Voluntary Simplicity and Simple Living

[squidette]

I have been heading in this direction for a while now, without realising that so many other people have done this and are doing it.

Its such a welcome relief to be able to call simple living a personal choice in order to reap the benefits, rather than as a solution to financial problems, frugality dressed in an 'acceptable' phrase or to make token contributions to offset the increasing power of consumerism and the Time that it takes from me.

Is anyone else here choosing to live this way more and if so, are there any real battles you have faced with what others think you SHOULD be doing?

I would be glad of any feedback or experiences.

It's something I've often felt called to, but get hopelessly wrong. Having dcs makes it easier in a way, but also harder. I'd be interested to share ideas etc as maybe it is something I should be embracing this New Year.

Do you come at this from any particular faith pov?

Hi there. I have long harboured an ambition to live a life 'pared to the core' and have been moving in this direction over a number of years. The act of living a conscious life - what I would call 'intentional living' or 'living by design' - is something I have been embracing more and more.

Until I read this I hadn't come across 'voluntary simplicity' so now I've googled and learned more. Thanks!

I've not faced any real difficulties, although some of the choices and decisions I've made (mainly about work and how I generate an income) have been incomprehensible to some of my family and friends! However, I've long since given up paying much attention to what other's think I should do, in the interests of following my own path.

All things considered, my life is much more satisfying now than it ever was.

I quite like the not buying things stuff, anti consumerism, getting things repaired rather than buy new.

I've been thinking along these lines too, but I never knew there was a name for it - I was calling it 'Living Lean' (to myself). Haven't really started putting it into practice properly yet though. I found the Simple Living Network when I googled. Anyone know more good sites?

I was glad to see that people responded When i checked this morning, there were no replies, so i thought that everyone must be at the shops (grin)...

nearlythree - i would love to share ideas. I started maybe a couple of years ago when i realised that 'stuff' doesnt equal 'happy', and time did. The irony was that i was spending that time earning money to buy the 'stuff'. And 'stuff' requires maintaining constantly! I started small, doing things like menu planning (which i hated at first) but now saves me time, hassle factor, and money in wasted food. Using the library nearly exclusively now, buying clothes for me and the children from charity shops and jumbles (which i do enjoy! and find a great resource) and just really feeling the lack of necessity to buybuybuy - i have found my time is time to really start to feel in touch with my Self and the children, doing simple things like cooking and walking in the woods and drawing, things that dont require me to spend, but do require me to engage with my world. I have very recently finished reading Walden by Thoreau which really did move me and help me realise that this is not just a pipe dream - that i CAN do this.

As far as faith goes, i am an atheist and my personal philosophies about humanity and our relationship to our 'home' and how we spend our time here does influence me. However, its not a way of life that is dictated by fatih or lack of, although this can play an important part - and i think its certainly a way of life thats open to all types of beliefs.

Cherry - i do hear you about the views of some family and friends and i very much like what you said about not paying too much attention to what others think. Some of the people i spoke to about this are quite shocked until i explained that its a choice rather a necessity. I too found a lot of info when i googled Voluntary Simplicity and have got a great deal of information and perspective from some of the ideas and articles that i did find. I am glad to hear that you are happy with your choices and way you see your life.

Xenia, yes - the not buying things releases the requirement to earn extra or excess money in order to do so, therefore freeing me to spend time rather than money.

Jackie - Thought on VS i found to be a lovely read and what i have found is that in the US it tends to be called Voluntary Simplicity or Simple Living whereas here in the UK its more likely to be know as Downshifting or Downsizing maybe.

Thank you all for your thoughts, i am really very thankful and not feeling quite so isolated in my thoughts anymore!

