Margaret Arnold • November 16, 2024
Benedictine Lessons in Simplicity

I have learned about simplicity in some unexpected places. Simplicity reveals itself in the smallest gestures: using both sides of copy paper when printing, returning chairs to their proper place before leaving a conference room, turning off lights, carefully thinking about the lettering design and placement of signage. These are all examples of simplicity I observed and came to appreciate working for a Benedictine community. Although Benedictines don't formally commit to poverty in their vows, their founding document, The Rule of St. Benedict, emphasizes moderation and contentment with basic provisions … a simple lifestyle.


I first noticed the practices with a colleague who introduced me to repurposing the other side of copy paper surprisingly in a work setting for draft documents. Why not use the other side of copy paper until you are ready to present the final draft? This is a practice that I have kept for nearly 20 years and goes beyond recycling and reuses the blank side of the paper.


i have learned about simplicity in some unexpected places


With the same team, I was taught a form of Benedictine hospitality by pushing in conference and dining table chairs at the end of a meeting or lunch before departing. It seemed to not only show respect for the material furniture but greeted the guest who would use the space next. This practice – pushing in chairs after meetings and meals – taught me to see space as something we share with future users. Now I find myself pushing in chairs, tidying up areas in any space I’m in - meeting rooms, restaurants, hotel rooms, etc., - and find others following my example. The extra step ensures savings, kindness to the next group and simple respect for space.

As a marketing communications professional, preparing concepts, materials and campaigns for campus exterior signage and displays for approval became the purview of a monastic design committee. In our fast-paced world of viral content and disposable ideas, the monastics’ slow, deliberate approach to design and visual space can test your patience. Yet over time, I came to appreciate the community’s slow and deliberate process as the world moves faster and faster and things and ideas become so viral and disposable.


While I’m no expert in The Rule of St. Benedict, the values and people who embody them have deeply influenced my life. Beyond the community’s larger stewardship work and programs, it’s these small, mindful practices that are my daily companions. Look closely, you’ll see simplicity’s silver threads in every corner of your life.


  • Notice one space you use and how you can leave it ready for the next person.
  • Try the two-sided paper practice this week.
  • Keep an eye out for simple, thoughtful design. Did it still catch your attention?



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Past Blogs

Maple syrup bottles on the counter with holiday decor.

The Wisdom and Challenge of Simplicity

By Margaret Arnold • January 1, 2026
As I go about my Silverish Simplicity days, I've started mentally categorizing my activities and intentions. Is this a lightbulb moment? Is this extreme? Is this an add-on to an existing idea? Since this is the time of year to look back while looking ahead, I'm sharing a few ideas in the categories below with the warning, dear readers, that they aren't for everyone—but no doubt there is wisdom and a challenge in each of them. Epiphanies After more than five years of downsizing and living more simply, I continue to have epiphanies as I go about my day. They come suddenly and are ideas I can't wait to try. Most challenge me to reduce, reuse, or repurpose and lean towards quality. One recent example: splitting and gifting a gallon of Saint John's Abbey Maple Syrup (one of 24 gallons bottled last season) won in a silent auction. With handmade tags added to glass bottles I had been collecting, this small-batch, limited production liquid gold became perfect gifts for my children (all who have visited the sugar shack) and a few hostesses. Extremes Some things I do to help the environment or save money would make my own family roll their eyes. Toilet paper, for instance. I save dryer lint in empty toilet paper rolls to create fire starters for outdoor bonfires. Saving dryer lint was a trick I learned from a friend way before I was Silverish Simplicity. I added the empty toilet paper roll for a more contained starter (and to keep the lint out of sight). An extra: I challenge myself to use only three perforated squares rather than grabbing half the roll. The cost savings and septic system benefits are real. I won’t go into any greater detail! ... I continue to have epiphanies as i go about my day ...
Christmas tree with white lights in front of a window, indoors.

A Season of Foraging, Layering and Reflection

By Margaret Arnold • December 6, 2025
Five years ago, during the Covid season, my children came home to find tables of sorted items, empty storage closets, and the beginning of a life of simplicity and repurposing. Today, that simplicity—downsizing, repurposing, purchasing quality—continues. It's my go-to, my reset, my happy place. This fall and winter seasons have been busy, so here are some Silverish Simplicity insights: Foraging – For several years now, I've foraged for my own fall and winter outdoor planter decorations: pines, dogwood, sumac, birch. This year was especially fun with the discovery of hard-to-find bittersweet and cutting down our own small balsam fir for the holidays. Best of all, I shared the love of foraging with my daughter and her husband. Layering – I heard about "layering" Christmas décor rather than completely switching out your home, and it matched my intentions perfectly. This year I added touches of the holidays here and there without removing any existing décor. In the process, more than two totes of Christmas decorations moved on to family or Goodwill. With three children purchasing new homes this year, it was the perfect time to pass along items that matched their interests—from prints and books to snowmen and ornaments. It's fun to visit their homes and see these items being used, so it wasn't a complete farewell. ... A perfect time to pass along items that matched their interests ...
Laura Ingalls Wilder Book Collection

Stories in Small Moments: Essays and Simple Living

By Margaret Arnold • October 11, 2025
After nearly 30 blog posts about simple living, I continue to find enjoyment in downsizing and being intentional. This summer reinforced my commitment to simplicity in two ways: first, letting things move on—including my 55-year collection of Laura Ingalls Wilder books to my son's fiancée, a teacher, with whom I discovered a shared love of the series; and secondly, using groceries wisely, experimenting with what's on hand and increasing freezing techniques rather than waste (more on that later). This intentional approach extends to reading, one of life's simplest pleasures. Some of my best memories and connections to people are through reading. Laura Ingalls Wilder's books read in the early 1970s remind me of home upstairs in the girls’ “dormitory” bedroom. The Sound of Music on a family road trip in a GMC motorhome in 1976 gave me moments of escape alongside five siblings. Kate DiCamillo, Gary Paulsen and the Harry Potter series remind me of my children as emerging readers and their well-worn books. Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig and Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner connect me to an early book club of serious readers and friends I still cherish today. This intentional approach extends to reading ...