Living in a HI rise!

Greed is not good.

When I was on the rat race treadmill, chasing wealth and opportunities, I had much less time than I do now to enjoy or even notice the honest and true good things in life. I never knew what phase the moon was in, what time of the year asparagus first appears, what that bird was called, or how to bake bread without a machine. I had no time for learning how to make music, and no time for a daily walk. I was so busy working and so tired when I got home that all I wanted to do was vegetate in front of the television.

Simplifying life is saving me a lot of money, and that's meant that I no longer need to work full time. Now I usually work only two days a week. I have all I need, and plenty of time for other pursuits, such as learning to play the piano, growing food, getting to know my neighbours, and volunteering in the community. Living simply, for me, is living in a HI (happiness index) rise!

So it's the happiness factor that is most important. Yes, living simply does save money, but that isn't the real point of living simply at all. Being frugal simply buys you the time you would otherwise have to spend commuting and working. And with the time, you find ways of discovering true enjoyment, and the richness of life, that doesn't revolve around money, or the spending of it.

There is an excellent interview with Duane Elgin, author of the now Classic 'Voluntary Simplicity', at : Future Positives, in which Elgin explains what voluntary simplicity - living simply - means to him. It's well worth studying, and he sums up much more eloquently than I could the real meanings of living simply.

To sum up, living simply, for me, means pursuing the important, natural, and wondrous things in life, and reducing the distractions and clutter of the mindless materialism that surrounds us.

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