The Child's Test

How simplicity holds the key to understanding

We all crave a simpler life. Maybe now is the time to live it!

Have you ever come across the age old adage “If you want people to understand your message, test it on a child first” This simple yet profound saying highlights a fundamental truth - the clarity and simplicity of a concept are often best measured by a child’s ability to grasp it.  Simplicity, the phrase “keep it simple” is itself a straightforward and elegant notion.  Its suggests that in the grand tapestry of life, we often find ourselves entangled in needless complexity and bay do I get in a tangle.

In my line of work, which involves facilitating and hosting writing retreats and therapeutic journaling workshops, I strive to keep my message real simple.

Like many business founders, I’m always trying to fine tune my marketing content. Always searching for the right words to explain what it is I offer and how I help my women go on a transformational journey. As much as I love the word ‘transformational’ it is a mouth full. How do I make it simpler to understand?

I had an idea at 3am this morning, as you do. I’ve decided I’m going to talk to my 13 year old son and share my story with him, about why I am on a mission to help mid-life women channel their emotions through therapeutic journaling. And by sharing my story, I wonder what his reaction will be. Will he be interested, intrigued and will he ask me any questions? Which part of my story about my work will he understand? Which part will confuse him? Which element will he totally ignore? Probably all of it. Whatever the outcome, I’m going to ask Sonny to be my audience. He is a curious kid so I know I’ll be tested to the max. This is going to be an interesting and hopefully fun activity for the both of us to participate in.

But my idea will have to wait until next week, as I’m away from my family this week. As some of you may already know, I’ve escaped the city lights for the stark, remote and exposed coastline of West Wales. I call it my ‘happy place’. It’s where I runaway to. When I feel overwhelmed this sheltered cove provides me with so much comfort. It’s as though the cliffs surround me with a mighty embrace. Sometimes I drive here on a whim, to get some clarity, to ponder over my ideas and find my muse. A couple of promises I made myself whilst staying here alone this week - was to focus on writing simple, easy to understand content for ease retreats and to try and live a more simple life by the sea.

Whilst I sit here watching the rolling waves crash onto the shoreline, I wonder why I frequently stray from the path of simplicity in my daily life?  In a world where information flows ceaselessly and the pace of life seems hectic, the art of keeping things simple can get buried beneath the weight of busyness and information overload.  What are your thoughts on this?  How do you keep your life simple? If you run your own business what elements have you kept simple and how to you keep it that way? I’m curious to read your thoughts on this.

I’d like to rekindle my appreciation for simplicity and deliberately reintroduce back into not only my business but into my personal life.  Staying in this ‘house on a beach’ far away from the city is what I call ‘simply living’.  I do believe there is an extraordinary power that lies within a simpler existence, wouldn’t you agree?   What if we all agreed to embark on a quest to uncover the beauty of a simpler life, where clarity, peace and happiness can flourish.   What’s the worst that could happen? One thing I guarantee, is that you will enrich your life, rejuvenate your spirit and bring a sense of harmony to what often is a chaotic world.  

If I was back in the city, I would have made a couple of unnecessary trips to the supermarket, bought a few non essentials, be £20 less well off and probably overwhelmed with what to cook for dinner.  Yet here in this rugged coastal bay, I’ve walked back and forth from the beach house to the shoreline, ate granary toast with lashings of butter and jam, drank strong coffee, worked on my business content, read a book, made the fire, lit a candle, daydreamed out of the bay window over the ocean for the 10th time. So simple. So relaxing. So enriching. This is my kind of simple living with ease.

Until the next time

Take care & stay safe xxx