Enough of "Simple" Already

Today I had it.

It came in the form of a title of a blog post - "4 Simple Ways to Stick to a Meal Plan"

And my inner 5 year-old REBELLED!

"Simple this, Simple that, Simplify in 4, 8, 10 easy steps. Simple steps. Get Real!"

When my inner 5 year old gets annoyed enough to speak up rather than just whinging and doing her own thing, I generally listen. It saves time in the end. Not listening leads to messes and broken plans and a general sense of global failure, so listening earlier rather than later reaps huge benefits.

And after calming down long enough to open a new post page, I listened - and learned.

Creativity is not simple. It can not be boiled down into a paint-by-numbers experience or existence. It needs space to grow and become itself. Following a simple anything takes the joy away from the creative part of life. Following a simple this or an easy that in a paint-by-numbers fashion takes away the ability to grow and learn. What happens when Step 4 would work better as Step 2 in my world? What if I don't like Step 3? Or find that I need 4 and 1/2 steps or 7 steps instead of 6? What happens then? You forget I'm not wired like everyone else. I need an example of a finished product, but then get out of the way and let me figure out how to put the design together. It will get there, and it will probably be right. Step by step is great for assembling IKEA furniture, but not necessarily for designing a life style.

I listened.

I learned.

I think I'll be unsubscribing from a few blogs - unless my inner 5 year old thinks that would be too harsh. She's a generally forgiving soul.