How Simplicity Challenges

I was reflecting on simplicity the other day. I used to think I lived a fairly simple life. I grew up overseas and consumerism is just so much more difficult. Sometimes spending money was actually difficult. I lived the average lifestyle of the overseas dwelling global nomad which, is all knew, and is what I love.

And then, I mysteriously ended up in the Mennonite world and shockingly found myself employed by a Mennonite organization. We live simply because Jesus lived simply. We live simply out of solidarity with the poor who make up a majority of the global population. We live simply out of respect for the finite number of natural resources in the world. We live simply because we're not "of the world" and want our values to be different, to value family and relationships over possessions. Of course, many Mennonites are more then financially stable so there's some disagreement about exactly what you're suppose to do with your wealth, beside the obvious, which is to conceal it.

Considering I'm barely one step up from a poor college student, my struggles are few. Yet I'd like to live simply for the above reasons. I bike because it makes me happy. I have a small closet because I don't need a big one. I live in a small flat because it's just me. I want to see people before I see what they own. I already have to overcompensate for my white skin, my education, and my nationality, networks and connections which already set me apart.

But there's a fine line between stinginess and simplicity. There's also a fine line between choosing simplicity and being told to live simply. I will admit, I am forced into simplicity. In theory I choose this period of my life, but when you job is structurally connected to your personal life, it changes the entire dynamic. Is forced simplicity actually simplicity? How much does attitude have to do with it? Can we turned forced simplicity into authentic simplicity? I don't know yet.

This I do know, that simplicity is only beautiful when you choose to embrace it. As global nomads who see the the extremes of excess and poverty, we should know firsthand what's appropriate and necessary. We swing on the pendulum of thankfulness for unexpected joys and frustration over unexpected abnormalities. Yet we take on a little simplicity ourselves implicitly. I would be proud if it became a virtue us global nomads were associated with. Sometimes we need to be reminded of this. It's a choice. And if for some reason I'm wrong and it's not, the associated attitude will always be.