The Simplify & Clean Issue
Thoughts from the Editor A life of simplicity and order is hard. It’s more like guerilla warfare than a serene stroll through a meadow. Things don’t naturally stay simple, clean, or in order. My keys are never in the same place I left them, the weeds never stay dead, and the dog continues to leave “numbers” (as my father-in-law calls them) behind. A gradual decline towards disorder is our day-to-day experience, even in the best circumstances. My wife and I both used to work full-time out of the house, and we had the momentary luxury of a regular housekeeper. Those days were the best. We’d pick up the kids and come home to freshly vacuumed carpet lines, clean smells still lingering in the air, and all the dishes in their proper place. But it would only take two days for it to all fall apart. Just two days. The lines would be gone, dishes would be back on the drying rack, and clean smells replaced with last night’s salmon or something. Entropy is the worst. Entropy, or the movement from order to chaos, pretty much sums up my desk at work, the trunk of my car, my lawn, and most anything else you can point at in my life. However this is playing out in life, it’s incredibly frustrating. We are in a war of attrition. The sandcastles we build never stay in the same condition we leave them in. But it’s not all grim news. This month’s Lifestyle issue is a celebration of simplicity, beauty, and order. We’ll introduce you to some champions of beauty and simplicity, along with the joy that comes through the small battles fought to bring order to our messes. Steven Pinker describes this fight: “[we] deploy energy and information to fight back the tide of entropy and carve out refuges of beneficial order.” ¹ I love that description. Refuges of beneficial order. The small act of removing the clutter on my desk creates a refuge of order. I get to enjoy the benefits of a tidy space where I can think and work and dream. Author James Clear says, “The only way to make things orderly again is to add energy. Order requires effort.” Whether it’s the small effort of making the bed, cleaning out the car, or making spaces more organized and beautiful, our efforts to create a refuge of order in life are one small way we can fight against entropy and infuse life with beauty and goodness. Onward in our fight to restore beautiful order in our lives and communities.
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Cheers,
Eric Riley Executive Editor Lifestyle Magazine President / Owner Topograph
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