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We hope you enjoy this edition of our on-line Newsletter. The Table Of Contents below provides links to all of the articles and new resources we have added to our web site.
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Dave Wampler, Founder
Fred Ecks, Editor
Copyright © The Simple Living Network. All Rights Reserved.
- Introduction: A Letter From The Editors
- New Resources & Best Sellers: Resource Directory Highlights
- Cattle & The Environment: One Farmer's Perspective
- The Truth About Cloth Diapers
- This Beautiful Planet Earth: Living Simply For A Sustainable World
- TroutLake.org & Managing My Life Programs: Welcoming New Partners
- Our Value System & Stress: Managing My Life
- Money/Life Balance In The New Millennium: Being in the Present — Tracking Your Life Energy
- Traveling Light
- Financial Resolutions: The Dollar Stretcher
- Simple Living Season 3 DVD, the popular PBS TV Series with Wanda Urbanska
- Unleashing The Soul Of Money: Find Sufficiency, Freedom & Purpose Through Your Relationship With Money, by Lynne Twist
- Not Buying It: My Year Withouth Shopping, by Judith Levine — Now In Paperback!
- Simple Living For The Worn Out Woman, by Alice Gray, Dr. Steven Stephens & John Van Diest
- Celebrate Simply: NEW 2nd Edition, by Nancy Twigg
- Your Money Or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money & Achieving Financial Independence, by Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin
- Getting A Life: Strategies For Simple Living Based On Your Money Or Your Life, by Jacqueline Blix & David Heitmiller
- Transforming Your Relationship With Money, audio CD/workbook course, by Joe Dominguez
- Take Back Your Time: Fighting Overwork & Time Poverty In America, John de Graaf, Editor
- Affluenza, the popular PBS program, John de Graaf & Vivia Boe, Producers
- Un-Jobbing: The Adult Liberation Handbook, PDF edition, by Michael Fogler
- 30 Days To A Simpler Life, by Connie Cox & Chris Evatt
- Simplicity & Success: Creating The Life You Long For, PDF edition, by Bruce Elkin
- Simple Living Season 1 DVD, the popular PBS TV Series with Wanda Urbanska
- The Circle Of Simplicity: Return To The Good Life, by Cecile Andrews
- The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, the one and only basic cookbook you will ever need, covering every course, from appetizers to desserts, plus chapters on breakfast, sandwiches, sauces and condiments, and beverages. Highly Recommended!
- Greens Glorious Greens: more than 140 ways to prepare all those great-tasging, super-healthy, beautiful leafy greens, by Johnna Albi & Catherine Walthers
- The Juicing Bible, by Pat Crocker & Susan Eagles
- Simply In Season: Recipes That Celebrate The Rhythm Of The Land In The Spirit Of The More-With-Less Cookbook, by Mary Beth Lind & Cathleen Hockman-Wert
- Simply In Season Children's Cookbook, by Mark Beach & Julie Kauffman
- Little House On A Small Planet: Simple Homes, Cozy Retreats & Energy Efficient Possibilities, by Shay Salomon
- The Detox Box: A Program For Greater Health & Vitality, by Mark Hyman M.D.
- Dr. Andrew Weil's Mind-Body Tool Kit, by Dr. Andrew Weil
- The Ashtanga Yoga Collection, by Richard Freeman
- Guided Mindfulness Meditation (& Yoga), by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Insight Meditation Kit: A Step-By-Step Course On How To Meditate, by Sharon Salzberg & Joseph Goldstein
- Mindfulness For Beginners, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Guided Mindfulness Meditation (& Yoga), by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Dr. Andrew Weil's Mind-Body Tool Kit, by Dr. Andrew Weil
- Pema Chφdrφn Audio Collection, by Pema Chφdrφn
- The Biology Of Belief: How Your Beliefs Shape Your Health & Your Destiny, by Bruce H. Lipton, Ph. D.
- The Diamond In Your Pocket: Discovering Your True Radiance, by Gangaji
- The Way Of The Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide To Mastering The Challenges Of Women, Work & Sexual Desire, by David Deida
Copyright © 2007
I've read recently a lot about the scourge of cattle as a greenhouse gas emitter. Perhaps in the context of deforestation of the Amazon and industrial feedlot production, this is so. However, I live on a 15-acre property in Eastern Ontario and I keep a few Belted Galloways on the property to clean up the weeds and ditches and find that they live in harmony with the property around them. I would even go so far as to say that they improve it in a lot of ways.
