Simple Harvest

/ July 5, 2022
Dew drops on wild grass

~

sunsets, smiles, food, family, and friends

live simply, harvest love

reap peace and harmony

share your joys and sorrows

connect with people and nature

harvest a lasting contentment

know abundant happiness

~

Red sunflower

I’ve been thinking more lately about simple living. We’ve been stuck on consumerism ever since corporations started pushing material gain as the path to happiness in the 1920s. This is a false road filled with many pitfalls and dangers. Besides not learning to value our inherent worth, we seek happiness outside ourselves, and become stuck in the consumption trap which is leterally killing us and the planet.

Peony; a brief and beautiful bloomer.

Please consider simplifying your life, buying less, consuming less, and focusing on the quality of your life. Connections, meaningful work, relationships, and gratitude are key pieces to the puzzle of sustainable living. A simple life honors the web of life and need for each to contribute and thrive for the good of all. If you want any tips on living simply, here are three books.

Soulful Simplicity – Courtney Carver

The Year of Less – Cait Flanders

Slow; Simple Living for a Frantic World – Brooke McAlary

Dust at our apartment community.

Surprisingly, I only found two posts of mine on simple living. I’ve been living a modest life since my 30’s when I realized chasing material success was not a satisfying or sustainable path. Here are two posts I wrote.

Simple Living

Slow Money, Humanism, and Nurture Capitalism

May you harvest a simple and fulfilling life.

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61 thoughts on “Simple Harvest”

  1. This is such an eloquent and inspiring blog post, Brad! The beauty you find and document for us in nature is always a gentle joy. And your message is much needed on this amazing little planet floating in an incomprehensibly vast universe. I have not studied the history of advertising — but what a sad development on planet earth it was! (“We’ve been stuck on consumerism ever since corporations started pushing material gain as the path to happiness in the 1920s…”) A hundred years of this false narrative has certainly brought us to the brink regarding sustainable ecosystems. Hurrah for down-sizing, simplifying and humanizing our lives!

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  2. Your photos are so beautiful, Brad. That one of the dew on wild grass is stunning. Wowza. And a joyful, peaceful poem and sentiment expressed throughout your post. I may pick up one of your recommended books. Was there one that you recommend above the others? (I live fairly simply and understand the benefits, but really love practical ideas for implementation, especially since life seems to be getting a little nutso). Thanks for the wonderful post, my friend.

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  4. I love the message here so much Brad of simplifying life to experience what’s truly most valuable, which also includes knowing our own worth without need to have things to define that! I was just talking yesterday about when we lived in an rv and how much it made this so clear. It changed my life. The photo as always is gorgeous. Thank you for sharing your heart 💙

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  8. Gorgeous photos! That first with the dew drops I especially loved. The perfection of those round, glittering drops. So brilliant, And so fleeting. But you captured it for us all to enjoy. The simple beauty and pleasures of life. Thank you.

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  9. Oooh I love the dewdrops on wild grass, Brad! ANd the other pictures too, so beautiful. Yes, I agree, so true, consumerism really is a dead-end street or perhaps rather a hamster wheel that will never bring happiness. I really resonate with your words. ♥ I made a break from some old habits three weeks ago because I realized I was on a glucose fuelled addiction diet. So I went on a 4 day fast to cleanse myself and then started ketogenic eating with intermittent fasting. Ditched the wine too. What a change! No cravings, no hunger pangs. Not thinking about eating anymore. It was the sugars and carbs that kept me on the wheel! Eating and snacking take up so much time, money, effort and energy. I now cycle to my local farmer and get less stuff and enjoy it more! ♥

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  13. I loved that poem, and your great photography Brad… Well you know I embrace a more simple style of living, and we can do that in so many various ways..
    Making do and mend.. Stop throwing away, recycle, and up-cycle items. and ask yourself when you go shopping ‘ Do I really need that item, or is it just that I want it?’ …

    We the people of the world have if we want to see changes… We are going to have to change our consumer habits… And its coming….. and people are not going to like it… But maybe Brad its the Universes way of showing people they can live more simply and be more fulfilled when doing so….

    Great post my friend and thank you … ❤

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    • Thank you for the kind support Sue. I know you’re a champion of simple living and earth care which go hand in hand. If we don’t figure out how to live in harmony with the earth, the planet may do what it needs to survive and humans may disappear. 🌏

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      • Well our Earth Mother will certainly give us a big slap!
        But I have a good feeling She is just teaching us a few lessons… And hopefully Man-Kind will learn to be Kinder to his own species as well as our Earth Mother and all who live here in her living library of wonderful creations….

        We are all so privileged to be here experiencing especially at this time… I do feel we are all in for some Major shifts.. and soon..

        Much love your way Brad… Just keep on keeping on doing what you are doing… You are healing our world on so many levels, you are unaware of… Your heart feels it and knows it… Just keep sending out your abundant love into the grid… ❤ ❤ ❤

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  19. Beautiful post Brad with inspiring words and exquisite pictures. I so agree with you about our need to simplify and that’s exactly what we’re doing it seems, both you and I, focusing on the simple and learning to let go of the rest. Loved this! 💜

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  20. I see so much wonder in the dew drops on the grass and the flowers that have natural beauty. Lovely photos, Brad!
    I totally agree with you on living in simplicity and valuing relationships. We don’t keep up with the Jones. Especially after what I had gone through with cancer. Being alive is enough for me to be grateful. I haven’t gone to the mall for ages. Many of the women I know have their hair done every week. I only have my hair trimmed once or twice a year. We fly to see our grandkids every six weeks, just because my husband can’t stand the rain six months a year where my daughter is. I saved the money so that we could go to them. It’s important for me to be in their lives.
    Thank you for this thoughtful post, Brad. I hope you have a lovely apartment community.

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  21. Wonderful topic, Brad. Simple and sustainable should be the way to go. Buying the latest new thing and chasing external validation will probably leave you wanting more, and empty. Thanks for the book recommendations. I might have a look 🙂

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    • Thanks Mabel. I’m glad you can relate. Really we need completely different models for our economies, politics, and business that are focused on cooperation, sustainability, and quality of life instead of consumption and profit.

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  22. Beautiful photo! Thank you for this nudge and the links. I believe I live relatively simply, but there are probably ways I can simplify more in regard to consumption, scheduling my time, and driving.

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    • Thank you for caring JoAnna. There is always more we can do individually, but the in my opinion the key drivers are our corporate and political systems which need to be reformed or replaced with ones that are based on cooperation and valuing the planet.

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