Simplifying

Simplifying

by Takuma Ono

When one is overwhelmed with anxiety, the prospect of a simpler life illuminates like a beacon in the night.

To be clear, a bit of anxiety is normal—it’s a healthy response to stress. Unfortunately, too much anxiety can be paralyzing—and it may even dampen ones ability to think clearly. In fact, many studies point to an unprecedented epidemic of anxiety in America. So hey, if you’re concerned about your anxiety, you’re probably not alone.

You may come to realize that you don’t even know the root cause of your anxiety. Might your anxiety be self-inflicted? Maybe. Might they be caused by environmental stressors? Perhaps. Actually, there’s a good chance that your anxiety stems from the combination of the two—the self and environment. There’s a good chance that your anxiety stems from an interaction of many interconnected stressors.

Without clarity on how to feel less anxious or overwhelmed, there is no meaningful way forward.

No breakthrough. No change.

The difficulty of pin-pointing the origins of an anxious feeling could partially explain why some of us will jump to conclude that cleaning/purging is the solution. After all, clutter certainly takes away from being able to think clearly—so de-cluttering might feel like a healthy first step to combating anxiety. Actually, clutter may even be a symptom of anxiety. Sound familiar?

Marie Kondo’s book titled The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up main-streamed the idea of de-cluttering and helped millions of people take their first step towards living a simpler life. In her book Tidying Up, Marie Kondo illuminates the relationship many of us hold with inanimate things—and shows us how to part with things that may be holding us back—emotionally and spatially. Through purging and organizing, Marie’s method of tidying up creates the prospect of new possibilities—a new way of being. But arguably, her book delves more deeply into how to fold your clothing than how to manage the self.

Though Tidying up can help improve one’s environment, and small improvements could lead to bigger ones, where does one begin to contend with oneself?

Were you aware that practitioners of Zen regard the certainty of individual self as mere illusion? I find it fascinating that a monk can spend a lifetime contending with the self. When practitioners of Zen developed the dry gardens centuries ago, what prompted them to develop these simple and austere gardens? Is it possible that these gardens are instrumental to Zen practice? My copy of Sakuteiki, the oldest text on Japanese garden making, did not contain the answers I sought—and this prompted me to start examining the gardens, which led me to start blogging my thoughts.

Getting back to the topic of anxiety—for some, prescription medication may be the personal solution of choice—alternatively, if a natural solution is desired, habits and patterns need to be meaningfully adjusted.

A message to those who seek natural solutions: the journey of striving for simple may be where joy is found. To those seeking immediate solutions: the path to attaining simple may be lengthy and not straightforward.

Learning how to manage one’s anxiety has unconscionable benefits—but it won’t occur overnight. If your ability to alter environmental stressors is limited, your best bet may be to begin altering how you respond to your stressors.

Read my blog post on the seascapes and why I think they are so foundational to Zen garden design here.