3291: 3 Simple Things We Can All Learn from the Quaker Testimony of Simplicity by Kyle Kowalski of Sloww

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Living Daily.

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: 3 Simple Things We Can All Learn from the Quaker Testimony of Simplicity by Kyle Kowalski of Slow.co

[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm Justin Malik.

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Happy Monday and welcome back to Optimal Living Daily or the OLD podcast

[00:00:17] [SPEAKER_00]: where you can start or end your day on the right foot

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: by simply listening to the best blogs I can find and get permission from.

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_00]: So with that, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life.

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_00]: 3 Simple Things We Can All Learn from the Quaker Testimony of Simplicity by Kyle Kowalski of Slow.co

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I believe we can all learn something new about our common humanity

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: by expanding our minds and opening them to other cultures and spiritualities.

[00:00:51] [SPEAKER_00]: This is nothing new.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Over a century ago, non-Quaker Julia Ward-Howe wrote, quote,

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Here I am in Quaker's surroundings whose restful simplicity is most congenial to me.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I feel here the earnest desire for genuine growth and culture which found a slow but sure success.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm confirmed in my division of human energies, ambitious people climb,

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: but faithful people build, end quote.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Whoa, she covered a lot of ground there.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Slow living, simple living, energy, ambition, spirituality.

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Some modern Quakers also known as friends have six values or testimonies that they call spices.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: S-P-I-C-E-S stands for simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: While there are plenty of things we can learn from all six values,

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: this post dives into just one, the testimony of simplicity.

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_00]: What is the Quaker testimony of simplicity?

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: If it's possible to sum up the history of the testimony of simplicity in a single quote,

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: this may be the one.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: The first generation of friends did not have a testimony for simplicity.

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_00]: They came upon a faith which cut to the root of the way they saw life, radically reorienting it.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: They saw that all they did must flow directly from what they experienced as true,

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and that if it did not, both the knowing and the doing became false.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: In order to keep the knowledge clear and the doing true, they stripped away anything which seemed to get in the way.

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: They called those things superfluities, and it is this radical process of stripping for clear seeing,

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: which we now term simplicity.

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Fran Irene, Tabor.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Incredible.

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's continue by breaking down the testimony of simplicity.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: First, what does testimony mean?

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Quote, the word testimony describes the way that friends testify or bear witness to their beliefs in their everyday life.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: A testimony is therefore not a belief but is committed action arising out of friend's religious experience.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: The testimony of simplicity in the words of the Quakers or friends follows, and they are all quotes.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: A person ought to live a simple life in order to focus on what is most important

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and ignore or play down what is least important.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Simplicity is a witness to the world that the inward state is more important than the outward.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: We need to think of simplicity not as an impossible demand, but as an invitation to a more centered, intentional, and fulfilling spirit-led life.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Simplicity flows from well-ordered living.

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_00]: It is less a matter of doing without than a spiritual quality that simplifies our lives by putting first things first.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Simplicity, like all the testimonies, is essentially a spiritual discipline.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_00]: We simplify our lives in order to come closer to the truth.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: For the Quakers, living simply is about seeking to live more meaningfully.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Quakers have long referred to the unnecessary accumulation of material items as cumbers,

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: and they believed it obscured their vision of both God's will and reality.

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: It can be spiritually cleansing to disinvest oneself of unnecessary possessions,

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: to recycle unused items, or give away things you no longer truly need.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_00]: But cumber can mean more than material possessions.

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: It can represent unnecessary mental or spiritual cumber, or living beyond our emotional means.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And perhaps my two favorites, simplicity is a balm to contemporary anxiety,

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_00]: allowing all of us to engage in the joys and challenges of the present moment.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: And keep life simple so we are free to live in harmony and alignment with soul's purpose.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: The three aspects of the testimony of simplicity.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: The testimony of simplicity revolves around three key elements,

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: dress, speech, and material possessions.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Number one, simplicity of dress.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: On the surface you may think plain dress is pretty straightforward.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Right this second, maybe you're mentally picturing what you think Quaker dress may look like.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: However, I've learned simplicity of dress is subjective.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Modern Quakers or friends simply dress simply.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't sound like this is too different from what you may see with some of the minimalist leaders today.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Consistency, timelessness, maybe similar coordinating colors.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Why would anyone willingly and gladly choose this type of dress?

