Life of Voluntary Simplicity

Hello Friends,

Welcome to Anbusivam’s blog page.

Phew…!!! Job loss every where. I am literally seeing frowning faces every where....and the questions they ask are "How is it going in your company...?, any lay offs ...?".

Organisations are into cost cutting mode. Managers are looking for reducing the operating costs in each and every corner, even to the extent of buying low cost toilet tissues. For individuals, I believe this is the right time to come out of consumerism. which many are blindly falling prey to. In this time of global economic melt down, leading a simple life means a lot for survival.

Only way we individuals can cope with these kinds of situations is with “Voluntary Simplicity”. Voluntary simplicity comes from within. It is the only way of more sustainable human existence in this world. Voluntary simplicity is a matter of personal responsibility and conscious awareness of how we live on the planet. It means identifying the difference between our needs and our wants. Needs are those things that are necessary for our survival - food, clothing, and shelter. Wants are all the other things we desire and to a large extent are driven by media advertising. Simplicity as a life-style is the identifiable difference between needs and wants, and the awareness.

We must live simply, so that others may simply live. - Gandhi

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. - Hans Hofmann.

Practical Steps to Simplifying Our Life:

1. Get yourself with what you really need and not what you want.

2. Limit your buying habits. If we can escape materialism, we can easily get into the habit of buying less. And that will mean less stuff, less spending, less frustration.

3. Limit your media consumption, media advertisements dominates most of our buying decisions. Simplify your life and your information consumption by limiting it.

4. Learn to live frugally. Living frugally means buying less, wanting less, and leaving less of a footprint on the earth. It’s directly related to simplicity.

5. Before you buy something, write the item down on a note and if you still want it after a month, purchase it then.

6. Have a Buy Nothing Day.

7. Walk down or take out your bicycle to round the corner shopping.

8. Decide what is really working in your life and let go of that which no longer serves you.

9. Brew your own coffee at home instead of spending time and money in that posh café corner.

10. Find friends who know the glass is half-full or in other words, find friends who share the same value system as you do.

After all the above,

Always ask: Will this simplify my life? If the answer is no, reconsider.

Thanks for visiting my page.

With Love
Anbusivam