According to the New Road Map Foundation, more Americans than ever before would like to "live a more relaxed life" versus a fast-paced exciting one. And more people are interested in returning to a simpler society with "less emphasis on material wealth." That Americans report working more, spending less time with their families, and feeling less happy comes as no surprise to those who believe the answer lies in cutting back, chilling out, and living a more simple lifestyle.
Those of you not living amongst hippies on the West Coast may not have heard of the Voluntary Simplicity Movement that started in the early 80s as a result of the book Voluntary Simplicity and eventually spawned "simplicity circles" --gatherings of people meeting together to discuss ways to simplify their lives and provide an alternative to mindless consumerism. That Washington State has twice as many simplicity circles as New York State, despite a population 1/3rd as large should come as no surprise to any of you familiar with our whimsical ways out West.
I attended one of these circles a few years ago, while on a second date with a very poor and in-debt second grade math teacher. He was hot, so I agreed to go along ---and bought a new outfit for the occasion. We met in his friend's apartment (the Simpletons, as I called them, preferred not to waste money meeting at restaurants or cafes), which was, predictably, modestly filled with used furniture of significant sentimental value. And then we colored. In coloring books. And talked about the ways in which we'd escaped material culture that week. Rob reported resisting the urge to buy lunch, packing his brown bag instead. Christy happily said that she and her husband had recently discovered the joy of thrift stores. Other people shared their tales of simplicity, but I was too busy admiring my darling new red shoes and imagining the fun I'd have later teaching math-boy a thing or two.
And while I profane the Circle and its intentions for purposes of the Derby, I respect the efforts to cut back and simplify. I just don't practice them particularly well myself -- unless there's a hot math teacher involved.