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Well first of all, this approach to fashion and style is timeless.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to spend time and money on the latest trends,

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: effectively giving back time and money and energy and mental bandwidth

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_00]: to spend on the most important things in your life which typically aren't things at all.

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a personal aspect here where you need to overcome your ego and identity

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: since this is voluntary simplicity.

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Next, plain dress is intended to eliminate an aspect of social inequality.

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: If everyone dressed in a simple way, it put people on more of an even, visual, physical playing field.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Lastly, there's now an ecological aspect when you think of the wastefulness

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: of trend-based clothing and fast fashion.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Every day we have more and more options for sustainable, ethical, and slow fashion.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Want to really experiment with timeless style? Try a buy nothing year for clothing.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I think I'm currently at 16 months without buying a single article of clothing.

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: You start to lose track after a while and wonder how the old you

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: ever even made time for shopping.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't have been able to do this if all my clothing was the latest trend

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: a year and a half ago but now out of style.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Number two, simplicity of speech.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: This is an interesting one. I've also seen this one paired with simplicity of behavior.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Here's how the Quakers or friends describe it.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Quote, simplicity does not mean being simplistic.

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: We value nuance and choose words carefully when we speak.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: We may speak passionately but we avoid distortion and exaggeration.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And quote, honesty avoiding class distinction or titles and the speaking of truth.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I love this. We should all opt for authenticity and remember this quote as well.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Do not speak unless it improves on silence.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Buddhist proverb.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And number three, simplicity of material possessions.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Again in the words of the Quakers or friends.

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Quote, believe that one should use one's resources including money and time deliberately

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: in ways that are most likely to make life truly better for oneself and others.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And quote, believe that a person's spiritual life and character are more important than the quantity of goods he possesses

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_00]: or his monetary worth.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And quote, I'll leave you with this fantastic insight.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Quote, the testimony is not just about the nature of one's material possessions

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_00]: but rather also about one's attitude towards these material goods.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And quote, there you have it.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: How can you apply a testimony of simplicity in your own life?

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Are there ways you can simplify your dress, speech and behavior

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_00]: or overall quantity and relationship with your material possessions?

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And don't forget to add the spices, S-P-I-C-E-S, of life.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to the post titled, Three Simple Things We Can All Learn

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_00]: from the Quaker Testimony of Simplicity by Kyle Kowalski of Slow.co

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you to Kyle.

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_00]: As a reminder, those spices are simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship.

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And as Kyle mentioned at the beginning of the post,

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_00]: we can all learn so much by opening our minds and learning from other cultures

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_00]: and people outside of what we know and are familiar with.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a fascinating website that my brother often reads from over on Optimal Health Daily.

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It's called BlueZones or bluezones.com.

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_00]: It's about the research of the areas in the world where people tend to live the longest on average.

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_00]: One of those communities isn't too far from where I am here in Southern California,

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_00]: but these zones are actually all over the world including Costa Rica, Greece, Italy and more.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Some of the factors that these communities have in common are knowing your purpose,

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_00]: which we talk about here on the show often, staying social and not social media of course,

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_00]: but an actual social network, putting family first, eating less, especially less red meat,

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_00]: kicking back, moving naturally and more.

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_00]: You can find more on the BlueZones website.

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_00]: And while simplicity isn't on their list of common factors per se,

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure many can argue that these communities actually do live more simply than their neighbors.

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And seeing how our neighbors live and what makes them happy and live longer,

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_00]: that's really a shortcut or cheat sheet of things we can implement in our own everyday lives

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_00]: to make our days even just a little better on average.

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_00]: I've said it before on this show, that's the point of this podcast, hearing many, many different perspectives

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_00]: so that we can learn what could work for us to help us grow and be happier on average.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So hopefully there's a takeaway for you here today.

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Have a great rest of your day and start to your week,

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'll be back tomorrow reading to you where your optimal life awaits.