“Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify, simplify.”
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

How many ways can we say this, or hear this? “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” “Look at the big picture,” “All’s well that ends well.” The beauty of Japanese art is in its simplicity. Artists know that the empty spaces are just as important as the brush strokes. So much can be expressed with just a few lines. Musicians understand that just a few notes can convey an emotion, they don’t need a whole symphony every time. And poets need just a few words, not an entire textbook. Is there anything more beautiful than “I love you?” Life can be simple, sweet and oh, so beautiful, if we just allow it to be.
-Lissa Coffey