Friday, October 19, 2007

Learning to live more simply


"As you simplify your life the laws of the universe will be simpler."
- Thoreau

"Simple living is about living deliberately. Simple living is not about austerity, or frugality, or income level. It's about being fully aware of why you are living your particular life, and knowing that life is one you have chosen thoughtfully. Simple living is about designing our lives to coincide with our ideals." -Janet Luhrs, The Simple Living Guide

I loved
The Simple Living Guide and I feel that it has changed our lives. Some changes we have made to live more in line with our values:

1) Reduce: Live with less, buy less. Choose consciously.

2) We are not eating out: now this is a big one when you grow up in a family supported by the restaurant industry. I feel like we would eat out (or get take-out) a few times a week while we were growing up. And so that's what continued on for us. I would buy the kids lunch at least once a week while we were out running errands and we would eat dinner out at least once, if not more. It felt normal to me to eat out so often and I felt like I deserved it for working hard all day! Now my sense of entitlement is not so out of control and I realize a huge value of mine is family meals and I think it's better done at home!

3) No malls: I don't want to be an accumulator of stuff. My wants are a lot less if I avoid the shopping centers. I am trying to better identify my needs and wants. I want to consciously think about every purchase and whether I really need it. This has been relatively easy to implement since Mr. Innkeeper quit his job. Every dollar we spend is a dollar we no longer have. Hopefully I can continue my frugal ways once we have a regular income again!

4) Car Free Days: Last week we scheduled a day on the calendar where we would not use the car. We planned around it and enjoyed some time at home.

5) More service: I feel that the best way that I can become less self-centered and more aware of the world around me and the needs of the people in it is to serve more.

Does anyone share my desire for a simpler life? How do you find simplicity?

8 comments:

Emily Anne said...

I love these thoughts, Christina. Yes. I am looking for ways to make my life simpler, more deliberate and purposeful. I admire you for doing what you feel is right--even when it's hard (ie not eating out and choosing not to use your car sometimes.)
I'm glad you featured some ideas from The Simple Living Guide; I'm going to get it from the library. I tried to remember the title when we were there the other day, but couldn't. This is a timely reminder.

Topsy said...

Nice Job Christina,
In our house we've decided to not join the long line of car mom's at the school drop-off. We ride our bikes to and from every day. Last weeks rain, wind and freezing temps made it a little rough - but we survived.
We've quit our wander through Target with friends habit. The only store I go to weekly is the grocery store - more produce in our diet since the garden is dying.
I'm going to sew my own canvas re-use bags. Tired of seeing the trash pile grow.
Trying to remember that "happiness is enjoying life and being satisfied with what you have."
Congrats to Mr. Innkeeper on quitting! Hope he finds his work passion. He gives our dad some unemployment company.

Sarah said...

You're way ahead of me here sister. We do re-use our grocery bags for the dirty diapers, and we recycle. We also have car free days, but those are the days I'm too lazy to leave the house! Now I'm going to have to make an effort to try harder!

liz said...

We are pretty good about reusing and recycling -- I've been thinking about getting/making reusable grocery bags...I'll get around to that someday, hopefully soon. I'll have to read The Simple Living Guide. I really agree with this philosophy. Now that my kids are getting older, one of my things is not having them signed up for a million activities. We want our lives to be focused on home.

Mrs. Cropper said...

It's true that the more time I spend in the mall or watching TV commercials, etc., the more I think I need. I don't go to the mall often and it helps a lot. Something that is making my life simpler right now is a renewed goal to clean up messes as we make them. So I wash 3 or 4 dishes several times and day and pick up toys over and over again, but A) I never feel stressed or grumpy about a messy house and B) I don't deal with that huge mountain of dishes or a totally trashed house. I've just been working on this for about a week, so I'll let you know if I'm able to keep up, but it really makes me feel so much more peaceful, calm, and in control.

Danielle said...

this is something I think about a lot but kind of struggle with in reality. Its funny though, I have really noticed that whenever I go on shopping kicks, I am usually just more stressed about having a bunch of stuff I don't really need than when I just don't buy ANYTHING for a while. It's amazing to realize how little you actually "need". I am interesting in reading this book. Sounds good.

Honey said...

You're good to write it all down. Thanks for sharing!

Jill said...

Christina you are amazing. I just think that your right on about the important things in life. We purge from this home every 3 months and the volume that exits is ridiculous. I think you and Jason are amazing.