Is anyone out there involved in a "voluntary simplicity" project?

[IrateCitizen]

I've been reading a lot on these lately, and have been taking steps in my life to reduce my consumption and embrace this way of life -- but it's incredibly difficult without being a member of a "community" involved in this sort of thing. I'm curious if anyone out there is involved in such a movement, and if you can tell me about your experiences and/or give advice on how to organize such a group in my town (in Westchester Co., NY -- a hotbed of "Affluenza").

[realFedUp]

1. Aren't there websites involving this?

If you have them, please post them.

I am so fed up with American companies going
offshore that I'm advocating buying recycled
everything.

How many towels does one really need to dry
off with?

How many shoes do you really need?

etc.

[IrateCitizen]

2. Here's a site I found on a quick search for "voluntary simplicity"

http://www.simpleliving.net/

I've been reading more books on this lately, though, and am interested in hearing about people's personal experiences in living this kind of life.

[DemOverseas]

3. Eleven Years Ago

we gave away everything and moved to my husband's hometown in Italy. Population 2000. It is much easier to simplify your life in a small town setting. We rarely use the car as we can walk or bike to everything in this town. In fact even the car is basic...no radio..manual shift..windows.
We did not follow any program just got tired of our lifestyle and had an option to change it. It has become respected by our families and friends. No one expected us to last here but after eleven years it is our life.

[JanMichael]

4. Wow. Very cool.

Just curious, do either of you work, or are you retired/semi-retired/other?

I sort of did the same thing when I traipsed off to Krakow Poland a few years ago, sadly however I was unable to sustain the venture.

[DemOverseas]

6. My husband

is still working. I do seamstress and handwork stuff and tutor English for barter. We were in the money race and no more of that life for us. We have what we need.

An aside...I had a cyst removed from my head last week and the seven stitches that closed the wound were removed yesterday. Very clean and neat job. Total cost 3.10 Euros. This was the charge for the antibiotic. It amazes me the way healthcare works here. (But, we have had no grave ailments.)

[JanMichael]

8. David Sedaris has a piece about getting medical care in France.

It's hilarious.

Hell, when I was in Poland, I had some work done for practically nothing. And yes, they did a fine job.

I'm glad your procedure went well!

[IrateCitizen]

5. Great story! A couple of questions...

1. Did you inspire anyone else to do something similar?
2. Did you do it all on your own, or did you do it in a "support community" of some other like-minded people?

The reason I'm asking is that it seems that the ideal exercise of such a lifestyle would naturally involve a community of like-minded people with whom to share resources and, generally, to enjoy the common bonds that would develop as a sense of that "community".

[JanMichael]

7. What? Are you getting all "Upton Sinclair" on us?!

<snarf>

Actually I'd like to do the same.

[DemOverseas]

10. Answers

No community. One family from New York is following in our footsteps.
We did the whole thing on our own. The last weeks in the US were heart wrenching. We thought it would be easier to leave but the emotions were in high gear. We brought an eleven year old son with us who went back to the US for his senior year and then University studies. He is back in Boston. It was hardest for him but it also gave him some positive things in his life.
I do think for the most part this community was already a non material area of life. It is not America here. Things have progressed but slowly. Electronically they are up to date...but in other areas 30+ years behind the US. We still see women carring bales of twigs on their heads for heating and goat herds in the streets. Right beside all this is the latest Mercedes. Big mixed bag.

[IrateCitizen]

12. I agree with your assessment of the "small town" influence...

My wife and I currently live in upper Westchester Co., NY -- just one town over from the Clintons. It's a festering sore of "Affluenza" in our area, so it makes you feel a bit more lonely when you're trying to simplify your life. Additionally, my wife's mother and two sisters are much more materialistic than her to begin with (don't get me wrong, I love 'em too but it's easy to recognize) and she often expresses to me that she feels frustrated because she's "different" from them.

But, our dream within the next 3 years or so is to move further upstate -- to the area around New Paltz or Woodstock, NY with all the other hippies -- and live in a small house in the country, just outside one of the towns. I'm currently going to school for teaching, so that I can have a much more family-friendly profession (my wife is a teacher as well), and we can spend the summer raising vegetables in the garden and going on camping/backpacking trips.

Ideally, I'd even like to go so far as to purchase a small wind turbine and put it in the back yard, and possibly some solar panels (and lots of skylights!) for the roof.

[lanlady]

16. that is so wonderful

I'm seriously contemplating ditching everything and moving to France, where I lived in the 80s. Just a couple of more years to wait for my kids to be truly independent and established in their own lives, then I'm outa here. Just learned today that I'll probably be laid off by Thanksgiving. I'm sooooo tired of this shit.

[HFishbine]

9. I'm Involved in involuntary simplicity

but it's working out okay.

[BiggJawn]

11. If they were, how could they read your question?

Haven't seen Lehmann's offering kerosene-powered laptops....:-)

How simple are you wanting to go? All the way to a "secular Amish" existence, or just getting away from 5 cel phones and 750 channels of dish TV?

I have no cable TV. My 'pooter is hooked up on a dial-up, and I drive a small pick-up truck. No playstation, no "X" box, a pre-paid cellie and 5 bicycles....(ok, so that's becoming an obsession with me)

There are SOME things I will not do without, though. I live 15 miles from work and 20 miles from groceries, so some kind of infernal-combustion vehicle is needed. I go to the barbershop regularly, and have no beard, so I use an electric shaver. My job requires some public contact, so my dress needs to be "professional". I like my computer (how could I visit with my big DU "family" w/o it?)so I need electricity and a phone line. I subscribe to only one magazine and no newspapers, getting most of my info on-line. Very little fast-food.

Could I go simpler? Probably. Would I? I don't think so. I do feel "deprived" sometimes, but not often.

[IrateCitizen]

13. Hey BiggJawn -- I too share your addiction to bicycles!

Note -- we even have the matching avatar. :D

I only have two, though (a Cannondale mountain bike and Trek touring bike), and my wife has one (a Trek mountain bike).

[TNDemo]

14. http://www.affluenza.com/aboutaff.html

This is a project that examines the "disease" of affluenza.

Also there is a book called Your Money Or Your Life that may be of help.

[lanlady]

15. I'd like to learn more about it

because I'm fed about with the stress and consumerism of American life.