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Books for the Journey

© Mari Brodersen

Living simply sounds great, but where do I start? How do I simplify? Does living simply mean living in poverty? What about my job and my family? I've been trying to live simply, but I got off track somehow, what shall I do?

Such questions deserve articulate and in-depth answers. I hope that this book list will provide a good starting point and encouragement for those who have questions about living simply.

The Simple Living Guide, by Janet Luhrs

I don't know why I bought this book when I did. I certainly had little interest in living simply at the time. But something deep inside must have known that I needed to read this particular book. I procrastinated for several months. When I finally began to peruse it, I did so rather reluctantly, but I was hooked before I finished the first chapter.

What hooked me? Ms Luhrs writes in a nonjudgmental manner and she emphasizes maintaining a certain balance in one's life. She also recognizes that individuals have unique needs, and that each person will have to find and honor their own balance. In addition, she speaks from her own experience, which certainly lends credibility to any writing!

The Simple Living Guide is clearly and concisely written, and its fourteen chapters are well organized, each around a specific topic. The author begins with "Time" as her first chapter and topic. She then moves on to "Money," and so on, ending with "Travel." Each topic features an individual's story of how s(he) used simple living techniques to attain specific goals. At the end of each chapter, Ms Luhrs provides a comprehensive list of resources for magazines, books, and Internet sites related to that chapter's topic.

The book contains a nice blending of practicality with philosophy.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff . . . and It's All Small Stuff, by Richard Carlson, Ph.D.

I'm a worrier, and I hate it. So the title of this book immediately attracted my attention, though I rarely read so-called self-help books. I read this book during the time I was reading The Simple Living Guide (yes, I am one of those people who seems to have to read several books at a time). To my delight, I discovered that Dr. Carson's ideas dovetailed very nicely with many of those presented in Ms Luhrs's book.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff contains easy-to-use techniques for simplifying our lives from the inside, through learning to change our attitudes. This deceptively small book is organized into 100 very short chapters, most of them only two or three pages long. But these short chapters are packed full of ideas and concrete suggestions that, when practiced, can help to make living simply a reality. After all, true change begins within oneself.