If you’ve been here for a minute, you surely know of my love for Emily Ley & the Simplified brand. I’ve had the privilege of being a part of several book launch teams over the years, and aside from Rachel Held Evans’ books, this has certainly been the most humbling experience of a launch team. Her latest book, When Less Becomes More: Making Space For Slow, Simple, & Good, hit shelves this month (just in time for the holidays) and I have been highly anticipating this release!
In addition to her planners, her first two books are treasures. Grace Not Perfection spoke to me deeply on a soul level & A Simplified Life provided the tactical tidbits to get me on the path to a slower pace. But man, When Less Becomes More pulled me from the tip of the iceberg and soaked through to my bones. Maybe it’s because she dedicated it to her daughter. Or maybe it’s because as women we are so uniquely tasked with finding the fine line between this life of connectedness and overwhelm to one of simple and good.
Emily’s words resonate deeply with a message that is so incredibly needed in this world. What I love the most is that she moves into a place of genuine questioning about just how to achieve a life of slow, simple, and good. She does not claim to have all the answers, she acknowledges her access to resources and privilege as well as her success, but she doesn’t she stop there – she orients us to the Gospel and the reality that God wants us to be so much more than what we think is “perfect” and that we were made for so much more. Truly a delightful read, and one I can’t wait to pass along to my own daughter.
Emily writes about the rush and chasing that this life of overwhelm brings us. Constantly searching for newer, bigger, better, MORE. But who gets to define what that end goal is? Since when did we move away from what is good, and pure, and simple to chase after what is better, and new, and complicated? My SIL once described me as “simple” (when we were shopping for my wedding dress & the girl wanted to know my personality) and I took that as the best compliment there was. Straightforward, unpretentious, and without frivolous ornamentation. What happened to that girl? I love how Emily puts it:
I believe God designed our hearts in such a way that only He can provide true, lasting contentment. Yet we (myself included!) work so hard to try to achieve that “perfect” life—the feelings of peace and happiness that accompany true satisfaction. You know the drill: we strive to reach “that life” by making the right career decisions, buying the right throw pillows, living in the right neighborhood, getting our kids into the right preschools. But then what? We want more. We’re not quite there yet. We max out our credit cards. We max out our schedules. We max out our lives. But when is enough enough?
Since December of last year, my heart has longed for a slower, simpler, way of life. I was over all of the chaos and hustle and general craziness that this world had come to offer. Come January, I had had enough, and then one of my best friends almost died. And I almost lost it. I was so overcome with ridding my life of frivolous items, events, and people, that I was just about ready to cut everything out. But, as often is the case, my sweet husband reminded me to take a deep breath and a step back. We made a plan to seek out what mattered the most to us and to stop putting those things off. We moved to a house with more land, cut some things out of schedules, and chose what was most important to keep. We decluttered ruthlessly, and sought to live out a life of fulfillment that comes when less becomes more. Less stuff. Less hustle. Less guilt. Less commitment. Less of us, to make room for more of Him.
For me this has also looked like cleaning out social media – something counter intuitive to building a brand, I know. But, this year I have trimmed down Facebook friends, who I follow on Instagram, and largely my followers as well. I’ve stepped back to reevaluate where my intentions for this space were, and while voluntarily decreasing my audience by a good couple thousand was difficult to swallow, it’s been the best decision for my soul. The moment I stopped treating this space as a business, the moment it returned to its true origin – a place of open community and sharing what truly matters to me. Emily touches on technology in this book right from the beginning & I can’t this get quote out of my mind:
“The internet isn’t all bad. Neither is social media. When used for good and with responsible boundaries, they can be mighty, powerful forces for positivity in the world. They can unite and connect and provide. When overused or used for evil, they can divide, breed lies, and tear down. This is where we must be vigilant. We can’t haphazardly allow social media into our lives or our children’s lives for that matter. We have to be mindful and proactive about how we use these tools, what our values are surrounding them, and how we will govern their place in our lives—not if but when they become too much.”
Man, she nails it. I have been reading so many books recently (check out my highlight on Insta Stories for all the details) and the common thread woven through them all is this; the idea that we all have such a need to go back to a slower, simpler time where we connect with people for community, not to gain likes and followers. Not to “influence”, but rather to do life together. And while this can certainly happen through the internet, real soul giving relationships manifest off-screen as well. We were made for human connection. We were made for more.
You can get WLBM online at Simplified (a book bundle is also available), Barnes & Noble (Signed Copy), Amazon, Target (Bonus Content in Stores only) or several other retailers
Follow along with Emily Ley on Instagram: @emilyley & @simplified and on Facebook
*I was provided an advanced copy of this book from the publisher, however all opinions are my own.