For starters, we should look at the environmental issues caused by raising cattle for food. First, it takes a lot of energy to convert plant material into beef protein, something like a 10:1 rate or even more, so clearly it makes sense in an ever shrinking world to dedicate more land to plant production and less to beef production, purely from an efficiency point of view.
Also, there is the matter of plants fixing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, while many agricultural animals release it into the air. In the case of cattle (and all ruminants) this is due primarily to the action of the bacteria in their rumen (first stomach) which enable them to process complex carbohydrates, such as cellulose into a useable simple sugar. For the record, this is something that humans cannot do, and is one of the great evolutionary advantages that the ancestors of modern cattle, sheep and so on developed for themselves. Good for the animals it may be, but in industrial production scales, there are major environmental consequences, possibly even contributing to climate change.
Finally, there is the matter of manure disposal, which has become a hot issue in this part of the world as governments seek to manage nutrient overloads in our waterways which are caused, at least partly, by manure from large farms leaching into our creeks, rivers and lakes. This causes severe algal blooms at times, and can render the water unfit for human consumption. It can also cause massive bacterial loads. If these bacteria enter drinking water sources and are not monitored effectively, they can lead to human diseases (as in the much publicized events of Walkerton, Ontario, where 7 people were killed and thousands made ill by a bacterial contamination from a cattle feedlot which the local municipal works employees ignored. They were convicted in criminal court and sent to jail, as fate would have it). In any case, the original problem was caused by a cattle feedlot where a large amount of manure was not contained and made its way into one of the nearby municipal wells.
There are also a lot of negative effects on non-human life, such as animals who rely on the same bodies of water for their own consumption or fish, amphibians and reptiles who actually live in the water and can be subject to dire consequences from many different forms of pollution.
Despite all of these negatives, I would argue that it is possible to farm cattle in a way that is at least environmentally neutral and, in some cases, environmentally beneficial.
Cattle or other grazers can be farmed in areas not suited to crop production. This would include hilly, rocky or treed land. In this way, they can utilize resources which are inaccessible to crop farmers and contribute to the net food supply, rather than diminishing it. This is the case with our cattle. They graze land not accessible to machinery and, in fact, reduce our use of fossil fuels significantly as we do not have to burn diesel to clean up the areas in question.
As a side issue, the success of this is due in no small part to the fact that the cattle we keep are Belted Galloways, a small hardy breed originally from Scotland. These cattle eat everything, weeds, grass, trees and all. In our area, there is a major problem with weeds such as poison parsnip, thistle, stinging nettles, burdock and sumac. Unlike a lot of commercial breeds who require top grade pasture land, these cattle not only eat what would otherwise be noxious weeds, but grow fat and prosperous on this diet which would cause a lot of other breeds to be stunted.
In our case, we have to maintain control of the grass and weeds as we have planted a large number of small trees in the marginal areas of the property, intending to reforest it in the long term. The cattle do this for us and in the long run, save us tremendous time and energy. As an additional benefit, they also prune the larger trees back so that the lower branches begin only in the 5-6 foot range, rather than at the ground, which lowers significantly the number of pest insects in the vicinity of the house (such as mosquitoes, horseflies and blackflies) without unduly harming the trees.
This can, in fact, be a profitable part of the overall farm operation as the cattle can be hired out to graze marginal land on outside farms, thus keeping their weeds and brush under control. I first hit on this idea when a new neighbour asked me to mechanically clean some of his marginal farm land which was covered in weeds. I gave him a price, which was steep enough as there was a significant amount of land involved and none of it had been cleaned out in some years. I then offered him a deal at half the cost if I could allow the cattle to perform the same function. He agreed and after making one pass around the perimeter of the property, I was able to install a temporary electric fence and let the cows have at it. True, the job took about six weeks instead of 2 days, but by any standard, there was a large savings in fossil fuels and human time. Not to mention, the cattle do a better job than any tractor as they can get into rocky, treed or boggy areas that no tractor could hope to penetrate.
