An Unexpected Step Toward the Spiritual Discipline of Simplicity

By Michelle Chung

The spiritual discipline of simplicity is in its essence the refocusing of our attention on the things of God and away from the many enticing things of the world. The practice of simplicity can take many forms. For example, it can be the practice of being content with what we have, holding loosely to our material possessions, and uncluttering our lives from the noise, excess, and unnecessary distractions that make it difficult to see God and remember the great wisdom, peace, and freedom He offers us. 

As some of you might know, one of the things I’ve chosen to give up this Lent is Instagram. In an unexpected and unintended way, my decision to fast Instagram has become a small way that I have been able to practice the spiritual discipline of simplicity. 

Instagram is one of the only major social media outlets that I still use regularly. I’m often browsing new and suggested posts on a daily and sometimes hourly basis (depending on the day), usually when I’m waiting for something, have downtime at work/home, or am just bored. My feed is full of photos of friends, cooking recipes/tips, celebrity gossip, workout videos, news, cute puppy videos, and travel recommendations, among other miscellaneous things. 

All these things on my Instagram feed are not intrinsically bad things. But as I take time during Lent to reflect on my use of Instagram over the past year, I have realized that my constant and unbridled viewing of these things throughout the day/every day, had led to an addiction that I didn’t realize I had until I gave it up.

I had joked on Ash Wednesday how I had accidentally browsed through my Instagram three times that day without even realizing I was doing it! Though somewhat funny at the time, it is also kind of frightening to think about how deeply addicted I had become to this brightly colored app on my phone, to the point where my hands, without thinking, would automatically take me there when I would unlock my phone. 

Giving up Instagram this Lent (and writing this blog post) has given me some time to step back and reflect, and I am reminded that we are constantly being shaped and influenced by the things we look at each day; and the more we look at and focus on these things, the more they preoccupy our minds and influence our desires, often times allowing addictions to slowly creep into our lives unnoticed. 

From looking at Instagram multiple times each day/every day, my attention and desires were constantly being directed and focused on consumerism through ads and achieving happiness through instant gratification. On a smaller scale, Instagram has allowed ideas like YOLO and FOMO to creep in and preoccupy my mind on a perpetual basis. All these things, when given free rein, can contribute to greater feelings of anxiousness, impatience, envy, discontent, fatigue, among other unpleasant things, and ultimately can cloud our vision and purpose as Christians aspiring to follow Jesus. 

As I remove Instagram from my daily routine, this has opened time and space to reflect and remember that God’s love for us is uncomplicated and abundant; God’s wisdom is sure and unwavering; He teaches us how to live a life that is good, beautiful, and true; and He provides us with purpose and a path to genuine peace and freedom to choose what is good. 

In my small step of removing Instagram from my daily routine (and undo my addiction), I have been able to exercise simplicity by slowly uncluttering my mind from some of the noise, excess, and distractions of the world; and by removing even just a little bit of distraction from my life, I have been able to see God a little bit more and a little bit better in my day-to-day. 

I share this blog post with you all, first to acknowledge that it’s not easy to practice simplicity, particularly in this day and age, where there is just so much stuff around us, vying for our attention at all times (I often found myself replacing Instagram with some other form of distraction, e.g. online shopping, podcasts, etc.); but also I write to encourage you to try and challenge yourself in taking one small step toward practicing simplicity this week (or longer if you choose!). And in your practice of simplicity, I hope you can unclutter your life/mind from some of the distractions that surround us, redirect your attention to God, and experience God’s abundant love, peace, and freedom, in small and big ways. 

— Tips/References —

Some ways you might be able to exercise the spiritual discipline of simplicity this week:

• Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status
• Reject something that might be producing an addiction in you
• Work on giving things away
• Enjoying things without owning them
• Express gratitude for the things you have

Footnote 1 – A quote Ken shared with us a long while ago, that I really like, defining freedom:

“Freedom means knowing how to reflect on what we do; knowing how to evaluate, which are the behaviors that make us grow. It means always choosing the good… being free to always choose the good is challenging, but it will make you persons with a backbone, who know how to face life, [and live as] courageous and patient persons.” – Pope Francis.