Going Back to a Simple Lifestyle...

In our world of excessive stuff, there's a silent movement towards minimalistic living that's gaining momentum. A movement related to living simply is Minimalism, where the focus is on living with less, compared to simplicity, which strives for living a less complex life. The two works quite well together. A growing number of people in urban cities are questioning whether they need as much as they have: clothes, accessories, gadgets and everything that fills our homes but doesn't necessarily serve us better or make us happy. People are embracing simplicity of living. In other words, they are developing the art of living with less, going back to our rustic roots. 

One who have experienced this simplicity, have to admit certain things. First, voluntary simplicity can help mitigate the effects of climate change and other environmental problems. Secondly, if we cut out the things that we don’t need, then the quality of our lives will improve drastically. And lastly, living more simply increases the spiritual dimension of our lives as we get more time for self reflection. Voluntary simplicity fits well the category of sustainable consumption because its principles include: creating economically sustainable future, shaping balanced relationships between humans as well as building and maintaining close ties to the mother Nature. 

In economics, there is a Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility which states that the marginal utility of a good or service declines as its available supply increases (Utility is the satisfaction or benefit derived by consuming a product). In simple words, if we consume or have more commodities, they become less valuable or less satisfying. More & more things or loads of stuff is not going to give you eternal satisfaction and peace. The law is known also as Fundamental Law of Satisfaction. Voluntary simplicity is an exact oppositional living strategy that rejects the high-consumption, materialistic lifestyles of consumer cultures and affirms what is often just called ‘the simple life’ or ‘downshifting.’

This does not necessarily mean that we should leave everything and become a cave-dweller, nor there should be the complete absence of technology. Out of many people who simplify, still continue to live conventional lives, working for a living, raising families, exploring spiritual interests, connecting with their communities, and enjoying leisure time.

While writing this Voluntary Simplicity series, I used to realize that many things or stuff I have are actually an futile, useless or have a very short lifespan; but their manufacturing process either pollutes unnecessarily or consume too much resources and energy or both. So when I actually give it a thought, we all are surrounded by such stuff. For me, I have decided to gradually decrease the stuff around me and move slowly towards Simplicity.

I have realized that it is a deliberate choice to live with less in the belief that more life will be returned to us in the process. According to the most prominent historian of the Simplicity Movement, David Shi, the primary attributes of the simple life include: thoughtful frugality; a suspicion of luxuries; a reverence and respect for nature; a desire for self-sufficiency; a commitment to conscientious rather than conspicuous consumption; a privileging of creativity and contemplation over possessions; an aesthetic preference for minimalism and functionality; and a sense of responsibility for the just uses of the world’s resources. More concisely, Shi defines voluntary simplicity as ‘enlightened material restraint.’

Yes..! Even You can be happy with little. But today, we have already perfected the art of being unhappy with much - or too much. Out of our selfish greed rather than the higher values, in search of petty pleasures rather than some worthwhile accomplishments, we have critically jeopardized the planet’s life-cycles and caused species to fall extinct at a frantic pace. We must return to ancient India’s philosophy of simple living, else the collapse of our artificial system may one day force us to it. Our small everyday choices are blind and market-driven; let us make them enlightened.

The crux of the issue is the reduction of toxic loads that surrounds us. Natural living, changes every facet of life. It restrains unhealthy behavior, and build up of nasty toxins associated with hectic lifestyles. Living pure in every small way of daily living becomes the primary goal. This is appealing as it saves money, reduces stress and achieves good health. But how does one get started? Do you have to stop shopping completely and stop washing yourself, your clothes and homes because everything out there is a potential threat? Absolutely not! unless, you want to use that as an excuse to do nothing. You can try and become self-sufficient or self-dependent. Instead of automated electrical equipment, try to use mechanical or manual one which requires physical strength to operate. For example, skip the escalator and take the stairs.

In the end, The Choice is Yours - Simplicity or Complexity? Would you prefer to live a life of simplicity or a life of complexity? Well, that might depend on your views of simplicity. And you can choose any reason for opting - personal, social, humanitarian, or ecological! We all can live meaningful, free, happy, and infinitely diverse lives, while consuming no more than a sustainable and equitable share of nature. That, at least, is the challenging ideal which seems to motivate and guide many of its advocates and practitioners.

The Ultimate Sophistication!

For the past several years, many people are interestingly being attentive to stories of people returning to the simple life, of people moving back to the countryside or growing their own food or building their own home and so on. This phenomenon appears to be of deep social significance. It is the way of life whose time seems to be arriving; or more precisely, returning. However our present era of relative abundance contrasts sharply with the material poverty of the past.

Just give it a thought - We take birth, have education, do a job which we hate or do a business where we blame colleagues for failures; find a life partner cause everybody is getting married, have a family, have a disease or two, and finally die! Rarely, some fine day, we realize: We were running a rat-race simply because everybody else around us was doing the same and we just did not have the time to live!

