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When Less Becomes More

© M. Williams

It's amazingly easy to become caught up in this fast-paced world of getting and spending. Newspapers, magazines, billboards, movies and what have you, are constantly bombarding society with messages encouraging the masses-programming us even-to buy, buy, buy! But oddly enough, considering the enormity of the consumption, the accumulation of wealth and possessions doesn't seem to make us happy. No matter what we acquire, we never seem satisfied with our lot, and we soon start looking around for something new in the hope that it will bring us happiness.

Of course, the more we accumulate, the harder we have to work to maintain that level of income so that we can both house our growing collection and add to it. To this end many of us work at jobs that we hate just to support a costly lifestyle based on the assumption, reinforced constantly by the media, that material gain equals happiness. Such a consumptive lifestyle, in fact, takes away our personal freedom by curtailing the amount of time we have to devote to other, vitally important aspects of our lives.

As we run around climbing the corporate ladder and keeping up with the Jones, we are slowly alienating ourselves from our own identities. The mindless drive to get ahead and be financially successful so that we can acquire more possessions depletes our time and energy, leaving nothing left to devote to the personal odyssey of self-discovery that paves the way for true happiness and fulfillment

The solution, for many, lies in the decision to live a less complicated life.

Voluntary simplicity, or living lightly, is a process of de-cluttering. It means getting rid of that which is unnecessary, jettisoning the useless baggage from both the outer and inner life. Clearing out our physical space allows us to get in touch with aspects of ourselves that we were previously unaware of by releasing old emotions attached to the objects being discarded, and this clearly benefits our inner space. It also means less time spent on housework, more room for energy to flow, and greater mobility.

Simplicity means experiencing existence on a deeper, more meaningful level. It's about slowing down to notice the beauty around and within us. Leading a less complex life leads to an appreciation of the sublime as we step back from the crowd and observe things and people as they really are, thereby gaining awareness of our relationship to nature, to ourselves and to others. It is a lifestyle that promotes a better quality of life through inner growth of the individual.