Simplicity for the Simple Joy of It
The calendar says autumn has arrived in the Florida Panhandle. But you can still feel summer’s breath on your neck — lingering, like a satisfied lover. Here, on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, there’s no turning back when the season departs for constellations of the Southern skies. So summer takes her time, granting us a few extra weeks of warm sunsets even as the colors of autumn spread with the coming chill to our north.
Yesterday was one of those evenings. I pushed my bicycle out the door and headed Downtown, toward the heart of old Pensacola. I embraced the carfree lifestyle last spring for all the utilitarian reasons I’ve written about in the past. But I left out something important, and it applies to all of the changes in my more minimal life: I have come to love simplicity for the simple joy of it.
You get back more than you put down
In the case of swapping two wheels for four, there are inconveniences: out-of-town trips, learning to ride in bad weather and with bulky cargo, and the occasional condescension of those who consider the idea of living without a car beneath their social station.
In exchange, I no longer pay onerous insurance rates. My bicycle burns belly fat instead of gasoline, and our state’s recent auto tag and title hike meant nothing to me. I have no fear of car repair shops.
All helpful things. They pale, however, in comparison to just a few of the things from last night’s ride:
- I could smell the camellias in someone’s yard half a block before I reached them
- A couple introduced me to their Wirehaired Fox Terrier
- The crunching of autumn’s first acorns under the tires
- Being able to stop at the top of the bridge and see sunset on the bay
- A flight of pelicans crossing the waterfront
- The woman with a glass of wine who waved from her loft balcony
- The glow from people’s windows after dusk
I’m sure I could list a dozen more. There will be a fresh crop of experiences the next time I ride — and every time after that.
Simplicity is about revealed joy
There’s a richness to unadorned life. This can be grasped intellectually, I suppose, but it’s a bit like meditation, which happens on a cushion, not the pages of a book.
Strip away the clutter, the unnecessary, the things-we-need-but-really-don’t. That’s when joy punches you in the chest. You find it in the smallest things. Or, rather: Undistracted, joy finds you.
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About the author
Chris Baskind writes about the environment and simpler living. He's also an advocate of carfree transportation, relying entirely on bicycles since June, 2009.Three years ago, Chris launched Lighter Footstep, a pioneering website focused on greener, healthier, more affordable living. It was recently acquired by the Mother Nature Network (MNN). Connect with Chris on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Love it! I can’t wait till it cools down here so I can go bike riding more. It’s supposed to get cold tonight, but it’s been in the 80s and 90s all week. Might be 40s tomorrow, though — don’t you just love Florida?!
Posted this to the Simple Living subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/simpleliving/
When I rode this evening, it was 58 with a 15 mph north wind (gusting higher). What a huge difference. Autumn has officially arrived in the Panhandle — it will be down your way soon.
Awesome post. I relate on so many levels. Being without a car has changed my life for the better. I’m looking forward to taking a long bike ride after work. It will be a great way to end the week. I can’t wait to feel the breeze on my face.
Thank you, Tammy. This really wasn’t a “bike” post, but isn’t a ride at the end of the day a great way to shift gears? Literally, at that …
Nice. I too have been carfree for 2 1/2 yrs and love it. I hardly think about it now – carfree living feels normal to me. Watching people engage in traffic and the stress makes me so thankful I don’t have to participate.
I love the other positive things you listed too.
It used to take me about 20 minutes to drive from home to the mall. I can do the same run in 40 on a bicycle, so the total added time — round trip — is less than 3/4 of an hour. Really, if we can’t plan well enough to cover such a relatively insignificant difference, there’s more wrong than our transportation choices. And welcome to More Minimal!
Working on simplifying my life as well. Very slowly.
You are so right. Most of us don’t know the difference between a want and a need. So everything becomes a need. There are very few needs. We just have to simplify until we find it.
I’m still working on simplifying mine. It’s a process, and we can always improve things.
It’s pleased you jumped in. I hadn’t seen your site yet (and it’s great). Just added you to my RSS reader.
Life is basically pretty simple. And when things are simple they work. We humans just have this need to make things complicated. It’s something animals can’t do.
This is beautifully written; I was right there with you, hanging on to the back of your bike (hope you didn’t mind the extra weight!)
I have to confess we have a car; for many reasons, but we do get out and walk every day. I’m blessed to live in an area where I step outside my back garden into places that people pay heaps of money to go on holiday to every year. How lucky am I!?
I’ve started to ‘notice’ more too over the last couple of years; birds I’ve never seen before, I’m beginning to learn which trees are which, how the landscape changes *every day*, the changes in the wind direction and temperature, the magnificence of the sunsets and the stars at night and the rhythms of nature as she walks me through the year.
When my cat was dying, not so long ago, I spent the last few minutes of my day sitting on the front doorstep with her – you would not believe how much I started to notice then. While the rest of the world was silent, I could see and sense so much; the nocturnal insects going about their business was just awesome.
And I realised that we drown all this beauty out with our busy ‘must do’ lives, our TVs and yes, me included, the computer….
You wrote in your reply to my last comment about the silence on your home now that you’ve ditched the tv and how you can choose to put music on if you wish – I really got that sitting out there in the front garden every night; the silence which made me feel part of a different world to the delusional one we live. Yet when I listened carefully, with my ‘inner ears’ if you like, there was so much real life going on and those ants are really noisy when they munch leaves!
I thought those hills felt a bit steeper, but attributed it to my midsection, not a stowaway.
Yes, when you remove the distractions, you realize nature is a busy place. There’s all kinds of drama within a few paces of doorway. You just have to look (and listen) for it.
I too, have started biking, but only recreationally.
It is really too dangerous to be biking in town where I live, and with the way people drive their cars.
With that being said, if there were more bike lanes, and an easier way to get from where I live to the heart of downtown, available only for bikes, I’d never want to take my car again! Except in winter.
Right now, I’m more of a public transportation girl. It’s not ideal, but at least I am forced to walk.
Night bicycle commutes can be some of the most memorable experiences. Especially in the winter when everything is acoustically dampened and the only sounds are the crunching of snow under tires. The smell of fire places and evening meals makes me think of family. The occasional animal in no big hurry to escape my meandering bicycle brings me closer to nature. Maybe I can convince my boss to let me return to the night shift.
I love riding at night. It's always been my suspicion that a well-lit cyclist is more visible than in daytime traffic.