There is an old fable involving a swan and a crane that reads like this:

A beautiful swan alighted by the banks of the water in which a crane was wading about seeking snails. For a few moments, the crane viewed the swan in stupid wonder and then inquired:

“Where do you come from?”

“I come from heaven!” replied the swan.

“And where is heaven?” asked the crane.

“Heaven!” said the swan, “Heaven! Have you never heard of heaven?” And the beautiful bird went on to describe the grandeur of her home. She told of streets of gold, and the gates and walls made of precious stones, and of rivers, pure as crystal. In eloquent terms the swan sought to describe the hosts who live in the other world, but without arousing the slightest interest on the part of the crane.

Finally the crane asked: “Are there any snails there?”

“Snails!” repeated the swan; “No! Of course there are not.”

“Then,” said the crane, as it continued its search along the slimy banks of the pool, “you can have your heaven. I want snails!”

Too often, we live our lives as the crane. We choose to focus our attention on the temporal enjoyment of things that are less important: money, big houses, nice cars, fancy clothes, cutting-edge technology…

And in exchange, we have lost sight of the beautiful things that truly matter.

Many years ago, a 10-year-old boy walked up to the counter of a soda shop and climbed onto a stool. He caught the eye of the waitress and asked, “How much is an ice cream sundae?”

“Fifty cents,” the waitress replied. The boy reached into his pockets, pulled out a handful of change, and began counting. The waitress frowned impatiently. After all, she had other customers to wait on.

The boy squinted up at the waitress. “How much is a dish of plain ice cream?” he asked. The waitress sighed and rolled her eyes. “Thirty-five cents,” she said with a note of irritation.

Again, the boy counted his coins. At last, he said, “I’ll have the plain ice cream, please.” He put a quarter and two nickels on the counter. The waitress took the coins, brought the ice cream, and walked away.

About ten minutes later, she returned and found the ice cream dish empty. The boy was gone. She picked up the empty dish—then swallowed hard.

There on the counter, next to the wet spot where the dish had been, were two nickels and five pennies. The boy had had enough for a sundae, but he had ordered plain ice cream so he could leave her a tip.

- source: Mr. Little John’s Secrets to a Lifetime of Success

In a world that tells us to “get all we can,” every so often it’s good to be reminded to “give something away.”

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a father of a wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the intention of showing him how poor people live so his son would be grateful for the luxurious life he had been provided. they spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. on their return home, the father asked his son, “how was the trip?” “it was great, dad.” “did you see how poor people live?” the father asked. “oh, yeah,” said the son. “well, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

the son answered: “we have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden, but they have a creek that has no end. we have imported lanterns in our garden, but they have countless stars at night. our patio reaches to the front yard, but they have the whole horizon. we have a small piece of land to live on, but they have fields that go beyond our sight. we have servants who serve us, but they serve others. we buy our food, but they grow theirs. we have walls around our property to protect us, but they have friends to protect them.”

the boy’s father was speechless. then his son added, “thanks, dad, for helping me to see how blessed others are so that i can better appreciate what few blessings we truly enjoy.”

i recently heard this story of two powerful men:

in 1972, george mcgovern ran against richard nixon for president of the united states. mcgovern and charles colson (nixon’s advisor) started on opposite sides of the political spectrum… but they both ended up with the same regrets.  chuck colson wrote this, “as i think back on my life my biggest regret is not spending more time with my kids.  making family your top priority means going against a culture where materialism and workaholism are rampant.  it means realizing that you may not advance as fast in your career as others do.  it means being willing to accept a lower standard of living knowing that you’re doing it for your kids.  it means giving them the emotional security that they’ll draw on for the rest of their lives.”

later, george mcgovern wrote a book about his daughter terry. she was an alcoholic and in 1994, she was found frozen to death in a snowdrift after a night of drinking.  after his daughter died, george mcgovern poured over her diaries and contacted many of her friends and discovered that he hadn’t been the parent that he thought he was.  while reading her diaries he discovered that while he was spending eighteen hours a day working for political causes terry was writing in her diary how much she missed her daddy.  and that he probably didn’t care about her anyway.”  mcgovern left this message to parents: “show more love to your kids by spending more time with them.  especially as teenagers.  no matter what it costs your career.  that way,” he said “neither of you will have regrets.”  he went on to say “i’d give everything i have – and i mean everything – for one more afternoon with terry.  just to let her know how much i loved her.”

remember to give your loved ones something that is far more valuable than anything you can buy at a store… give them more of your time.

one day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. he was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.

about that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. he noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. “you aren’t going to catch many fish that way,” said the businessman to the fisherman. “you should be working rather than lying on the beach!”

the fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, “and what will my reward be?” “well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!” was the businessman’s answer. “and then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman, still smiling. the businessman replied, “you will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!” “and then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman again. the businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman’s questions. “you can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!” he said.

