When I went to log in to the weekly Mussar meeting last week, I was locked out of the Jewish Live account – some zoom reset required me to change the password. I called my contact – No Answer! Five Minutes till the meeting starts. What to do? I stopped for a moment, and then decided to set up a new zoom link from my own account. Although we started 10 minutes late, everyone made it.
It felt like the universe was sending a message because we are just about to start practicing the soul trait of Order. The best way to practice Order when things get crazy is to plan ahead, and have a plan B already in place. Indeed, this zoom thing happened once before, so I knew that I might need to send out a different link. Of course when we don’t have a plan B already, we need to stop a moment to plan one. Planning is better than reacting when things get crazy.
But there is a larger issue at play here: Simplification. Jewish Wisdom for Coping with a Pandemic has been going for over three years, using the Jewish Live platform, as well as weekly publicity from my home synagogue. Neither one has sent many, if any, participants lately. Therefore, I decided to simplify by creating a new zoom link from the American Mussar account, and to discontinue the synagogue and Jewish Live Platforms. As a bonus, we can change the name of the meeting now that the pandemic has passed.
This plan to practice Order when things get crazy may seem pretty simple. That’s because it is. While Order does encompass complex mechanisms that only work if everything is just right, we are much better served by robust, simple systems.
Can you think of a time when your life was improved by simplification? Please hit reply and share. I answer every comment.
Photo by John Diez
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You can see a recording of the Mussar gathering where we explored Order based on this post here:
https://youtu.be/E_9piJr1kbA