Well, I agree that we all need money or few materialistic things to get the fair share of easiness in our life. So we have to work for it. Unfortunately, this can be a double-edged sword. The more we work, the more we earn; the more we earn, the more we spend. That requires us to work more, and the vicious cycle is hard to break. Outwardly we may have the appearance of having it all and being successful, but inside we may feel a void and an unsettled, hard-to-fill emptiness. Perhaps one needs to get out of the rat race and instead get to the top where the ‘top’ is defined by self, not by society or your boss. But this journey is not that simple as it seems.

Duane Elgin, writer of the famous book Voluntary Simplicity believes this journey is Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich. The driving forces behind Voluntary Simplicity range from personal concerns to critical national problems. In my last article, we have discussed that - We all have to abandon our destructive system of exploiting our natural resources and find sustainable ways to inhabit the planet. But how?

Voluntary simplicity or simple living is subjective - it is different for each person or family. Some may envision simple living as moving to the countryside and live with the basics, while others may picture a small dwelling in the middle of a city. For some it may be enhancing relationships and finding inner peace. For others it may be a major life change. The particular expression of simplicity is a personal matter. Every one of us knows where our lives are unnecessarily complicated. We are all painfully aware of the clutter and pretense that weigh upon us and make our passage through the world more cumbersome and awkward. Hence a one-size-fits-all do not apply to Voluntary Simplicity. 

Voluntary simplicity is not about living in poverty; it is about living with balance. To live more simply is to unburden ourselves. Sometimes this approach to life involves providing for material needs as simply and directly as possible, minimizing expenditure on consumer goods & services and needless distractions; and directing progressively more time and energy towards pursuing non-materialistic sources of satisfaction and meaning. Simplicity is to establish a more direct, modest, unshowy, and suffocation-free relationship with all aspects of our lives: the things that we consume, the work that we do, our relationships with others, and our connections with nature. This generally means accepting a lower level of consumption, in exchange for more time and freedom to pursue other life goals, such as community or social engagements, more time with family, artistic or intellectual projects, more fulfilling employment, social participation, sustainable living, spiritual exploration, reading, contemplation, relaxation, pleasure-seeking, love, and so on - none of which need to rely on money, or much money. 

I have met people who do not have time for friends, kids & family, exercise or even for themselves. They will spend the whole week sloughing at the workplace and to release that stress they will fly to some dense forest to exploit it further in the name of hobby. I wonder what they are running after or what they are running from..?

By cutting out the things we don’t absolutely need and by ceasing to do the things that we don’t absolutely need to do, we can increase the amount of free time we have. We can use this free time to improve our intellectual and spiritual lives and to increase the quality of our relationships. Voluntary Simplicity means that we keep our eye on what really matters in life. It means letting go of anything that interferes with your view of a high quality of life and meeting life face-to-face as it is - straight and unadulterated.

At present the concept of Voluntary Simplicity gains an additional importance because limiting consumption becomes a point of special interest in these times of global pandemic and economic recession. The recession not only forces consumption reduction but also stimulates deeper deliberation about the necessary shifts in individuals’ values system. Thus crisis may work as an ‘alarm clock’ or ‘teacher’ that motivates consumers to simplify their lives.

The idea of simple lifestyle is nothing new to Indians. In the Yoga Sūtras, great Indian sage Patanjali listed Aparigraha as the fifth of the Yamas (the don’ts) or code of self-restraint. The majority of pre-industrial societies also used to live in a very simple way. The philosophy of minimised consumption, an antidote to greed-driven economic growth, is part of the Indian worldview.

Living simply is more about the journey than the destination. Most people do not wake up one day and make a simple life. It is a slow process, an evolution that occurs over time. I, personally, have slowly evolved through conscious decisions to simplify. There is no concrete prescription for achieving a simple life, and each of us will take our own unique path. You can start by growing your own Fenugreek at your place or composting the kitchen waste, by decreasing the use processed foods or simply by decreasing the electricity usage consciously.

Choosing a simple life requires time and energy to rediscover what is most important to you, what brings you happiness, and what you really want. It requires you to slow down and focus on your path. Once you find your bliss, then your focus shifts to achieving, and life becomes more joyful and less stressful. The simple life of voluntary simplicity is about discovering the freedom and contentment that comes with knowing how much consumption is truly ‘enough’!!!

This Environment day, let us begin our journey slowly towards the simpler and meaningful life..!

अपरिग्रहस्थैर्ये जन्मकथंतासंबोधः ॥३९॥

Meaning : With constancy of aparigraha, a spiritual illumination of the how and why of motives and birth emerges. (39)
                                                             - Sage Patanjali, Yoga Sūtra.

Teacher of the Year!

