Reflections on Simplicity

As always, Chinese New Year's Eve is a great time for me to pause and reflect on things. The city streets are so quiet today. It is great to be left alone in the city, far away from the madness of small towns and kampungs during this time of festive madness.

The quietness of the city and the look of joy on everyone's faces makes one feel very relaxed and at ease. I spent the day in the office, troubleshooting some technical problems. One makes great headway when working in such a relaxed atmosphere. The best time to enjoy a holiday is the day before it actually begins: the anticipation of freedom, the guilt and pleasure of slowing down coupled with a work-can-wait attitude is as close to real happiness as one can get.

I've been going to bed and waking up early lately. I like life that way: to keep life simple and strip things to their bare essentials. You need to start with simplicity always. Simplicity is the key for life has a way of getting more and more complicated over time.

To simplify is to keep track of one's original goals. Life diverts and distracts us from our real intentions. Time entangles us in its many obsessions. Complexity is the devil that lurks in every corner. Complexity kills.

To be simple is to live--to taste life in its rawness, in its most elemental form. Naked came I into this world, and of course, naked must I go out. The naked simplicity that is life, brings out our true nature. So much of life is avoidance: of pain, of fears and of uncertainty. To acknowledge simplicity is to do our best and let nature take its course.

Simple isn't it? We'll see. Let that proverbial happy and prosperous new year begin!