Voluntary Simplicity

The NY Times featured a piece on the voluntary simplicity movement a few days back, highlighting the choice of a growing number of individuals and families to cast-off (most of) their worldly possessions in favor of lives of simplicity. The article talks about a few couples who have made the decision to free themselves of their ties to their material goods, from furniture to electronics to wedding bands. The article profiles one family, the Harrises, who embarked on a ’simplifying’ quest to rid themselves of all of their goods except for one personal carton of items per family member, plus bedding and basic utensils. The Harrises set up a blog to document their process - which opened them up to criticism from readers who sneered at their “hippie” lifestyle.

But the movement is hardly a new-agey hippie thing (followers of the lifestyle are not all “chasing utopia”, despite what the writer suggests); voluntary simplicity has been around for more than a decade, claiming a wide range of believers - from punk rockers in Brooklyn to technology professionals in Silicon Valley. As the NY Times reports:

“The idea in the movement was ‘everything you own owns you,’” said Dr Grigsby [associate professor of rural sociology at the University of Missouri], who sees roots of the philosophy in the lives of the Puritans. “You have to care for it, store it. It becomes an appendange, I think. If it enhances your life and helps you do the things you want to do, great. If you are burdened by these things and they become the center of what you have to do to live, is that really positive?”

When put so simply, it makes a lot of sense. Imagine how clear your mind would be without having to worry about the new wardrobe you have to buy, when you need to make your next car payment, how you’re going to afford that laptop you’ve been eyeing. The funny thing is, as hard as it may be to fathom your world with only a handful of possessions, it takes just one step to get started - letting go.

NY Times: Chasing Utopia, Family Imagines No Possessions