The other, similar area, where cattle can contribute to reducing fossil fuel use and human hassles is in conjunction with tree fruit farming. The cattle graze the grass and weeds in our apple orchard, not only reducing the necessity of our having to cut the grass, but also pruning the trees as they go and cleaning up the vast majority of the fallen apples, converting them into protein as well. This, in turn, reduces the number of insects multiplying in the fallen apples and helps prevent infestation of the crop grade apples still on the trees. As a side issue, it also makes it easy to get new apple tree saplings as the cows wander all over and leave the seeds in their piles of manure, where the new trees find a most favourable environment to grow.
I would argue that in terms of the issues of pollution of air and water, the major problem with cattle farming is not really cattle, it is the scale of human endeavour. A grazed pasture poses no threat to human water supply or air quality. The cattle move around at random, depositing their manure in the same manner. Only when there are feedlots generating tons and tons of manure with no place to go do you start to get pollution issues. I would argue that gigantic monoculture farms of cash crops or fruits are no environmental benefit either, owing to their use of chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, consumption of fossil fuels and disruption of soils. So, the problem is not necessarily cattle or corn or apples as much as it is simply scale. If we reduce the pressure on the land by reducing intensity of agriculture, we solve a lot of our issues.
This is a photograph of our bull, Hughie lounging under one of our apple trees. As you can probably tell, the environment around him is not stressed by his presence. The tree is laden with apples, the grass is green and there are no signs of manure anywhere (although it is present). They can graze this area for a week to two weeks, depending on animal density, after which it is rested for three to five weeks, depending on the season. Clearly, Hughie is also not standing knee deep in manure as he would be in a feedlot, so there is no need to use prophylactic antibiotics or other chemicals to keep him (and the rest) healthy. The animals are also well treated, having a pleasant, low stress life, which reduces the objections to beef farming on the basis of conscience at the treatment of agricultural animals. Although some must make the trip to the freezer, they have a very pleasant life in the meantime. Anyone who has ever seen a feedlot will understand this concept.
Another major contributor to the environmental impact of cattle as a crop is the inefficiency of conversion of plant material into protein. To some extent, this can be reduced by breed selection. For example, most cattle when butchered yield 50% of the weight of the animal as useable meat. With Belted Galloways, this number is 60% due to their smaller bone size and lower body fat percentage (they produce thick pelts in the winter instead of subcutaneous fat to stay warm). The efficiency of growing these cattle therefore is as much as 20% greater than conventional breeds with no change in feed or conditions. Additionally, these cattle are very intelligent and hardy, needing little or no input from humans. They can be left to themselves up to months at a time as long as they have a reasonable water supply. Due to the nature of our property and the size of our individual pastures, we move them weekly pasture to pasture, but this is not necessary in a lot of places.
Further to this, a lot of cattle operations are based on fattening steers within a year so that they reach marketable weight very quickly. The only way to do this is to feed them very high calorie foods such as corn or other grains. Therefore, we are using energy to farm cash crops, transport cash crops, store cash crops, bring cash crops to the animals and cart their waste away. No wonder it seems environmentally unfriendly.
If instead we leave the cattle to graze over a longer period of time, there is no need for them to eat grain at all. They grow to the same weight eating only grass. There are therefore no transportation costs, no feed production costs and no need to transport feed to the animals or get rid of their waste. An additional benefit to this is that the meat produced is leaner, healthier and much lower in trans- and saturated fats. It is also high in Omega III fatty acids, which actually help reduce blood cholesterol. So, the reputation of beef as unhealthy is also due in part to the way we feed the animals. This can also be said of other crops, such as lamb, pork, chicken and eggs. The disadvantage of this is that it takes two years for the animal to reach market rather than one, which runs against the grain of agribusiness, but it is certainly environmentally preferable.
Having said this, a number of larger cash croppers in our area are finding that a once every five years or so rotation of pasture with grazing cattle or sheep increases their yields on their primary products by resting the soil, the soil building effects of turf crops (often called green manure) and adding the considerable additional nutrients from animal waste to the soil. This reduces or eliminates chemical fertilizers (a major expense) and their corresponding environmental impact.
I would argue that if you are interested in reducing environmental impact, but still wish to eat beef, that you should seek out a local farmer who produces beef in a similar way to what I have described. Because people like this are invariably from outside the system, it can be hard to locate them, but the quality of the beef and our environment are worth the effort. You can usually save money as well by buying direct from the farmer as it eliminates middlemen including transport companies, abattoirs, packers and retailers. Do not buy it at grocery stores, where it invariably comes from large, industrial operations and certainly do not buy it at fast food restaurants where it is usually very low quality, cheap beef (often old dairy cows), sometimes from rainforest sources such as Brazil.
