Notes from the Spring Creek Arts Guild

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Applying the KISS Principle

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  • Notes from the Spring Creek Arts Guild
    Notes from the Spring Creek Arts Guild
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I still have a list of topics for my “Oversimplification” series, but over the last week I realized I needed to throw it into reverse for a minute. Sometimes there is a need to simplify, to strip away the extraneous details, to distill things down to the essence—to apply the KISS principle. In case you have not heard of one of my favorites, KISS stands for “Keep It Simple, Stupid”

The key to KISSing without OVERsimplifying is to simplify with careful thought and with solid information. Like most things, adding emotion to the process of KISSing is going to add complication and is going to cloud judgment. Adding too much information from too many sources also clouds the process. It is best to seek the most solid information from the most reliable, unbiased sources and to never, ever ask various people for advice and certainly not for their opinions. Now, this will not stop people from offering advice or opinions, but there is no reason you have to listen to or consider that unsolicited information.

Here is one example of how I have applied the KISS principle recently: I do not like being sick. If I can avoid being sick, I am going to avoid it. I have looked at the science behind vaccinations, and I choose to get vaccinated against several different illnesses. I get the flu shot every year. I have had the seasonal flu a total of three times in my life, and I never want it again. So I not only have the shot, but when flu season starts, I wash my hands a lot and carry around a little bottle of hand sanitizer. I am extra careful when I leave home and am around groups of people. These are simple steps I can take to minimize my risk of catching the flu. Last year when I went ahead and caught the flu anyway, I stayed at home so I would not spread it to anyone else. Thankfully, I have the resources available to be able to do that. What few times I did need to be around people, I wore a paper surgical face mask so that I would not be spreading the virus around to people via coughs, sneezes, or talking. It is a simple kindness to others. I think you can extrapolate from here how my KISS practices have played out in the past four months.

It can be hard to KISS when there is chaos, panic, and/or a lack of information. During those episodes, sometimes the KISSer has to make the best decision possible with what little he or she has to work with, and go with that until things calm down or more information arrives. Unfortunately, there are often people who, for reasons that are totally beyond me, are invested in keeping the panic and chaos stirred up for as long as possible. The best course for the KISSer is to block out those people and keep taking the next KISS-Principled step.

I wish all of you calm and rational simplicity as we continue to live out this crazy era. Take care of yourselves, and please think about how you can be kind and responsible toward others. <SpringCreekArtsGuild@gmail.com>