Katy on Wellbeing

Simplicity, Freedom, and the Joy of Less

The Futile Race for MORE

Many years ago, I read a book called Affluenza, about the perils of our culture of consumerism, which introduced me to the world of voluntary simplicity. 

North Americans in general spend a great deal of time and energy on earning money and then spending it on ever-newer, ever-bigger stuff.  Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, the message is embedded very deeply in our collective psyche that money and possessions will bring happiness.  So many millions of us have been in a flat-out race to earn, or at least buy, enough to make us happy.  At least until the real estate and financial market crash, we were frantically using all means at our disposal -- earned income, home equity, and consumer debt -- to finance this habit.  

But it didn't make us happier.  I think it's one of the great gifts of the current economic downturn that so many people have been forced to step back and reevaluate.  Faced with the need to spend less, and perhaps even out of a job, we are finding that ..... we kind of like it!

Voluntary Simplicity

An alternative to a lifestyle of consumption is one of voluntary simplicity.  Name aside, it may look to many of us like how our parents or grandparents lived.  One of the present-day movement’s founders, Duane Elgin, described it as:

            “living in a way that is outwardly simple and inwardly rich”

It’s about spending less than you earn, eliminating debt, and prioritizing other aspects of life -- time with family and friends, education, hobbies, public service, travel, spiritual or creative practice -- above the acquisition of more stuff.  It’s about stewardship of the environment. 

Simplicity focuses our attention on what we really value.  It clears away the extraneous stuff that complicates our lives, distracts us from the important stuff, and drags us down.  It dramatically reduces financial worries and burdens, and allows us to cultivate a feeling of abundance instead.  It is one of the surest routes I know to freedom.

Heralds of the Changing Zeitgeist

During the boom years, simple living was often presented as an "alternative" lifestyle, favored by Seattle slackers, New Hampshire hippies, and retro retired folks.  The story about quaintly idealistic people living off the grid in hobbit holes, freak flags flying, would be sandwiched between the "Cosmetic Surgery Procedures You Can't Live Without" and "Top $25,000 Spa Vacations" articles. 

But some recent pieces in the mainstream media are pointing to a shifting zeitgeist.  We are hearing more stories of "normal people" living simply, and finding greater joy.  Here are two examples from the past few days:

The Joy of Less, by Pico Iyer (New York Times, June 7th)

For the "Funemployed", Unemployment is Welcome, by Kimi Yoshino (Los Angeles Times, June 4th)

My point here is not to make light of the real hardship that some people are facing right now, or to glorify poverty.  It is just that living simply, especially when it is a voluntary choice, can bring great happiness and freedom.

This morning I was moving too slowly to get to yoga class, so instead I went for a long ramble in the park.  The air smelled of damp earth and leaves, after last night's thunderstorms.  The trees were raucous with bird cries.  The breeze cut crisp horizontal ripples across the surface of the pond, where ducks, geese, swans and cormorants enjoyed a leisurely start to their day.  When I stood still for a minute, a tiny chipmunk ran straight over and sniffed my shoe before darting away.  Just another point of intersection in the great web of life, my soul felt untethered and expansive.

Have you made choices to simplify your life?  What have you experienced as a result?

Ten Years of Clearing Clutter

(Imported from previous blogging platform, minus comments, 24 April 09)

I’m thinking a lot about radical simplification, especially after attending a talk this morning featuring Dr. David Suzuki on impending environmental calamity and what may yet be done to head off total disaster, including Ontario’s proposed Green Energy Act.  While I digest that information, I am happy to welcome GUEST BLOGGER, ALISON ROBERTS.  Ali is an expert on simplification and de-cluttering in all aspects of life.  It’s a skill we all need to acquire because the way we’re going is not sustainable.

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I know, I know, ‘clutter’ has graced the cover of many a glossy magazine and both horrified and entertained millions of viewers via daytime talk shows and home and garden television.  Yet the issue remains, unexplored by many and with an entire industry at its side (think storage lockers, wicker baskets and plastic totes).

Recently I celebrated 10 years of clearing clutter; yes, a decade of systematically rooting through my cupboards and closets, turfing old day timers, tossing photographs that don’t flatter and recycling scores of notes and papers.  Early on in the process I realized that there are several fascinating layers of clutter.  I started with the obvious: my clothes, shoes and accessories and then went on to examine how I spent my time.  Did my volunteer commitments make my heart beat faster or were they simply padding my resume?  Were my financial investments in order?  Did I value my professional certification? Were my relationships nourishing or draining? 

