Case Study Two

This is somewhere in between poetry and a write-up. I couldn’t decide how to express this fully, it’s complex. But alas, my perspective on the simple life; 

As a man, life’s not easy

Somewhere along the journey 

We have this hope

Successfully satiating our souls that it’ll eventually be

But the truth is 

Tension will always exist 

The tension between financial prudence and enjoyment   

Displaying emotional intelligence or logical astuteness 

Giving adequate time to family 

Or 

Sacrificing quality time to work on the very vision they’ve encouraged you to pursue 

A life of purity and devotion to God 

As opposed to 

The freedom to do what we want 

Counting the cost of what it requires to be 

The complete man 

Became that, and still stand 

With virtues that wealth cannot buy 

Seems as difficult as a needle entering a camel’s eye

We pursue simplicity 

Because it breeds predictability

Which arguably makes life a bit more easy 

But pursuing simplicity 

Especially in the 21st century  

Has never been more difficult 

It casts my mind back to Genesis 1 

God created the world by speaking 

6 days and the deed was done 

But the complexity of the human anatomy is crazy 

As are the atomic structure of the seas

The flaccid luminescent creatures that reside within it 

Planet Earth majestically tilts on its axis

Exquisitely distanced from the sun 

Just enough 

To not burn or freeze its inhabitants to death 

Our world is complex 

Yet a being simply spoke 

Regardless of your religious disposition 

There’s a principle to unravel 

That’s layered and elusive 

Simplicity and complexity aren't mutually exclusive 

So this is relevant to 

A man’s side hustle that’s started well and gone lopsided 

Or the man wallowing on day 26 

Because he failed at remaining clean without beholding anything obscene 

Pursuing a life of simplicity has immense complexities 

I’m an advocate for building predictable systems that facilitate growth 

But unpredictable events can act as a hindrance to the vision you’ve written 

Humans are not simple beings 

We never have been and we never will be 

But perhaps the glorious thing 

Is the simplicity of our complexity 

That we can still strive to dot our eyes and cross our t’s 

And eliminate all things that strive to distract 

Not failing to plan because we don’t plan to fail

Stripping away the emotional baggage that derails 

Become creatures of habit as certain non-negotiables define our actions 

Yet

Still make room for our complexity

The days when we genuinely need to sleep in 

On the off-days, we need grace and community 

Absence of rigidity

Freedom for spontaneity and creativity 

Appreciating the times to laugh, watch movies, read 

To ride the waves of life 

Rather than loathing the very presence of the tides 

And for some 

More specifically for me 

My utmost dependency upon divinity 

To help me navigate life wisely  

Understanding myself with bullseye-level accuracy 

That for me, 

Is striving to lead a simple life 

Not trying to negate parts of our humanity 

But living fully amidst our nuance and complexity 

Yours Truly, 

A Simple Man

Caleb Asamoah

A man in love with Jesus and then SHEKINAH

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Case Study Three

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Case Study One