1. The Art of Simplicity

It’s funny how many life lessons I’ve learned through cooking. Take, for example, a true Italian dining experience. Most famous Italian chefs would agree that our food should be simple, and shouldn’t be masked by too many flavors or spices. It’s authentic, it’s simple, it’s not pretentious—it is what it is. Let the ingredients speak for themselves.

I think it’s a natural tendency for us to want to overcomplicate things in our lives. Our weekly dinner plans, our wardrobes, our schedules, our vacations, our holiday get-togethers, everything. We want everything we plan to be the best it’s ever been, and the fun-gauge is based on how intricate it is.

Now, I’m all for complicated dishes and busy schedules, but I think we have to learn how to be content with simplicity. We have to learn how to stop wanting so much more than we have, and start looking at what we have and making the most out of it.

How do you spend your time? Do you ever just stop and be still? Do you ever stop to read a book, or meditate/pray, or think about your life and if you’re headed where you want to go? How is X activity helping you get to where you want to be? If it’s not helping you, it’s hurting you.

And simplicity isn’t just about not buying, consuming and wanting more—but getting rid of the peripheral crap in your life that you don’t need. Look around. What can you live without? Do you really need that thing you never use and keep in storage year after year? Having lived a pretty nomadic lifestyle for the past 10 years, I try hard to embrace simplicity. It feels light, and it feels good.

Simplify everything.