“and then what will my reward be?” repeated the fisherman. the businessman was getting angry. “don’t you understand? you can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!” once again the fisherman asked, “and then what will my reward be?” the businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, “don’t you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! you can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. you won’t have a care in the world!”

the fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “and what do you think i’m doing right now?”

in the 5th century, arenius determined to live a holy life. so he abandoned the conforms of egyptian society to follow a simpler lifestyle in the desert. yet whenever he visited the great city of alexandria, he spent time wandering through its markets. asked why, he explained that his heart rejoiced at the sight of all the things he didn’t need.

i realize with the increased use of search toolbars and igoogle, you may have not noticed the new google homepage. but it is making news.

google has just launched a new, more minimalist version of their home page.  while i have commented earlier on their already groundbreaking approach to webpage design, their new design features just the google logo and two buttons upon opening the page - the remaining elements of the page are hidden until you move your mouse, at which point they fade in.  check it out yourself at google.com.

google explains their decision, “for the vast majority of people who come to the google homepage, they are coming in order to search, and this clean, minimalist approach gives them just what they are looking for first and foremost. for those users who are interested in using a different application like gmail, google image search or our advertising programs, the additional links on the homepage only reveal themselves when the user moves the mouse.”

this is, of course, not a blog about technology or computers.  this is a blog about our journey towards minimalism and figuring out what that actually means.  but when the most powerful name on the internet journeys towards minimalism too, i can’t help but find encouragment. 

perhaps there is some pretty sound advice in just keeping the things that are “first and foremost” in my life… and letting the rest fade-out.

related posts:

• minimalist practices on the rise.

mujiis a japanese retail company (with now three stores in nyc) which sells a wide variety of household and consumer goods.  they are distinguished by minimalist design, emphasis on recycling, avoidance of waste in production and packaging, and no-logo or “no-brand” policy.

muji is quoted as saying, “unless we adopt values informed by moderation and self-restraint, the world will find itself at an impasse.  all people living today deep down are probably already beginning to consider greater self-restraint as a way of life.”

i’m not sure allpeople are beginning to consider self-restraint as a way of life, but it certainly seems to be a growing trend – the popularity of this website being one small piece of anecdotal evidence.

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• minimalist practices on the rise.
• minimalism: the heart’s desire of most.

you don’t need to chase everything you’ve always wanted if you already have everything you need.

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• other quotes

not shopping fast, but a shopping fast.

recently, i read the story of dara and jon kurtz who just completed a one-year shopping fast.  you can read more of their story here or in the september 2009 edition of redbook magazine. 

the family of four (husband, wife, 9-year old daughter, 6-year old daughter) developed five rules for their one-year shopping freeze which began on february 15, 2008.  the rules included: 1) no purchases for one year, 2) back to school clothes for the girls were allowed, 3) gifts could only be books, giftcards, or homemade items, 4) purchasing make-up was allowed, and 5) any form of family entertainment was allowed - and encouraged.

my hat’s off to the kurz family.  our family has made similar commitments in the past, but never for one year.  we once committed to a 2-week shopping freeze (groceries and all) until the credit card billing cycle ended.  we once went for a 3-week commitment (groceries exempt) until the end of a month.  and we have completed numerous other short-term commitments in the past.  but for the kurtz family to commit to a full-year freeze and complete the task is very impressive.

i’m not drawing attention to their journey for the sake of challenging you to do the same.  instead, i am commenting on their journey to draw attention to the results that they listed: 

• “not being consumed with shopping gave me time to think about what i most valued in life”
• “i realized that there were external distractions that took my time away from my family”
• “both kids are more appreciative”
• “it made our family closer and happier”
• “life feels simpler and sweeter”

and anyone who has traveled the journey to a less materialistic life will attest to the same.  maybe there really is something magical to this idea of becoming minimalist…

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• minimalism - the hearts desire of most
• benefits of minimalism