Once upon a time, there was a young and successful officer going to his village. He was driving a bit faster in his new BMW. He saw a boy calling for help on a turn. He thought he saw something but didn’t stop. Right then a brick hit his car. Angrily, the officer applied breaks, went back to grab the boy and started scolding him for the damages of his car. The boy pleaded, “I am really sorry sir! Please forgive me!! But I have to use that brick as no one was stopping. My brother fell from his wheelchair. He is hurt and I can not lift him by myself”. The officer went speechless, and was shocked to see his handicapped brother. He helped the boy. The boy thanked the officer with teary eyes and said,”May God bless you sir!” Yes, that brick may have caused some damages to his BMW; but also taught him a lesson - DO NOT GO very fast through life, otherwise just to draw your attention, someone will have to hit you with a brick!

Can You relate to the story?!

Well, we are just similar to that officer. We... Human beings often forget that we are largely dependent on Nature or Mother Earth and become ignorant towards her. We have been so reluctant and negligent to the preservation of natural resources and sustainable living that we had already forgotten about the dynamic equilibrium of Nature. The time has come when we are facing the increasing incidents of droughts, sun-strokes, cloud-bursts, floods, land-slides, pandemics and number of deaths associated with it.

Ecological Integrity refers to the ability of an ecosystem to support and maintain ecological processes and a diverse community of organisms. In simple language, ecosystems have integrity when they have their native components intact. So this ecosystem integrity underlines human health and development. It can help regulate diseases by supporting a diversity of species so that it is more difficult for one pathogen to spill over, amplify or dominate. Human-induced environmental changes modify wildlife population structure and reduce biodiversity, resulting in new environmental conditions that favour particular hosts, vectors and/or pathogens. The loss of habitat and biodiversity creates conditions for lethal new viruses and diseases to spill into human communities. And if we continue to destroy our lands, we also deplete our resources and damage our agricultural systems.

The WHO has declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The outbreak has resulted in the untimely death of tens of thousands worldwide, a global economic recession and the collapse of health-care systems among many of the hardest-hit countries. To be clear, the pandemic is a tragedy and has affected human life very badly, overloaded hospitals, unemployment, economic disaster and it has caused depression in millions of people and many countries around the world have lockdown & quarantined its citizens to slow down the spread of the virus. While the origin of the outbreak and its transmission pathway are yet to be discovered, there are few important points worth reviewing...

Outbreaks that emerged or re-emerged recently are Ebola, bird flu, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), the Nipah virus, Rift Valley fever, Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), West Nile virus, Zika virus disease, and now, the Corona virus. They are all linked to human activity.

According to www.worldenvironmentday.global, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was the result of forest losses leading to closer contacts between wildlife and human settlements; the emergence of avian influenza was linked to intensive poultry farming; the Nipah virus was linked to the intensification of pig farming and fruit production in Malaysia and emergence of bat-associated viruses was due to the loss of bat habitat from deforestation and agricultural expansion.

The Covid-19 lockdown imposed throughout the world has struck a chord in every one of us and it has made us thinking how nature is so important for our day to day living. It gave us the time to stop, analyse our deeds and  introspect. It has made us see that our actions can very well impact the Earth’s sustainability.

Traffic-free roads, plane-free skies and widespread brick-and-mortar closings have made the planet a beneficiary of the coronavirus pandemic - but only in the short term. Amid the destruction, the pandemic has brought forth wins for a world that leaves room for humans and animals to coexist happily.

From breathing pure air to greener trees, spotting various wildlife into the urban settlements; there are some important environmental changes that we have seen for this lockdown in India, which are improvement in air quality, reduction in air pollution and water of Ganga became fit for drinking in Haridwar. Animals have more room to roam due to decreased pollution and human interference. Dolphins are spotted near Kolkata ghats, increased numbers of flamingos in Mumbai and Arrival of endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles ashore along the coast of Odisha to dig their nests & lay eggs; are some of the examples.

It’s safe to say that no one would have wanted for emissions to be lowered this way. COVID-19 has taken a grim global toll on lives, health services, jobs and mental health. But, if anything, it has also shown the difference that communities can make when they look out for each other - and that’s one lesson that could be invaluable in dealing with climate change.

May this COVID-19 pandemic will end soon. But what we learn out of it will decide our future. Are we going to repeat all those mistakes we used to do before or we going to change our detrimental actions? We all know, digging up fossil fuels, cutting down forests and sacrificing the planet’s health for profit, convenience & consumption is driving catastrophic climate change. It’s time to abandon this destructive system and find sustainable ways to inhabit our planet. This lockdown have made us realize that Life goes on even in the reduced speed of development...or rather, its more pleasant too! So why not to lead a simpler life voluntarily; rather than waiting for some tiny virus to force us to do the same?!

It is impossible to predict where the next outbreak will come from or when it will be. Growing evidence suggests that outbreaks or epidemic diseases may become more frequent as climate continues to change. By embracing a simpler way of life characterized by a compassionate & ecological consciousness, frugal consumption and inner development; people can change their lives and, in the process, move the world toward sustainable prosperity. The novel corona virus has taught us so many things. 

The question is – Are we ready to learn?!

Today is 10th anniversary of Gifting Trees... Let us join hands for embracing Voluntary Simplicity..!