After bringing light to the many facets of my life I realized clutter’s dirty secret: the life I had been living was not my own.  Instead, it was a combo pack: my parents, the consumer culture, my peer group and my visa card had all had a pretty strong say in how I was living my life.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), my life no longer jived (read: I was miserable).

While many people roll their eyes at the thought of going through their stuff, those that do are often rewarded.  Sure it takes a commitment – of both time and energy – but contrary to popular belief, clearing out clutter is a liberating experience that will transform your life.  I should know, it transformed mine.  Only when I ruthlessly pared down my possessions was there space in my life for what I truly wanted: freedom, variety, independence and a healthy dose of nature (I’m talking bald eagles and seals on my way to work).  Now, the clearing is purely maintenance.  In order to attract something new into my life, I simply examine my stuff and let go of anything I no longer use, love or need.

What do you want from this life?  Big question, I know.  Chances are the answer lies at the back of your walk-in closet, buried beneath those pairs of shoes that are too uncomfortable to wear, or stuffed behind those text books that you haven’t referred to in years.  Why bother doing the work? Personally, I value my life too much to relinquish it to the many and varied propaganda machines that are vying for our mental environment.  Do you?     

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Alison Roberts got rid of her television in 2004.  She lives a debt-free life on Vancouver Island where she can frequently be found reading for hours on end, cooking from scratch and walking the neighbour’s dog. For more information on de-cluttering feel free to explore  www.clearoutclutter.com

Cleaning Up and Clearing Out

(Imported from previous blogging platform, minus the comments, 19 March 09)

This week I added an article to my website called Clean Up and Clear Out, by my friend Melanie Clarke.  In it she talks about the energy of stuff, and the power of releasing it.  The topic has been on my mind for several weeks now.

Prior to doing my taxes, I finally gave in and unpacked the three boxes remaining from my move last summer.  Yes, last summer.  They had been sitting at the edge of my yoga space, and I had grown used to seeing them.  But I felt just plain wrong about embarking on a major financial undertaking without first organizing all my papers.  So I spent a couple of days in a storm of sorting, filing, shredding, and rearranging.  Which completely cleaned and cleared the energy in my yoga, dining and home office areas.  And, I believe, contributed to what should be a monster tax return!!  It started out big.  Then the next day I woke up remembering a deduction I had forgotten to take.  And again two days after that.  Who knew doing taxes could be so much fun??

So how about that feeling of “just plain wrong”?  In my experience, Melanie is correct in saying that new energy, abundance, life experiences, etc cannot flow in to you if you have no room to receive them.  I’m talking about physical space as well as psychic and energetic.  And I’ve learned to recognize the strong desire to clear out and organize (which doesn’t grab me that often) as a signal that the Universe has something lined up and pressing on the doorbell that can’t get in until I’ve made room for it.  In the year before I left management consulting, I had three rounds of major purging -- clothes, household items, money -- which I see in retrospect as making room for a big life change.

Some people will read my comment about “cleaned and cleared the energy” as fanciful or at best metaphorical.  But I actually mean it literally.  Try it out.  Take an area of your home that looks messy or feels clogged, and clean it right up.  Get rid of everything that no longer serves you, and organize the rest.  Create as much open space as possible on your coffee table / in your closet / etc.  Then take some time to FEEL the difference.  For me it’s a physical sensation, like the lightening of pressure, as well as the feeling that when I breathe in the air is thinner and sharper.

Feng shui is the traditional Chinese system of aesthetics aimed at ensuring the healthy flow of qi (chi, or energy) through a space.  While I don’t know that I’ve experienced all the benefits of the right colors and decorations in the appropriate locations on the bagua, I certainly don’t rule it out.  And I can vouch for the energetic benefits of de-cluttering.  Desk and office.  Closets.  Financial papers.  Under the bed.  Especially under the bed.  You feel better, sleep better, and attract more abundance into your life.

Cleaning up and clearing out can be done in any aspect of our lives.  My friend Alison Roberts (imagine being blessed with TWO professional organizer friends!!) says the following on her website:

“For the past 8 1/2 years she has been engaged in the process of de-cluttering her own life, and has rotated through her wardrobe, day timer, volunteer commitments, professional associations, her colon, her finances, her energetic body and her belief system.  As a result, her life continues to expand and evolve in ways that she never imagined.”

So now, as I’m having that feeling again, that insistent pressure to move all my cds and dvds into a couple of folders, and ditch the cases (they can be recycled), and finally lose the back issues I’ve been saving of Yoga Journal and Gourmet magazine ..... I’m paying attention!

Have you had any cool experiences with cleaning up and clearing out, and new abundance, people, or experiences flowing in?  If so, I’d love to hear about them .......