The Simple Life Isn't Easy The Expositor Our hat is off to David Masters, who has put his conservationist ideals into everyday practice. Masters lives in a yurt, a high-tech, modern version of a traditional Mongolian hut. The yurt is off-grid, which means it is not connected to the hydro system. Masters relies on wind and solar power and a back-up battery to operate his television and mini-refrigerator. A wood-burning stove heats the place. He collects rainwater and composts sewage.
Development Makes Simple Life Harder to Find Springfield Business Journal Getting away from it all is getting more difficult. Recent adventures in the Yucatan offer a prime example. I wanted to escape telephones, TVs, computers and conditioned air. This is getting harder and harder to do.
He Loves the Simple Life in Honduras Gilroy Dispatch Danny Gallo, 25, might miss piping hot slices laden with garlic and sausage from Pinocchio's Pizza, relishing a long shower in the luxury of his own bathroom and good old American life, but he wouldn't trade his new lifestyle for the world. A volunteer with the Peace Corps since July 2007, Gilroy High School and Gavilan College graduate, Gallo will spend the next 19 months immersed in the Honduran culture in the tiny town of Alianza near the country's craggy Pacific coastline.
March 04, 2008
Believe me. I'm no expert on the subject of the "simple" life. You might say it was thrust upon me. A little thing like overexpansion can do that to you. So I decided to live within my means, appreciate natural things like the rustling of the leaves and divest my life of all clutter.
I learned that simplicity, often associated with asceticism that begins with the Shramana traditions of Iron Age India. I studied Epicurus, who left Athens to move to the countryside, in order to escape the madness of city life. I re-read Thoreau, who moved to the woods and isolated himself from relationships and society. Were these simple lives, I wondered, or empty lives?
National Downshifting Week in the U.K. encourages participants to positively embrace living with less. They claim it isn't about moving to the country, but about achieving a work and life balance.
I turned to some modern "simple" life masters, (and the woods are full of them), who
advocate one simple step at a time. I deleted an email that promised me bad karma if I didn't pass it on to 10 of my friends. Which would have been difficult anyway, because another simple life guru suggested eliminating all, even borderline, unhappy people from your life.
Fortunately, I had some simple pleasures already in place.
I take trains in Europe; they're relaxing, and I can go from city center to city center and avoid the insane airport traffic. When I take a driving trip I get off the main roads and dally on Main Street USA. I consider the parking tickets a contribution to preserving a simple way of life that needs preserving.
A friend, in his effort to find the simple life, has enlisted a Feng Shui Master, who has turned his couch to the Northwest. He likes the view, but doesn't feel any of the effects yet.
Decluttering? Realignment? Appreciating nature? Getting out of the rat race? So, with everyone pursing a simpler life, in his or her own way, the question perhaps should be asked: what exactly is it? And will we know it when we find it?
If you have any simple answers, don't hesitate to let us all know.
International Downshifting Week downshiftingweek.com If you are looking for a little help to slow down your pace and enjoy life more, this is the place for you!
Becoming an Arhat Fodian.net The Buddha said, "People who take leave of their families and go forth from the householder life, who know their mind and penetrate to its origin, and who understand the unconditioned Dharma are called Shramanas. They constantly observe the 250 precepts, and they value purity in all that they do. By practicing the four true paths, they can become Arhats."
The Simple Life thinksimplenow.com As we become wealthier, people seem to be adding more and more things to our homes. We then use our homes, and our treasures, to justify that we have won the game of life. Growing up in a family of pack-rats, I spent many years in my teens and early twenties accumulating stuff. During this time, much of my self-worth was unconsciously associated with the amount of stuff I owned; the brand names, and the latest trends.
I'd just add that on the priority scale, people are more important than things, and that I'd rath...
— Heiress
March 04, 2008 8:26 AM
What is the simple life?
20% 20% 0% 20% 40%
I'd just add that on the priority scale, people are more important than things, and that I'd rather take my time than rush around like a maniac all day.
But then again, I live in the South of France and the local culture encourages all of the above. And pastis.
more on the honor rollAh, my dear Heiress,
The south of France. I have a few friends and many acquaintences there.
Ostensibly I go there often to buy stuff, but the real reason I go is to enjoy my friends and their quality of life. I certainly agree with you. And yes, pastis. You are very fortunate.
dbeck03 said...
The missus and I have adopted a mantra that must be repeated three times before considering the purchase of some new wonderthing: "We already have many nice things which we do not take the time to appreciate." Sometimes it actually works...
jmalone said...
There is one simple life for the monied individuals of this world and quite another simple life for those unmonied individuals. Which simple life are you hoping to lead?