Finally, if you own an acreage or farm, consider keeping livestock at the very least to assist in your clean up chores. Why cut the grass when your cattle can make it into very tasty protein? I say this because cattle are considerably easier to look after than sheep, goats or pigs and there are many breeds which occupy the same niche as our Belted Galloways, being very strong foragers and efficient converters of grass into meat owing to their evolution in harsher areas. Others include, but are not limited to Highlands, Black Galloways, White Galloways and small frame Aberdeen Angus.
If your objective is to simplify your life in the country and/or reduce environmental impact, cattle are not necessarily at odds with you and your lifestyle. As an additional benefit, they are a lot of fun, can help teach children responsibility, and have a calming influence on those who work with them. Best of all, you can be 100% comfortable with the meat on your plate being completely free of chemicals, antibiotics and hormones.
About The Author
Andrew Nielsen is a farmer and landscaper in North Lancaster, Ontario. He lives with his wife, Denise, and three children, Erik, Anna and Grace. The farm is dedicated to the promotion and propagation of two endangered species, Belted Galloway cattle and Jacob Sheep. They also keep Llamas as sheep guardians. Andrew can be reached at daenielsen@glen-net.ca
Copyright © 2007
It was an ordinary afternoon at the basketball field. I was on the bleachers watching my oldest play and was simultaneously wrestling my almost two-year-old (he arches his back and slams his head into my chest and I snuggle him to keep him from falling down a flight of bleacher stairs). I checked his diaper and proceeded to change him in a secluded spot, nothing unusual so far - except that when I turned my head to retrieve his new diaper, I noticed several moms looking over my shoulder.
I looked up from my spot on the floor and said, "Hi," in an obviously confused manner.
"What are you doing?" one of the ladies said.
"Changing Jack's diaper," I replied, trying not to "crack wise" as my grandmother would have said.
"What is that?" another lady said, pointing to Jack's diaper.
"A diaper," I said, wondering if I had to start speaking slowly and loudly too. And then it dawned on me why they were looking at me so strangely.
"Oh," I said. "It's a cloth diaper."
"Really?" one of the moms asked. "You do that?"
"Yeah," I said. "I have for years."
"Gross," was one mother's reply. "I could never do that," another said. "I wish I could," said another, "but it's just too much."
Their reactions shouldn't have surprised me, but they did a little. I mean, I understand thinking that cloth diapers can be a hassle, but to not even recognize one when they saw it?
After the initial shock wore off, I proceeded to give the other mothers a small class - what I like to call Cloth Diapers 101.
The first question is always, "Why do I use cloth diapers?"
Why wouldn't I?
Let's first put aside the fact that cloth diapers are really soft and it's the only thing I can imagine putting next to my baby's even softer skin. Let's look at a disposable diaper. A disposable diaper contains traces of dioxin - a very toxic chemical bi-product of the paper-bleaching process. It is a carcinogenic chemical that is classified by the EPA as being the most toxic of all the cancer-linked chemicals. It is banned in most countries.
Disposables also contain Tributyl-tin (TBT) - a known toxic pollutant said to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.
Disposables have that lovely gel inside them - sodium polyacrylate - a super absorbent polymer that has been linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome.
If I spend so much time making sure that my baby only tries one food at a time to prevent food allergies, how on Earth can I validate putting this stuff on an area of extreme sensitivity?
There is also the whole environmental issue that often comes up. According to Carl Lehrburger, author of "Diapers in the Waste Stream: A Review of Waste Management and Public Policy Issues":
"In 1988, over 18 billion diapers were sold and consumed in the United States that year.""The instructions on a disposable diaper package advise that all fecal matter should be deposited in the toilet before discarding, yet less than one half of one percent of all waste from single-use diapers goes into the sewage system."
"Over 92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill."
"By 1988, nearly $300 million was spent annually just to discard disposable diapers, whereas cotton diapers are reused 50 to 200 times before being turned into rags."
Further, disposables generate 60 times more solid waste and use 20 times more raw materials like crude oil and wood pulp than cloth diapers.
