Subject: Simplicity: Creator of Time, Space, Energy
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Welcome to Celebrating the Journey!
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Issue #77

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Welcome Notes
2. Simplicity: Creator of Time, Space, Energy
3. Coaching: What Can You Leave Behind?
4. Quotes
5. Humor: Children as Pets: The Cat Years

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1. Welcome Notes

This is the last Celebrating the Journey before I begin my
sabbatical. I will be at The Esalen Institute on Big Sur for a
month and then in Death Valley for a period of time on a
Vision Fast. (What’s a Vision Fast, you ask? Send an e-mail
to mailto:vf@tothesummit.com, and I’ll tell you more.)
Neither place has consistent internet access so publishing
CTJ during that time will be impossible. I will have periodic
e-mail access so feel free to check in, if you’d like. I can’t
guarantee how quickly you’ll receive a response. You will
receive one.

It is an exciting time of celebration and growth for me, and I
look forward to joining you once again in the latter part of
January with new wisdom and resources. Until then,
celebrate your own journey every day.

Please visit https://www.tothesummit.com/archive to view
past issues of CTJ. They will keep you company until we
return. Celebrate life!

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2. Simplicity: Creator of Time, Space, Energy

After my sabbatical, I am spending the winter in the Santa
Cruz, California area to test the possibility of moving my
primary residence from the Roaring Fork Valley of
Colorado to this beautiful part of California.

I had a vision of a cozy little cabin in the mountains above
Santa Cruz as a place to live for the winter. Yesterday I
found it. An adorable studio with a sleeping loft, lots of
windows, deer in the yard, and absolute quiet. It is a doll’s
house. The essence of my vision. And it is teeny. It demands
simple living.

Simplicity: lack or avoidance of formality; lack of ostentation
or pretension; without complexity or complication; the state
of being uncluttered and natural.

In this modern and complex world of ours, it is essential to
our well-being to create simplicity in our lives. If we are to
remain whole and strong and continue to move in the
direction of our dreams, it is necessary to have those
uncluttered and natural spaces.

It is all too easy to become lost in the “hurriedness” and
information overload and even danger of these times. We
must create areas of simplicity to breathe, reenergize,
restore, regenerate ourselves.

Vacations and retreats, sabbaticals like the one I am taking,
certainly serve this purpose in an important way. I believe it
is even more important that we find those places in our
everyday lives.

Simplicity creates time, space and energy for our souls and
our lives to flourish and expand; regenerate and rejuvenate;
and just be quiet. In order to have a truly successful life, we
must create “simple” places in that life.

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3. Coaching: What Can You Leave Behind?

How much simplicity do you have in your life?

For most of us the answer is, “Not as much as I’d like.”
Certainly that is true for me. The Universe is granting me
the gift of simplicity in where I will be living this winter.
There isn’t room in this lovely little cabin for most of the
stuff with which I complicate my life.

I am choosing what I will bring with me to this mountain
place with an eye for simplicity.

I will take only what is needed to run my practice and let go
of the nicety of having drawers full of files at my
convenience.

I will take only one needlepoint project, letting go of the fear
of being bored with that project.

I will take half the clothes I first packed, letting go of the
society-driven need to have “the perfect outfit” for every
occasion that might arise.

I will take only the books I know I will read in the next 3
months.

You get the idea. We live in a time of excess and an
exaggerated importance on material possessions. This is
not new information. And it is important enough to repeat.
Simplicity creates time, space and energy which we lose in
the pace of our world. You have the ability to claim that
time, space and energy by simplifying your life.

It isn’t necessary to simplify your entire life all at once. What
one area of your life can you unclutter, clean up, sanctify,
naturalize? It could be claiming time in your bathtub every
day, with the door shut and candles burning or cleaning out
a corner of the garage and hanging a curtain to make it your
space. It could be cleaning out a closet or a file cabinet. It
could be claiming a certain time of each day for yourself or
creating a ritual with which to being and/or end your day.

Simplicity is a space where we can breath easier. It energizes
us. Where can you bring simplicity to your life? What piece
of unnecessary complexity can you leave behind?

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4. Quotes

To simplify complications is the first essential of success.
George Earle Buckle

There are two ways of constructing a software design. One
way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no
deficiencies. And the other way is to make it so complicated
that there are no obvious deficiencies.
C.A.R. Hoare

Simplicity is the peak of civilization.
Jessie Sampter

The trouble with so many of us is that we underestimate the
power of simplicity. We have a tendency it seems to over
complicate our lives and forget what’s important and what’s
not. We tend to mistake movement for achievement. We
tend to focus on activities instead of results. And as the pace
of life continues to race along in the outside world, we forget
that we have the power to control our lives regardless of
what’s going on outside.
Robert Stuberg

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5. Humor: Children as Pets: The Cat Years

I just realized that while children are dogs –
loyal and affectionate – teenagers are cats.
It’s so easy to be a dog owner. You feed it,
train it, boss it around. It puts it’s head on
your knee and gazes at you as if you were
a Rembrandt painting. It bounds indoors with
enthusiasm when you call it.

Then around age 13, your adoring little puppy
turns into a big old cat. When you tell it to come
inside, it looks amazed, as if wondering who
died and made you emperor. Instead of dogging
your doorsteps, it disappears. You won’t see it
again until it gets hungry — then it pauses on its
sprint through the kitchen long enough to turn its
nose up at whatever you’re serving.

When you reach out to ruffle its head, in that old
affectionate gesture, it twists away from you, then
gives you a blank stare, as if trying to remember
where it has seen you before. You, not realizing
that the dog is now a cat, think something must
be desperately wrong with it. It seems so antisocial,
so distant, sort of depressed. It won’t go on family
outings.

Since you’re the one who raised it, taught it to
fetch and stay and sit on command, you assume
that you did something wrong. Flooded with guilt
and fear, you redouble your efforts to make your
pet behave. Only now you’re dealing with a cat,
so everything that worked before now produces
the opposite of the desired result. Call it, and it
runs away. Tell it to sit, and it jumps on the
counter. The more you go toward it, wringing your
hands, the more it moves away.

Instead of continuing to act like a dog owner, you
can learn to behave like a cat owner. Put a dish
of food near the door, and let it come to you. But
remember that a cat needs your help and your
affection too. Sit still, and it will come, seeking
that warm, comforting lap it has not entirely

forgotten. Be there to open the door for it.

One day your grown-up child will walk into the
kitchen, give you a big kiss and say, “You’ve
been on your feet all day. Let me get those
dishes for you.”

Then you’ll realize your cat is a dog again.

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Give yourself the gift of simplicity this week.

Namaste, Margo

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Hiring a Life Coach is a great way be supported in taking
the steps that will lead you to your own dreams.
Margo has a few slots open for motivated clients who
want to shift from, “My life is good, but…” to “I have a
great life!” Visit our website at
https://www.tothesummit.com for additional resources
and tools. To schedule a consultation, send an e-mail to
mailto:margo@tothesummit.com

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My purpose in publishing Celebrating the Journey is to
provide you with resources, motivation, inspiration and
energy for YOUR journey of creating success and freedom
in all areas of your life. CTJ will use stories from my life
and others, coaching tips and resources, quotes and
humor to deliver a learning experience that can enhance
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Copyright © 2001, all rights reserved, by Margo
Chisholm

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—
“Challenge your most cherished assumptions.”

Margo Chisholm
Life coach, Life Counselor
Partnering you in having success, freedom, and
joy in all areas of your life.
970-704-9336 fax 970-704-9346
margo@tothesummit.com

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