On a micro level, this constitutes management – … Continue reading Underdeveloped Development – Simple Mistakes
Simple Happiness Signs
When life is good, there are signs. No, I’m not referring to limping parking wardens or free canapés. Instead, I mean the signals that indicate that you are happy. What are these signs in your case? Can you make a list of them? Perhaps you sleep better, with fewer anxious dreams? Do you laugh until … Continue reading Simple Happiness Signs
Not So Simple
Many simplicity bloggers around write so consistently and with such positivity that one wonders whether they are mere mortals. Usually the better ones amongst them write about some struggles along the way, but nearly all seem to have burst through their difficulties when they write. Many a post’s fundamental sentiment is; ‘I used to…’ or … Continue reading Not So Simple
Unusually Normal
I sat in Clapham Junction the other day in Café Nero at 6pm, at the exit to the station and managed to resist the urge to write, read, call, fiddle and instead just watch. In the half-hour I was there, thousands and thousands of people went past – streaming back to their home lives after … Continue reading Unusually Normal
Simpletom 