Hey folks, Librarianguish here again with a quick visit.  Now that the election is over and life is returning to normal (there's a big HA HA), I think I ought to spend a bit more energy on this blog.

And speaking of energy, here's a neat story about Zero-Energy Homes.  It is now possible for people to produce enough of their own energy at home that they can take care of all of their energy needs.  The great news is that all of this can be done in entry-level homes, not just super expensive homes.

I'm so happy to see a positive story in the news.

Good morning, Anne here!  As I was commenting to Abbie's last post about her car, I got to thinking about the kinds of things people can do for inexpensive or even free fun.  Chris and I were talking about just this thing last night.  Here's my list - please add your ideas too!

• Library - books, movies, music, books on tape, magazines...hours of entertainment


• Hiking, walking


• Go through posessions, get rid of stuff and organize the rest!


• Learn to cook new dishes


• Crafts - do what you already know, or learn something new!


• Public swimming pool (our has a wonderful hot tub and sauna)


• Exercise


• Writing - blogs, letters, journals


• Visiting with neighbors


• Gardening


• Board games

The list could go on, but I want to hear from other people too!

Hi all, It's Abbie from the Isle of Remote blog. Anne's graciously invited me to write here.

I'm going through this process where I can see that I've acquired way too much STUFF and am horrified by it, but still I seem unable to stop. Just this past week I had to buy a car. The costs on maintaining my old car were just too much to deal with further. I had researched for two years, knowing that my plan all along was to buy a car between September and December of this year. To that end, I spent $700 repairing my Kia and thinking it would last until the end of the year, giving me a much better deal on the price.

I knew the model, make and year I wanted. I also knew the price. Talking with financial advisers, I knew it was better to buy a car used - 1 or 2 years. But herein lies the problem. The year I wanted was 2004. The RAV4 got an engine upgrade that year and, because I do a lot of long distance driving, I felt it was better to have an engine with some pick up. There were no used 2004s on the lot.  I've also been burned by used cars in the past and am more than a little gun shy. It's not the most fuel efficient car I could buy. It's not a guzzler, but at 24/29 I knew I could definitely do better. I warred between what I wanted and what I should get. What I wanted won. I have a brand new car with an appropriately high payment and a new considerable debt.

But I'm not sorry. It makes me wonder how serious I am in my committment to downsize. When you choose to make this life change, how do you make the choices between what you want and what you need?

Abbie:D

Hello!  A few days ago Heather/Spirit97 asked the burning question - what do you do if your spouse is not interested in simplifying life but you are?  How does one deal with the conflicts that arise?

Now that my busy week is over, and I've had a bit of time to think about it, I did come up with a few ideas.  Here goes -

First, I think it's important to consider each person's motivations behind their beliefs and actions.  This can help you understand why someone behaves as they do, and perhaps make it easier to encourage change.  As mentioned, nagging generally isn't productive.  People just don't like being told what to do, myself included.  We want to feel that we've had some sort of control over the decision to act a certain way.  Sometimes people have to come to ideas in their own time, and it can be an agonizing wait for the rest of us!

But there must be a way to positively encourage change, right?  One of the best ideas I had is to just live by example.  It sounds like you do this to some degree, by making certain choices about your car, etc.  Eventually he might begin to see the wisdom in scaling down and conserving.  Then again, maybe he won't - it doesn't help that he spends so much time around very wealthy people; there must be tremendous pressure to be "just like them."  We live in a society that tends to place value on some pretty shallow things, like money, looks, and posessions.  If we pay attention to advertising, we're taught to live in fear of not being good enough if we don't have those things.

Open discussion is another good way to encourage change.  It sounds like you've got a bit of that going, so it's a start.  You could start commenting on observations that you make about consumption, advertising, energy use, organic food - whatever angle works for you.  Then ask him what he thinks about it, and why.  Maybe you can show him the advantages you see to living a simpler life, and how his life could benefit too.  I would encourage you to find some good books about living simply (if you haven't already) and see how other people successfully change their lives.

It's not an easy road to convince somebody to change their attitudes that they've held onto for so long.  For some reason, some of us have just refused to by into the consumption mentality - I don't know what triggers it!  It's kind of like a switch going off in your brain.  One day you wake up and just say "ENOUGH! I want my life back!"  Hopefully more and more people's switch will flip, sooner rather than later.  I guess all we can do is try to help them along.

Good luck, Heather!  Keep us updated on your progress, and know that there's lots of support out there for you. 

Anne/Librarianguish

First off, let me clarify something for any of you that might be a bit confused.  This is Librarianguish here, launching a new collaborative project - and awaiting collaborators!  I'll start by sharing a bit of background.

I was thinking about how I originally got interested in the subject of sustainable living, voluntary simplicity, and simple living (are they even the same thing?).  To be perfectly honest, I can't place my finger or mind on a particular defining moment.  Somehow over the last several years though, I've become very intrigued by the topic, and I seem to go in phases of higher level focus.  I've never really organized my thinking on the subject, even though I've mentally collected many ideas and resources.  Then the other day while reading Chicalookate's posts about recycling, a little light bulb went off in my head and I decided to start this blog.  I can put my thoughts down into some fairly permanent location (I hope!), and start hearing from other people with ideas of their own.

Anyhow, even though I can't really say what started me in this direction, I can share with you one of the first books I read about living simply.  The book is called The Plain Reader, edited by Scott Savage, and is a collection of essays by people that have made choices to simplify their lives.  The essays cover a wide range of topics from work, to living without television, to embracing spiritual simplicity.  One of the beauties of an essay collection is that many different viewpoints are heard.  It is a reminder that not everyone thinks or believes the same way, but that we can always learn something new by considering a different angle.

The important thing to note is that at some point I started questioning the typical American "way of life," and believing that there might be a better way than what the advertisers would like us to believe.  My life is in no way close to where I'd like it to be as far as simplicity goes, but I like to think I'm moving in the right direction.  I don't always make the best consumer choices, but I don't fall for the idea that "more is better" or "keeping up with the Joneses" are all that matter.  We do own a television, but we watch movies and videos from the library instead of network, cable, or satellite TV.  To me, simplification is a process of learning and doing, and I hope to encourage others to move in the same direction.

Blessings to you all!

Welcome!

You've just discovered a new blog about living life in a more simple and sustainable way.  I have big ideas for this blog, and am looking forward to watching this project unfold.

My hope is that this blog will become a place for people to share ideas about making changes to our lives that promote simplicity and sustainability.  These two words mean different things to different people, and we can all learn from each other.  To some, it may mean changing eating habits, or changing patterns of consumption.  To others, it may mean making spiritual changes.  Each of us has different motivations for making changes in our lives, and I'd like to hear why and how people go about living.

I'll be adding resources, web links, and a reading list to get us started.

Most of all, I want this blog to be a positive discourse between a wide variety of people.  A place to share thought, ideas, resources, and book reviews.  Anything relevant to living a little bit lighter on our earth.  Homesteading, organic gardening, recycling, renewable energy - whatever you think fits into this topic is fair game for lively discussion.

This blog is to be a collaborative effort.  If you'd like to be a contributor, please send me a private message telling me why and I'll share the login password with you.  The only thing I ask is that you be serious about the subject and take a positive outlook - this isn't the place for ranting about the ills of the world.  This is a place to make a positive change.