Between Too Little and Too Much – Simplicity #5

 

If it’s not too much to ask, I hope you will take a little look at day #5 of Simplicity Week.

 

 

Relative Simplicity

Because simplicity has such a strong definition in people’s minds we tend to forget that it, like many other things, is relative.  What is simple for one person is not for another.  This is true of clothing and fashion, as I explored yesterday with ‘the little black dress’ idea.  It’s also true of food, housing, emotions, science, art, intellectual pursuits, travel, sports and most any other human activity.

Missing Simplicity

Simplicity is missing when whatever you are doing, looking at or feeling is encumbered by distracting and indulgent elements.  Simplicity is also missing when you have such a lack and want of substance that you can’t function.  If you have too much you can’t see the tree in the forest. If you have too little you don’t have a forest and as a result you have no trees to see either.

Purity

It seems to me that, no matter where your idea of simplicity falls on that relative scale, it is primarily about purity.  You can see the beauty if the expressiveness is pure. You can see the equation if the logic is pure.  You can see the love when the intent is pure.  You can see the culture if the authenticity is pure.

How complex is your simplicity?

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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman

Quote is a variation of one by Joshua Reynolds, 1723-1792, English painter.

 

 

 

Reynolds was a very famous painter and used his skill and networking savvy to create reputations for his clients that set off the modern idea of celebrity.

 

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