I didn't know there was a name for it all! Not sure I can embrace it whole heartedly, but we have as a family conciously become more anti-consumerist over the past year and 'make do and mend' because I cannot stand waste. Despite adequate money, we have always supplemented our wardrobes from charity shops because i have a reverse snobbery attitude to fashion. (don't get me wrong, I'm vain and like to look good but I hate the idea of 'buying' a look rather than 'creating' a look IFKWIM. )

The boys have computers and gameboys etc but at weekends, we are quite fanatical about walking in woods, fishing, campfires etc as I think modern childhood can be stifling and creativity is dying.

I also get overwhelmed by too much choice in my life!

Since we began studying again and thus have little money dh and I have embraced this, using as our guide the chapter on 'Simplicity' from a book called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster (comes from a very CHristian POV, which suits us as we are, and are Bible College Students right now.)
When you do things on a more simple level, all of a sudden you seem to have so much more to give away, and that has been the freeing factor for us.

Thanks for the link, Squidette.

It's something that makes a lot of sense to me, but I think I may struggle with it. I do love 'stuff' and looking at new stuff (clothes, books, furniture, make-up etc). On the other hand, I find it easy to be content with the 'here and now', whether that be walking along the street looking at how beautiful the trees are, or just cuddling up with the DCs.

I need to take some small steps to begin with, and for me, I think they're going to be to do with material posessions - clearing the house of clutter, and trying to consume less generally (not talking about a diet as such, more using less of the earth's resources).

And as a very small first step, I've just subscribed to the Mailing Preference Service - I am currently queen of the catalogues, and get huge amounts through the door, most of which I've never applied for, so this should cut down on the amount of paper we need to put in the recycling . I figure I can always look at stuff online instead.

how interesting..going to take some time to read more about this x thanks x

There are loads of books about this on Amazon.

I really want to get more into it this year. Expecting DC no 4 and want to give up work. Not the end of the world but we will be down about £700 a month.

squidette - I'm a Christian, in a hippy, New Agey sort of a way, if that makes sense! I became interested in this after reading about Benedictine spirituality. What you describe as getting in touch with self, I'd describe as getting to the divine within - but I am sure we mean the same thing, IYSWIM.

My big problem is that my life is such a shambles. I have three dcs under five and I never seem to plan anything. Take this Christmas, for example, I planned a menu (for once) but was too ill to cook it, then I was going to make some of it for New Yr but dh, dd2 and ds were all ill - so most of it has been wasted. Or we decide to go for a walk but ds falls asleep, so we don't go or only some of us go...and I think it is important to have a dh on the same path which my dh isn't.

I do buy a lot of stuff on eBay, and the dds enjoy recycling things in their crafts, and we recycle everything else as we have to, but I just don't seem to go any further!

It does seem that there are lots of us out there!

Jackie - small steps, yes - i like this idea. And whats small for me maybe huge for you! I could quite easily throw catalogues away, but you are finding it harder. And thats the beauty of self-awareness i think. Balancing short term gratifications with longer term satisfactions. I once read that if change is incremental and the effects accumulate there is a better chance to reinforce those small changes and intergrate them better, whereas trying to change everything at once poof waving magic wand can be a little unrealistic and so we search again for temporary comfort in old routines, even if they are not want we want in the long run. Hats off to you!

nearlythree, yep, sometimes life gets in the way darn it! Its not always possible to control outside events, especially when others are responsible, but i think we can learn to adapt - that to me is the wonder of being a person. I hear you on the chaos and unplannedness and i get very frustrated when things that i want to happen dont happen, but frustrated is ok.

I am really pleased to see so many others here - thank you again for all your thoughts. Today i am writing a list of Simplicity goals for 2007 and trying to make sure that they fit my values. Ha - thats a challenge!

this looks interesting

what happened?

Hi, understand good but no write good sorry. I from Laos have 9 kid. my kid sn but no have money no help. My family love kid and help. I no understand people need lot money. people need more. People no understand important. My family very poor, my kid sn god help. We no need money. Great kid smart. Ma always hope.

Sorry, but I think it is funny that the first step to simple living is to buy a book on the internet