Simple - Accountable

i am going to “define” what i mean by these words and then how i feel they fit when combined. granted… it’s all a work in progress… so take it for what it is.
first, i’ll start with the notion of defining these terms by means of contrast. for me it helps if i can see the opposite or the negative in order to gain a perspective on the positive.
first: simple. as opposed to complex. or simplicity vs. complexity. i know… seems like a “duh” experience… but the depth comes from being conscious that anything simple can be made complex by virtue of the context and our psychology. simplicity has less to do with a specific task (folding laundry) but is more related to the context in which the task is completed (to fold the laundry i need a clean place to lay the clean clothes, i should dust that table, but before i dust the table i have to find the cloth and the cleaner, on the way to where i keep the cleaners, i see that there is a pile of dirt the dog tracked in and so i need to sweep that up, as i go to get the broom i try to remember what i started out doing in the first place). ”simple” aint so simple… it requires discipline, a plan, and constant reassessment.
accountable as opposed to victim.
i choose to look at being accountable as choosing a worldview that says “i attract all that occurs to me”. for me it is a forward looking perspective and one in which i am ultimately in control. i control how i react and what needs to happen to cause this to never happen again (in the case of a bad experience) or how do i do more of that (in the case of a positive one). a view of “ok… this happened now what am i going to do about it so i can learn from it.”
i choose to look at victim as a world view that says “he/she/it did it to me.” for me this is a backward looking and passive viewpoint. a view of “how did this happen to me?” or “why me”.
i know that this may sound a bit bizarre, i mean what about if an earthquake happens or… i know, there are a never ending number of things that may not BE, technically, attracted by me… but so what? i mean, this is about consciously CHOOSING to put myself in the position of at least being able to choose an action. it is a philosophical perspective not necessarily “THE TRUTH” (whatever that is).
so… in combination, simple accountability is the conscious choice on my part to engage in and create a more simple existence so that i may be in a position to have a greater impact on the world around me… it is keeping true to the “simple” definition of accountability and living accordingly and honestly. i am ultimately accountable for making space in my life so that i may be a greater participant with God, my wife, my kids, my community, etc… and when “complexity happens” and chaos ensues or too much is going on or there is debt or the education system isnt what it should be or there isnt enough potable water in Africa or whatever… there is only one person to look to. me.

Why

why not? i run into people frequently who ask me about our chosen way of life. frankly, it is a process…i struggle with constantly reducing the complexity in my life. and then… i look… and i’ve filled my day and my time with “stuff”. it’s an ongoing process.

the sub-title of this blog is taken from an interview i heard with Maya Angelou - i thought it captured where i am at this time in my life… and i’m constantly working through it - learning and relearning that.

In essence, I’m working through the process of choosing a smaller footprint in order to have a bigger handprint.
doing this by minimizing needs (in terms of using less, to be sure, but also consciously no longer being a slave to: debt, stuff, a job, etc.) in order to maximize my impact on the world around me (serving and being an active participant with my wife, my children, and the community we live in).

I start with a quotation from Thomas Merton:
“The rush and pressure of modern life are forms, perhaps the most common form of innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation with violence. The frenzy of the activity neutralizes his work for peace. It destroys her own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”