Less is More

October 15, 2008 by gbrown

How can less be more?

It seems uncommon sense, but this is what my riff is all about - being brave enough to go against the grain, beyond the societal illusion - the very same illusion that encourages us to waste our lives on hard
work.

In a world that demands more of everyone, how can doing less make you happier?

Let me share what I know already. It’s not easy.

But then working hard is easy. Slaving 60 hours a week in your office, in your business, for the firm is easy.

Easy? Because it simply means doing what is common sense. Sometimes we’re too busy to know what’s going on because we’re right in the middle of a life too noisy to allow a momentary respite.

I remember a simple cartoon of two scenes juxtaposed. First scene, Mercedes driver in traffic jam on yelling into mobile phone. Second scene, pedestrian strolling along sidewalk whistling a tune, unburdened by the commute. The two captions read, respectively “successful man” and “unsuccessful man”.

Being successful is the easy option.

It’s what society demands. “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man wealthy and wise” notes Benjamin Franklin… but consider the health, wealth and wisdom of your fellow commuters on your next jaunt on the 0705 misery express to London or wherever you work. Take a moment out of your schedule to look around. The exec flicking through emails on his blackberry, the office worker scanning the Metro’s headlines signifying more disease, more crime and more terror.

The irony is we are complicit in this manufactured reality because of our fear to take risks and live beyond our experience. Witness the old and the young - how their lack of or letting go of “common sense” and
received wisdom enables them to live without regret. The young child does not slave meaningless all day in order that she can earn enough money to run on a treadmill in the evening. To be happy, all she needs
is to be in the moment. Past, future and all the content that defines our identities have little meaning.

Similarly the humility of the old - their polite ways, their ability to sit still unburdened by the march of progress. Perhaps not so common in the developed world, but take time out to visit the Greek Islands and see how the elderly can spend a day “hanging out”, discussing affairs, watching the world go by. No wonder Crete has the longest life expectancy in Europe. They say it’s the Olive oil, but then that’s an easy answer because that one is a mere purchase away.

“Children, old people, vagabonds laugh easily: they have
nothing to lose and hope for little. There lies simplicity, happiness
and peace.” Matthieu Ricard

It’s easy to talk about happiness and self-reflection critics argue but what about paying my mortgage? Well here’s the second thing I have learned, more of which I’ll share with you later - that unless you’re ploughing furrows or carving widgets, there is very little correlation between what you earn and how much you work.

In fact, as you’ll discover, working hard is the easy option because that’s what everyone else is doing. Look around, a nation of hard workers. To busy to post that letter, go to the gym, catch up with friends. Too busy to spend time with the family, too busy to have a family. From the moment we wake we work hard with very little results.

Dad didn’t have much time to reflect on his life and if he did the concept would have been rather alien. I remember him getting upset when he realized he wouldn’t see in the next Spring’s bloom in the garden and
the day he had to tell his own mother on the phone he had 2 weeks to live. No man was ever born into the world to face this.

If we had the chance, what would we have wished more of? More time to check emails? More time at the office? More time watching TV? More time to buy that Mercedes? Regardless of culture, our wishes are simple and often universal. Spend time doing what we love, spend time with those we love.

The “deathbed” test highlights what is important in our lives. All the rest is mere detail. It’s easy to major in the detail because it’s safer. Detail doesn’t ask the difficult questions of you. Yet, given this is our only shot at living this life, why do we follow common sense?

Call it back to basics, call it a mini-retirement if you will, this blog is a journey to explore the possibilities of living outside of other people’s agendas, working less, enjoying life, being happier, achieving financial freedom and ultimately taking that day off.

Cameron: “The 1961 Ferrari, two-fifty GT California. Less than a hundred were made. My father spent three years restoring this car. It is his love, it is his passion . . .”

Ferris Bueller: “It is his fault he didn’t lock the garage