Keep It Simple Stupid

We have all heard this acronym before. This sounds good in theory, but do we really follow through? Honestly with good intentions we try, but still manage to fall victim to ourselves in many ways. We can be guilty of complicating, overbuying, overindulging, and wasting.

In 2020 my family and I dealt with the aftermath of a house fire. In a moment almost everything we owned was destroyed. We were fortunate that everyone was safe. Before my house was demolished for the rebuild, I went several times to rummage through my belongings to see if there were any keepsakes that were salvageable. I was struck by the mix of emotions I felt looking at my own waste. Clothing I hadn’t worn in 3 years, things that were stored in the attic until “I needed them”, now charred or melted beyond recognition. What was personally embarrassing for me though was the graveyard of products in my bathroom. Maybe it’s a ladies thing, or just a “me” thing, but I am notorious for buying a product, using half of it, saving it, but moving on to the next. Maybe it was the lure of a sale price that led me to buy it in the first place, maybe a fear of commitment to stick it out to the end. Likely it was the promise of an amazing product that would work wonders and magic all in one little bottle. Then when disappointment set in, I gave it up and moved to the next. Since I don’t want to be wasteful, I would just keep bottle after bottle and add it to my graveyard of products.

After the fire, I found myself analyzing each purchase, each possession. Was it really needed? Was it necessary? I would stand in line at a store and ask these questions sometimes putting things back because the answer was no. I remembered the morning of the fire, walking around my water soaked, smoky home in ruins. That part of me vowed to move forward having fewer possessions, but quality. Quality wins over quantity almost always. I vowed to keep it simple.

What can keeping it simple look like? Maybe it is excepting simple ingredients, simple products, from simple business owners with simple explanations for why their products are simply good.

Give us a try, we simply call that smart.

Kelly- Purely Balm