Two years ago, Nancy Conger ditched the American dream.
The former employee-relations director traded her corporate job and its financial benefits for other perks–working when she wants, traveling when the spirit moves her and taking time to smell the prairie grass on the 80 acres that surround her Wisconsin farmhouse.
“I’m living my dream life,” said Conger, 35, who now makes do on one-tenth of her former salary.
That more-joy-with-less philosophy mirrors a burgeoning national movement known as voluntary simplicity, simple living or, to tweak corporate lingo, personal downsizing.
The movement’s new twist, rather than necessarily a Walden-esque existence, is “mindfulness,” as the lingo goes, about living–and spending–in line with well-thought-out goals.
Reject America’s model of workaholic materialism, advocates say, and your rewards will be time, freedom and serenity.
“There’s no way you can have those if you’re on a treadmill of work and spend,” said Janet Luhrs, a former lawyer who publishes the quarterly “Simple Living Journal” out of her Seattle home. “The real richness comes when you clear away the clutter in your lives and save some money. Then, you have time to create the kind of life you want.”
Luhrs is among dozens of advocates whose simple-living books have hit the shelves in the last decade. Author Elaine St. James also spreads her message in a syndicated newspaper column, “Simplify Your Life.”
And in Minnesota, groups of people interested in simplifying their lives are meeting in churches, coffeehouses and homes to exchange support and ideas.
A wave that started in Seattle as a back-to-the-earth movement is now as diverse as the people drawn to it, advocates say. The 5,000 subscribers to Luhrs’ newsletter range from 20-somethings to retirees. The best candidates for change, she said, are those in the middle. Baby Boomers, often considered a generation of privilege, hooked on instant gratification, bought into credit cards and a comfort with debt as young adults. Now some are pulling back.
But giving up all life’s frills isn’t a requirement of the movement. Flight to a serene life in the country represents the far end of the voluntary simplicity movement. Most people start small, shedding possessions to free up time or curtailing spending to beef up savings.
“Nobody’s advocating being broke,” Luhrs said. “The object is to make money and possessions work for you instead of against you.”
For most people, motivation to craft a simpler lifestyle comes with a realization that the one they have doesn’t line up with their values. Still, cutting back in a consumer-oriented culture is no easy task, said Conger, who teaches voluntary simplicity classes at Minneapolis-based Open U.
“The idea has a certain (cachet). It’s kinda hip. But when it comes to making changes that look different from the average, not that many people are doing it. It takes courage for an executive to ride the bus to work.”
Twice a month, from six to 25 people gather in a meeting room at Minnehaha United Church of Christ in Minneapolis to discuss a chapter from Luhrs’ book, “The Simple Living Guide” (Broadway Books, $20).
Some say they joined out of curiosity, or to get support from the like-minded. They are professional people, office workers, retirees and students. On a recent Wednesday night, a dozen people join in a conversation about work.
Group facilitator Barbara Olson uses the phrases “mindful living,” “the right livelihood” and “joy of work”–terms common to the voluntary simplicity movement.
Some participants indicate they like their work but want to spend less time doing it. Some say they left unsatisfying jobs behind. Retirees say they’re busy but value freedom that being jobless represents.
The exchange reflects a range of personal choices that spans the simplicity movement’s broad scope.
“What I think of as simple, you might think of as extravagant,” Olson said. “But there’s no judgment in this. It’s whatever works for you.”
Barbara Vaile experimented with various modes of simplifying–including living without electricity in the Superior National Forest–before organizing a simplicity circle in Northfield, Minn., that has drawn from eight to 12 people for more than a year. She also is a regular at Friday night coffeehouse gatherings that encompass a simplicity theme.
A former executive wife and Twin Cities suburban homemaker forced to change her lifestyle after a divorce, she now is a student who lives frugally in a rented farmhouse.
“I feel I’m finally home with how I want to live,” said Vaile, 59. “I never really liked competitive dinner parties. And Northfield is a pot-luck kind of town.”
Serendipitously, Conger now makes more money than she planned by preaching what she practices. She also makes more than her $600 monthly expenses, which include an emergency fund. She splits her rent with two roommates, grows and cans vegetables and rides a bike for transportation when she can.
Her Open U classes have led to an unanticipated line of work: doing personal-coaching sessions for class participants who request her services.
John Huffaker and his wife, Charlene Torchia, are among clients who pay Conger to help them attain goals. A Minneapolis psychologist, Huffaker, 51, said remarks he hears often remind him that living simply goes against the societal grain.
“Certainly our culture is telling us to accumulate stuff,” he said. “A lot of us accumulate stuff and do things that numb us out, instead of things that fill us up and satisfy us.”
When Conger asks participants in her classes what they’ve come to get, their answers generally fall into four categories: better money management, more time, less clutter and a spirituality aspect.
The bonus for people who unclutter their lives, she said, is they usually find their minds become less cluttered, too.
“People are looking for just a simpler way of even thinking,” she said. “The underlying idea is, life isn’t supposed to be this hard. People are wanting to get back to noticing simple things. To unschedule their calendars and just go outside and watch the clouds.”
The “Simple Living Journal” is $16 a year. Send check or money order to 2319 N. 45th St., Box 149, Seattle, Wash. 98103, or call 206-464-4800. Other resources include St. James’ “Living the Simple Life” (Hyperion, $15.95) and “Simplify Your Life” (Hyperion, $19.95); “The Best of Cheapskate Monthly: Simple Tips for Living Lean in the ’90s,” Mary Hunt (St. Martin’s Press, $4.50); “How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt and Live Prosperously,” Jerrold Mundis (Bantam, $6.99); and “The Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle,” Amy Dacyczyn (Random House, $12.95).
