National Simplicity Day

Simplicity is a very beautiful word, and it indicates the status of things in one's lifestyle. Simplicity can be explained as being simple or something easy to understand as against something complicated. Henry Thoreau once quoted' "As you make your life simple, the laws of the universe will be simpler for you."

Thoreau was the ambassador of living a simple life, and he led with example how one can live a very simple life. He was a naturalist, philosopher, author, abolitionist, transcendentalist, and historian, but he was a great initiator of simple living. His birthday, July 12, is celebrated as National Simplicity Day annually. Thoreau, the writer of the well-known book Walden and his essay Civil Disobedience, made such an impact that he inspired world-famous personalities like Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Life History of Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was the best advocate of living simply by disengaging the unnecessary things. He never adopted a fashion-oriented lifestyle and chose it very simply. In this modern age, everyone is passionate about modern technology, gadgets, and fashionable things. Still, National Simplicity Day on July 12 gives us a chance to shed these things at least for a day and live. The purpose behind this is to live a peaceful life without stress. One can experience a high degree of the piece if we maintain the distance from technology and modern things.

Henry David Thoreau was an American national born on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts, US. He wrote his famous book, Walden, in 1845, and National Simplicity Day is celebrated across the US in his memory and to respect him as he showed the world the class of simplicity and high values of it. The celebrations of National Simplicity Day are carried out each year on this day, and one can take a vow of simplicity and decide to cut unimportant things from your life.

Saying this is much easier than done because nowadays many things are connected with our life, and we strongly feel all are important to living with. So the basic major hurdle is to distinguish what is important and what is not. The obsession with gadgets is so powerful that we think we might not live our lives without them.

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History of National Simplicity Day

Somewhere in our life, we all feel stressed and overburdened because of the fast and competent world today. We must realise how to detox the stress to come fresh. We all need to refresh ourselves once in a while. National Simplicity Day was initiated around the same idea, and celebrations of National Simplicity Day start with stepping away from unwanted stress, technology and enjoying life in a much simpler way. Here the word celebrations need not be taken as usual showbiz celebrations but to live to adopt a simple way of life. There is no need to take the unnecessary burden, and the key factor of living a happy life is to live simple.

As rightly said by Cedric Bledsoe, "simplicity is the essence of happiness", and by Robert Brault, "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realise they were the big things." The real happiness of life lies in living simple, and the logic behind this is also very simple. This is to teach people a simple life. A simple living does not need more money, so the first thing you curb is greed for money. Once you are not running after money, other stresses in life automatically decrease as money gives you a fashionable way of life.

With this simple logic, one can exercise simplicity, and once you live a simple life, you are embraced by happiness as your needs also decrease substantially. 

Some Crucial Points From the Famous Book ‘Walden’ 

• The book is about his simple living experience, which he demonstrated himself. He performed some experiments on life by spending some time at Walden Pond, where he built a small cabin with the owner's permission.

• There, he grew and sold vegetables and led a very peaceful and simple life away from the crowd and in the laps of nature.

• The attempts at Walden gave him impeccable peace and natural freshness he never got before.

He was highly satisfied with this experience and advocated simplicity strongly. Unfortunately, even after so long, we, the people on earth, are still chasing things faster than we. 

Tips to Live A Simple Life

Henry David Thoreau understood the real meaning of living a simple life. You can understand the national simplicity day if you go through the thought process he expressed in his book. Some of the tips are-

• Don't live a stressful life to be unhappy and unsatisfied. Every problem has a solution.

• Pick up the essentials in the life to live with.

• Live with purpose.

• Do not buy impulsively.

• Distinguish important and unimportant things.

• Don't accumulate things you don't want.

• Live away from technology, simplify life.

National Simplicity Day Significance

It is very important to know about National Simplicity Day significance. The purpose of National Simplicity Day was to make people aware of the importance of nature and ecology to live a permanent simple life. But as per the current trend, people usually remember a specific day only on that date and celebrate. However, even if one can do an activity according to national simplicity Day history for a day, it is worth it.

The activities can include but are not limited to –

• Remove the unwanted things in house and life.

• Spend time with nature.

• Work with your nearest local organisation for a cause and volunteer your time and money.

• Read Henry Thoreau's book Walden and his other literature.

• Differentiate between important things and secondary things.

• Promote simplicity to others if you are a grateful contributor to campaigns of simplicity.

• Keep your devices away from you.

• Raise awareness against unnecessary purchases and concentration of important purchases only. 

Arrangement of Activities on National Simplicity Day:

The activities are arranged according to the national Simplicity Day history list, which may be unfamiliar to you when you start things, but eventually, you will start finding its essence. The things to do are so simple that you don't have to take extra effort, but still, you will find it difficult to perform. For example, can you keep your devices away for even a day? Those who can do it and find the benefit out of it will try to do it now and then. 

What Simplicity Actually Means?

Simplicity is not an easy task to perform, but it needs grit and determination. It also needs a lot of hard work if we study the following relevant numbers.

• Number 1 in 10 is applicable for those American people who take rent of offsite storage.

• Number 12 is meant for a toddler with ten years of age.

• Number 30000 signifies the average number of items in an American house.

• 25% of the American people usually have two-car garages.

• An American generally spends $1700 for buying cloth in a year.

Surprised with the numbers? Well, yes, they are surprising numbers. Now you can imagine the magnitude of work that we need to do if we adopt the simplicity criteria. In an average American house, decluttering the house itself is a big task if such is the magnitude. But if you get to know the importance of minimalism, you will feel for the essentiality of it –

• It reduces the unnecessary waste to amazing numbers.

• Stop excessive purchasing.

• Peaceful and silent lifestyle.

• The need for it.

• Healthier lifestyle.

National Simplicity Day holds very grand and visionary importance in modern life. It is becoming much more essential for all to find a peaceful life even during our jobs, businesses, and professional lives, unlike the previous after-retirement life. People are desperately longing for a happy life and prefer peace over money. National Simplicity Day is the key to take the first step towards achieving it.