Hey, here we are, for another hooked on fridays, and what I am hooked on today is voluntary simplicity!!
Have you ever heard about it? Maybe you do practice it already, or you would like some more info about it.
Well, I hope this post will be helpful anyway, and will help you understand and know better this movement.
‘Normal’ is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car, and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it. Ellen Goodman.
What is voluntary simplicity?
Simple living (voluntary simplicity) is a lifestyle characterized by minimizing the ‘more-is-better’ pursuit of wealth and consumption. Adherents may choose simple living for a variety of personal reasons, such as spirituality, health, increase in ‘quality time’ for family and friends, stress reduction, personal taste or frugality.
Others cite socio-political goals aligned with the anti-consumerist movement, including conservation, social justice and sustainable development.
According to Duane Elgin, “we can describe voluntary simplicity as a manner of living that is outwardly more simple and inwardly more rich, a way of being in which our most authentic and alive self is brought into direct and conscious contact with living.“
Simple living as a concept is distinguished from those living in forced poverty, as it is a voluntary lifestyle choice.
Voluntary simplicity means doing/having/living more with less–more time, meaning, joy, satisfaction, relationships, community; less money, material possessions, stress, competition, isolation. It doesn’t mean depriving yourself; it doesn’t mean buying “cheap” and always pinching pennies; it doesn’t mean poverty. It does mean wanting what you have, and finding joy in having less; and recovering the connection with other people and with the Earth that alone makes life really worthwhile.
Voluntary simplicity is a growing movement of people who have realized that happiness and fulfillment do not lie in having more money, or new and bigger things, but rather in the time with loved ones and connection with community. They are questioning the consumer society’s insistence that possessions, especially of the newest design and color, are the means of fulfillment, or that any material possession can possibly be “to die for.”
How to apply this to your life?
Yeah, you might think that all this sounds very nice but how could you apply it in your daily stressed/busy life? Well, there are a lot of things that you can do to go forward simplicity, you know, baby steps, that everybody can do.
Here are some advices of what you can do to improve your quality of life right now:
- each time you are about to buy something, ask yourself:
- Could I do this item myself cheaper/healthier/greener ?
- Do I really need this item? Will my life be affected if I don’t buy it?
- Could I find this item second hand/used/cheaper, or without packaging?
- try to buy food and groceries locally, at your farmers market for example.
- do not buy more decor items for holidays, try to decorate with the stuff you already have or some items you can do yourself frugally.
- do not feel obliged to buy presents for Valentine’s day/Christmas/Easter etc… You can do crafts/cards/homemade goodies, that will be even more appreciated than an impersonal store bought present.
- Avoid all kind of prepared meals, if you are not a great cook, learn! Good food is about experience, you have to try, and fail, until you can do it right.
- If you have a garden, try to plant some veggies.
- Are you an expecting mom?
- Don’t buy anything!! I know it is so tempting to go shopping for the new baby but you will receive lots of gifts, and you really do not need as much stuff as you think. Babies need their mom, almost nothing else.
- Inform yourself about the wonderful benefits of breastfeeding your child, you will be blessed!
- Consider using cloth diapers, you can find them by internet, in some stores, or even do them yourself!
- Teach your child to entertain himself! A baby does not need tons of colorful plastic toys to be happy and stimulated; in fact, I strongly encourage you to limit the collection of toys to a small amount and ban all battery-operated/plastic toys.
- Prefer neutral clothes for your baby, better than all pink or all blue, so you can keep them and reuse them for another baby.
- If you are like me a book lover, then you may prefer to go to your local library to borrow books better than buying pricey books.
- With your kids, prefer activities that are not related to a shopping/buying activity. For example, you may prefer going to visit a farm or to a natural park (almost free), better than to the theater which usually includes buying candies, popcorn, etc… Teach your child that fun is not related to money.
- In general, always try to buy second hand/used items. Think about garage sales, thrift stores, craig’s lists etc. although the best to do is to limit your shopping. Simplicity is not only think “Can I have this cheaper?”, it is more a “Can I live without it?” kind of thinking!
Well, I hope you liked this entry and maybe you are feeling like applying some of my advices! 
If you are looking for some more info about choosing voluntary simplicity, you would like to have a look at those websites I found for you:
- THE SIMPLE LIVING NETWORK
- GREAT RIVER EARTH INSTITUTE
- THE SIMPLICITY RESOURCE GUIDE
You can find also some great blogs in my blogroll, on the right side of this site.
In this week before Easter, this is my contribution to stay focused on the important things, and free ourselves from the secular consumerist way of life…
I wish you all a great, happy, and cross-centered Easter!
And if you want to see what people are hooked on this week, check it out on HOOKED ON HOUSES
This was a young pastor who one day saw a little boy holding a bird cage. There was 3 little birds in the cage. The pastor asked the boy where he got the birds and the little boy said:
