What Is As It Is: Life’s Complicated Simplicity

As humans, we have the tendency to complicate simplicity. We also simplify complexity. 

We try to squeeze the entirety of all things into bite-sized pieces. And that oversimplifies life. Of course, the entirety of life will always be too much to swallow. So we kinda choke on it.

Why do we gotta make things so complicated, and lose what is?

Here are a few examples that might help illustrate the intricate plainness so you can better understand what the heck we’re talking about so you can (possibly) understand it in your own life.

All Things Are As They Are

Every thing is what it is. That day was exactly that day, but also only that day. Those thoughts are only those thoughts, however they are. Specific pain is only specific pain, and joy is only the joy that it is. You know?

All things are exactly as they are. That’s the simplicity of life. It literally is what it is.

I guess one could say that ‘all that is’ interconnects with the rest of what is. This complicates what is (in the moment) by morphing it into something else, which is also what it is.

In other words, one element interrelates with all other components in some way. (Even if that’s moving away from it. It’s still an effect.) And all “other” components respond to every other element, too.

Thus, avoidance and magnification of those “pure” details of our lives is likely to cause us strife and suffering. Failure to see things greater or smaller than they actually are tends to birth our torment. At least, in many contexts.

Every little thing- the entirety of all- plays with one another to create the life we experience.

The Simplicity of Language and Understanding

I am an American English speaking person. I like the sounds of other languages, and I like to consider how other languages work. As most of us know, English is weird as hell.

But, to me, so is every other language. One is not better than the other. It’s just a series of sounds that come together to create meaning, in some way.

Because I speak only English fluently, when I hear Russian, I cannot distinguish any single word. I don’t understand what any of the sounds mean. It’s just a bunch of mysterious noises to me. But to Russian-speaking people, it is a conversation.

Regardless- behind the syllables and accent placements, every word in every language is merely some sort of translation of its meaning, or its definition.

On its simplest layer, all communication is deciphering some message.

At any rate, it’s equally interesting to consider all the other forms of communication that are beyond language itself. For example, instrumental music moves me quite deeply. Body language is said to account for most of our communication. And sometimes we can feel and understand beyond any word because the actual message traveled straight to our depths.

Multiple Aspects As They Are, Interconnected

Multiplicity could be about me, personally, and my system. Or it could point to all of humanity. Regardless of the lens, the underlying concept remains.

Let’s focus on (my) uh, ourself for just a moment. I am me. And all my parts are also me. And I am them. Every ‘character’(-istic) must respond to another aspect in me. Which causes a thing- understanding, or insecurity, growth, or stagnation. Whatever that “thing” is. This, in return, affects something else. Which creates a related cause.

(Even when we were most separated, and my parts couldn’t really interact with one another, I had no choice but to respond to aspects in my personal space. Which perpetuated cause and effect.)

If we’re talking about all of society, then I am only one person out of billions. Each one has their own…everything. You have your own heart, your own body, struggles, accomplishments, mind, and so on.

On top of that, we are affected by all elements- like the weather, our mindset, social situations, the food we eat, chemicals, and so on.

Either way, we (whoever that may be) mingle and interact with one another, and all associated “things.” Even if you’re a hermit, and never speak to another person again, you still have no choice but to respond to yourself, in some way.

Therefore, we all will cause something and respond to subsequent effects our whole lives. Because that’s what life is: a never-ending series of cause and effect that plays off other sources of cause, and thus, more effect.

Simple Example Recipe to Demonstrate Interlinked Complexity

Let’s look at recipes as an example. Do you like spaghetti?

Let’s grab a pot, and pour some water in it. Then we put that on the stove, and turn on the burner, to let the water come to a boil. Meanwhile, we’ll choose our noodles.

Do you ever think about how similarly different noodles are? It’s often the same ingredients, just different shapes and textures. And some chefs prefer different pastas because of how they ‘interact’ with the rest of the recipe.

I love angel hair pasta, myself. Is that okay with you? Now we just put in the noodles, the ones we specifically call angel hair pasta. I don’t know why it’s named that, but we know that it’s different from ziti in shape and texture, anyway.

Now, we’ve had the tomato sauce simmering for a while. We used a little oil to start cooking the zucchini, mushrooms, onions, and garlic. The tomatoes are prepped for this recipe, and added to the sauce pot. We seasoned it with parsley, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.

Of course, the sauce can always change depending on availability, convenience, taste, and time. It’s still sauce either way. Each ingredient will marry nicely together. After all, that’s what cooking is: a combined vehicle of nutrition (hopefully) and taste.

Once the pasta is fully cooked, in about four minutes, or so, it will be ready. Although I’m going to mix in a small amount of the pasta water to the sauce as a thickener before draining the rest. You can feel the heat as the remaining hot water falls to the unseen area of the sink.

As you can see, every ingredient is its own thing. The zucchini and garlic are still there, they just took a different form. You know? So every technique, moment, “trick,” speck of salt, and so on played a role in making our dish. Every single trait ultimately created the totality of what is. 

At least for the moment. It will change into something else as it cycles through being.

Life is many separate features, and also new creations. All of it is what it is, as it is.

Simply Complicated Life

Not to reduce the entirety of life to a single recipe, but it can be comparable in premise. All elements (or “ingredients”) are what they are. But they (often) have to interact with other elements to become a thing we can use.

Even if you were to eat raw mushrooms, they are still interacting with your mouth: your tongue and teeth, the countless cells residing there, and everything else that makes a mouth a mouth. Then the food travels to the throat when we swallow it. Then it makes its way down the esophagus to our stomach, where a new process begins.

Life is simple. And complicated. Because that’s life. That’s us. That’s all things.

It is what it is. And it is also what it is when linked with something else.

PHOTO CREDIT : NITISH MEENA