Tranquility comes from removing the erroneous but as to not dilute the beauty and harmony that remains. Rather, it illuminates it.

You may not practice Zen Buddhism but you may have or practice Zen-like qualities that produce feelings of complete calmness, stillness and tranquility in your life.

Perhaps this is through clearing out your closet. This makes you feel better.

Perhaps this is through clearing your workspace before the end of each day so that each subsequent day has a fresh, clean slate. This makes you work better.

Perhaps this is through counting all your items and making a list. This makes you conscientious of the things you own, whether they are necessary or not.

Perhaps this is through taking a 4-5 mile long walk in order to clear your mind. This makes you feel calm.

Perhaps this is through sitting on a bench in a park under a tree. This makes you feel still.

Finding your inner harmony will vary from person to person.

Much like how our communication tendencies and subtle nuances make one city or one country differ from another. A Bostonian will sound quite different than a Londoner. Both speak English as a language but can be communicating completely different things.

And so the same applies when finding your own inner harmony. Two people can be taking a long walk. One person is focused solely on how many calories she can burn with the number of steps she is taking.

The other is focused solely on the leisurely pace at which she strolls, not bothering to think of the time or the distance. She just merely walks for the sake of walking. Both can find inner harmony, no matter the intent.

Intent is important. A desire to live a minimalist life can drive the intent into actual action. Action that allows the person to start doing things (clearing out clutter, traveling, quitting one’s day job) that will free him/her to live a simple life.

The tranquility of Zen is not necessarily all about aesthetics. Of just what pleases the eye.

Aesthetics is merely a part of what makes a Zen-like life (or a minimalist life).

Tranquility comes from removing the erroneous but as to not dilute the beauty and harmony that remains. Rather, it illuminates it.

Illuminating the creativity that is within us all. Illuminating the joy we are all so capable of. Illuminating our beautiful lives we were meant to live.

There is peace in this. Trust that.

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This is the second post in a series of posts entitled Finding Inner Harmony. Read the first post The Self-Evident Reality of Minimalism. All this is leading up to the launch of my new eBook, The Radical Minimalist: From Regular to Radical, 47 Ways to Take Your Life to the Edge on 10.10.10. I hope you enjoy this and will come back on the 10^th to check out the new eBook.

Fear, Exposed

Check out my guest post in a series entitled Fear, Exposed by my wonderful friend Ash Ambirge of The Middle Finger Project.

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