seeking a quieter life

Since the beginning of the year, I have been on a quest to quiet the clutter in my life. I hesitate to use the word "simplify" because its overuse has broadened its meaning beyond any firm definition. But a quieting of the clutter is for me at the heart of simplicity, regardless of where I live, what I eat and my choice of hobbies. In light of this, I have been purging. Honestly, though, purging is easy. Satisfying. Own it::Don't use it::Get rid of it.

The more difficult task is not allowing the purged to be replaced by new objects of desire. Excess quickly becomes a master whom we must serve. Excess demands storage space and attention in cleaning and caring. Excess distracts the mind, detracts from beauty and drains the soul. Less really is more.

For me quieting the clutter is a combination of disposing of the excess and imposing self limitation. "Self-limitation" is a term Wendell Berry introduced to me in his book Home Economics. While he was discussing the concept as it applies at a community or societal level, I was attracted to the idea and have been reflecting on its value in a home or individual life. Self discipline is a great challenge to me and although it goes hand in hand with self limitation, conceptually I deal better with limits. Allow me to provide a few practical examples I am experimenting with these days:

• Recognizing that I need to eat fewer sweets, but knowing that it is difficult for me to resist an easy grab cookie or candy in the cupboard, I now (mostly) avoid buying pre-packaged treats but allow myself to store ingredients instead. Thus, in order to enjoy a sweet indulgence, I am forced to prepare and clean-up and, in other words, have imposed limitations of time and energy on my bad habit.
  
• Realizing that the children had more clothes than I or they could realistically care for (laundering, folding, returning to closet, maintaining, storing, etc), I imposed stricter quantity limitations for the new season. Each child is permitted three play outfits, two going-out outfits and two Mass outfits. Such limitations have no tolerance for sloth in the task of daily laundering, but they also liberate us from the unscalable mountain of laundry that was such a burden to everyone.
  
• Naturally one of the easiest applications of self limitation is to carry and use cash only. Even a carefully written budget can easily be ignored or trumped by the ease of a credit card. But putting $30 in my wallet and knowing that it is my budget for the Saturday morning trip to the Farmer's Market is the easiest way to self limit.

The possibilities of self-limitation are everywhere and, for my temperament, so much easier than resisting the temptations one must meet face to face with self-discipline.