Less Is More

Day 260

“Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius.”

– George Sand

We often think we need more than we really do, and sometimes the Universe intervenes and guides us to something better.

I came across today’s Food For Thought Friday series quote by “fluke”; of course, we know there’s no such thing. Today’s passage is very fitting because the thing that I had been holding in my mind all week that manifested yesterday was my new computer – which is how I’m able to write again, and get caught up on my posts for the last few days.

As you can imagine, I use my computer a lot – so portability, lightweight, and speed are important factors for me. After careful consideration of the options, I ended up going with a Macbook, which has a very slim design, so it doesn’t have all the ports and features I’m used to having with my higher-end Macbook Pro. In choosing it, I had to say no to some extra features, but what I’ve already found is that it has everything that I need to make my daily experience even better. Ultimately, I’m happier for it.

Sometimes, focusing on the basics has more value than all the bells and whistles. Here’s what one of the great visionaries of our time had to say on the topic:

“Steve Jobs gave a small private presentation about the iTunes Music Store to some independent record label people.

My favorite line of the day was when people kept raising their hand saying,

“Does it do [x]?” and “Do you plan to add [y]?”

Finally, Jobs said, “Wait, wait — put your hands down.

Listen: I know you have a thousand ideas for all the cool features iTunes could have. So do we.

But we don’t want a thousand features.

That would be ugly.

Innovation is not about saying yes to everything. It’s about saying no to all but the most crucial features.”

– Derek Sivers

Are you holding on to a perceived idea of what you need, that might be in the way of your happiness?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!