“To simplify is to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may emerge.”

Why is a lifestyle philosopher like me quoting from an abstract expressionist artist like Hans Hoffman?

Maybe because the notion of more joy and less consumption is quite abstract to our modern culture. We like lots and lots of concrete, tangible things. We tend to think we need more of any given thing in order to be happier.

Yet, as Mr. Hoffman pointed out before he died in 1966, we may need to cut through excess or unnecessary things in order to get to the good things that are truly needed. I see this as a matter of spirit, not just art.

I’m embracing Mr. Hoffman’s words as a theme for 2011. How can we simplify? How can we eliminate the unnecessary in our lives so that the necessary may emerge?

photo courtesy of  paperkin