Voluntary Simplicity

[Barbara]

I know completely what you think- I sometimes wonder if we could not all work less and have more time. We buy cars and buy another one some years later and the old one is still good. One of the problems of the car industry now is that there are too many nicely running cars in the world- nobody needs new ones.
I have enough clothes to be decently dressed for half a century.
But still- we have 6000 books at home and it feels very difficult to resist nr. 6001.
I know that when I was a child the grown-ups had more time, time to walk home amd have lunch at home, time to play with kids, time to work in the garden, time to make home-made jam and bake cakes.
But on the other hand I read a book now about East end London and in the 18th centuries, the dockers worked 16 hours, some of them in wheels (like human hamsters) which operated the cranes- so I think our rat race is still less cruel than that.
This is the first time in history that someone with my family background (miners, farmhands, small farmers) and who is female can go to university, have friends in the US whom she meets regularly and have a not-so-simple job and interests.
But yes- I like the idea of voluntary simplicity. It would be great if we could sit together in discuss it in more detail

[Pembroke_Corgi]

I often feel this way, especially around Christmas time. I get so tired of being told by companies that the only way I will lead a happy life is by buying or receiving one of their products. Life would be easy if one could really find fulfillment from buying a $10 Old Navy sweater...it all seems a bit ridiculous. Especially when many people seem to buy just to buy.

It's easy to get caught up in accumulating stuff, but it's something I try to be mindful of. Now that I am having a baby, I am conflicted in many ways about what to buy and how much to buy, because I already feel like my unborn baby is a consumer-in-training. Go into a baby store and you will see what I mean- anything you could possibly want and more, and you are told you are a bad parent if you don't have it or want it.

So, do we need a chocolate and a prozac? Possibly. But I know how you feel and I agree that it would be nice if our society didn't place so much importance on stuff. I don't want to live like a monk, but I do think living more simply is a good thing.