Good morning. Happy Sunday!
Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin, is a book I have been trying to read for about a week now (found in a local thrift store). It is a wonderful look at living from a more ecological perspective, choosing a life of simplicity over the pursuit of material things. The result of simple living is a more spiritual based life that is also beneficial for the environment.
I have been living simply for a long time. In my childhood simplicity was a common practice that was the norm due to lack of money coming into the household. We learned to wear our clothes until they wore out, make food from scratch and recycle (we used to get money for aluminum cans). I even learned to sew from one of my aunts, giving me an opportunity to make doll clothes for the few hand me down dolls I possessed.
As I grew older, I often resented my life circumstances and longed for a life filled with the material comforts that most of my classmates took for granted. As my family began to acquire more money and as a result, more things, I found that something was still lacking. I was so much more than my clothes that my classmates now approved of. I found it all so very shallow. But still, I tried so hard to fit in, to chase the American Dream.
Later, as a single mom, once again I was faced with living a life of simplicity, but this time I found joy in baking and creating things for my little girls from materials at hand. I made them cute little dresses and nightgowns, rag dolls and homemade birthday cakes. Unfortunately, it never seemed to make them as happy as the store bought gifts they received from other members of my family. There seemed to be a stigma attached to money. The more you had the better you were. Or so it seemed.
As I now head into middle age, I realize the path my life has taken has taught me a great deal about living simply. Lack of money was always an obstacle that kept me from really being able to do the things I wanted to do, like have my own house and a car that didn't break down every week. But, learning to budget and make things with my own hands was more rewarding than shopping and throwing my money away on the plastic garbage that filled the store aisles.
Eventually I began to make enough money to have a few things, but I found that I was selling my soul to the Corporatocracy for very little return. I was no longer able to spend time with my kids because I was working most of the time, and chasing a college degree. None of it amounted to anything. My time was lost. My girls grew up in a materialistic world with a typical consumerist mindset that is so common in the American culture.
I vowed to try again. My jobs became less important and my quality of life became a major focus of my time. I began to spend more time on my artistic pursuits, shrugging off the judgments of the people around me. I realized it was more rewarding to shop in thrift stores for clothing and other items than spend time in big box stores and waste money on clothing and goods that never seemed to last very long. The less money I needed to live on, meant the less time I had to work and the more time I could spend doing what I really loved.
I was fortunate to find a partner who was open to my changing mindset. Together, over the last twelve years, we have learned how to make almost any food item from scratch, we have learned how grow our own food and preserve it through the winter. We have learned how to raise animals for meat (although I am still having trouble with the processing of the meat animals), raise goats for milk, make quilts and some clothing items, build greenhouses, barns and even a house, and other invaluable skills on our path of simple living.
Every day is a new challenge as we teach our kids how to live alternatively in a world focused on materialism, and a world at odds with the fact that the economy is failing and most likely will never recover. As a family we find more joy and satisfaction in creating a life based around spirituality and meeting our needs through our own hard, hands on work. I really enjoy trying to piece together a way of living that is healthy and clean, puts our own human spiritual evolution at the top of our priorities and also works to live more sustainably with nature around us.
I have found that as we let go of our so called needs, most of which are fabricated by the media and the corporatocracy in an attempt to get us to buy, buy, buy, life automatically seems to get simpler. I no longer have any need or desire to keep up with the Joneses or chase a nonexistent American Dream built on hype and greed. Now I find my needs are simple, like my life. We need clean, GMO free, chemical free food. We need clean, non toxic air and water. We need clothing to cover ourselves and keep us warm as the weather gets cold, but it does not have to be fancy, nor does it have to be name brand or high dollar. We need a vehicle that is dependable, but we don't need to buy a new one every few years. We need shelter, but we don't need a McMansion, or even the huge suburban homes that have become the American norm. What we do need is clean and affordable housing, for everyone, housing made from natural materials and not the chemically laden building materials that have become code required in so many counties around the nation.
Living a simple life, by choice, not forced by poverty (although you can change your perspective even in poverty) will allow you to get to know a more authentic you, and maybe push Ego aside for a little while as your spirit shines forth in unencumbered joy. Your spirit is not concerned with material things, but is focused on your connection to each other, to the planet and to the Universe/Source/God/Tao/All that is.
This week I'd like to focus more on simplicity. Turn off the television and pick up a book that challenges your way of thinking. Take a few more walks. Learn a new skill that makes life simpler and more rewarding, like baking bread or creating hand made gifts for the holidays (if you choose to celebrate the upcoming consumerist, propaganda filled, days of spending). Most importantly, spend time with people you love. Spend time, not money. Show people how much you care for them through your loving presence. Love is free. And it is so very simple. Open your heart and allow free expression.
Love to all.
~Rev. Kerry
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