Perspectives on Seneca's advice to live simply

I find it surprising that so many people equate living simply with living in poverty. They regard deprivation and discomfort as the prerequisites of simplicity. They abhor high ambitions in particular, because they require complex planning.Seneca contributed to the confusion because his 89th Letter to Lucilius advises readers to prepare for death, meditate daily on their mortality, and stop worrying about the trivialities that fill their days.It’s easy to preach simplicity to people who spend their days meditating about death, but the rest of us need to solve all kinds of problems, plan for the future, and pursue our dreams.In other writings, Seneca added to the confusion by condemning the pursuit of wealth, which he regarded as “a slave to the wise, but a master to the fool.” In his eyes, a simple lifestyle motivates us to grow in wisdom, while luxury and comfort have the opposite effect.I must however regard with suspicion the fact that Seneca judged luxury and comfort incompatible with simplicity. His dire admonitions against wealth set the prelude to medieval asceticism.Even if Seneca’s call for simplicity was well meant, I would be reluctant to endorse, for instance, the extreme asceticism of Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). Francis had drawn inspiration from the Gospels to adopt a lifestyle that corresponds one hundred per cent to Seneca’s recommendations.Nevertheless, I am reluctant to categorise such a lifestyle as simple just because it entails poverty. To grow and harvest wheat seems to me a simpler way to secure food than living in the forest and picking fruits and berries.Similarly, to acquire valuable skills and pursue a productive career seems to me a simpler path to happiness than meditating six hours a day, sleeping on the ground, and eating very little.Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/the-practice-of-senecas-advice-to-live-simply/