In 1991, an attempt towards recycling disposable diapers was made in the city of Seattle, involving 800 families, 30 day care centers, a hospital and a Seattle-based recycler for a period of one year. The conclusion made by Procter & Gamble was that recycling disposable diapers was not an economically feasible task on any scale.
"But I can't be responsible for the whole world," one mom said.
"No," I replied, "but we can be responsible for our part in it. Besides, cloth diapers are way cheaper than disposables."
"No, they're not, they are so expensive to buy," she said.
"At first," I replied. "But I purchased five dozen diapers for Matt 14 years ago and I am still using diapers that I used on him on Jack. I've bought a dozen or two for each kid in between, but that's it."
Cloth diapers are only around $20 a dozen. Let's do the math for, say two children (I have five, and any math done for five children is daunting). Buy five dozen diapers at $20 a dozen off Ebay. That's $100. Buy 10 pairs of nylon cover pants - maximum price of $10 a piece, but again, you can always get them cheaper than that at thrift stores, yard sales or online. That's another $100. Some diaper pins - $2.00. For a total of $202.00, both kids are diapered for as long as need be. And then you have to do the laundry. But you were going to do the laundry anyway. So adding a couple of loads a week (and small ones at that) shouldn't add too much to the mix.
$202 compared to disposables which cost approximately $20 a package - $10 if you buy cheap ones. A newborn baby will get at least 12 changes a day - at least! A toddler will take 6-8. So, let's say 10 diapers a day on average for 28 months. 8,540 diapers. Wow. I did a little comparison-shopping at Amazon.com and found that one can get 140 diapers for approximately $35. That's about 25 cents a piece for a diaper - pretty good. Multiply that by 8,540 and that's a whopping $2135.00 spent on disposables over a two-year(ish) period. I don't know about you, but I can think of a lot of ways to spend $2000. And that's bargain shopping - that doesn't count the $10 you have to spend on a quick package of 10 diapers at the convenience store because you ran out.
My new friends at the basketball game were shocked - they thought of themselves as being a pretty frugal bunch, but had never calculated the personal financial cost of using disposables.
"But what about diaper rash?" one of the moms asked.
For me personally, I have had five children in cloth diapers and not one has ever had a diaper rash problem. Once in a while one will get a little redness, but it's nothing that can't be helped with a little Lansinoh or A&D Ointment. I have babysat for a lot of kids and the worst cases of diaper rash were on kids who were in disposables - and usually those kids were left in their diapers a little too long. Further, I don't put a cover on my baby's diaper unless we are going out somewhere and we need to prevent leakage - otherwise, my baby is in a pinned, organic cotton diaper, with air circulating and not a rash in sight.
My system for cloth diapering is almost as simple as disposable diapering. I keep a 5-gallon bucket in the bathroom (which is also my laundry room) half-filled with water and a couple of spoonfuls of baking soda. When a diaper is wet, it comes off the baby and gets thrown in the bucket. A new diaper is put on the baby. Done. If the diaper is a little more, shall we say, involved, then it gets dunked in the toilet before being placed in the bucket.
If we are out and about, the offending diaper gets placed in a zip-lock bag and then placed in the bucket when we get home.
And that's it. I do a load of diapers probably every two or three days - small loads, hot water, no bleach. In the winter I use the dryer or hang by the woodstove - in the spring, summer and fall, I hang them outside.
Believe it or not, where I live, using cloth is actually more convenient than using disposables because I live very far from the nearest grocery store and our local stores do not always carry diapers. Being able to just run upstairs and run a load of laundry is much easier than strapping the kids in the car, buying gas, going to the grocery store, spending the money on the diapers, and then driving all the way home.
"But what about the poop?" a mom asked me again. Is it really so inconceivable that we must sometimes have to deal with poop? I know many women who clean out litter boxes and carry little bags around behind their dogs - without so much as an "ick" - but their own child's poop? Blech! Poop is not that big a deal. Even with a disposable you still have to look at it, smell it and clean it off a baby. You can't get away from it. And with a disposable, you are supposed to put the offensive matter into a toilet before throwing it away - it's just that no one ever does. If you can clean up after your dog, why not your child?
As it was once said (on a bumper sticker) "Poop Happens."
Related Resources
About The Author
Michelle Kennedy is an author, activist, shepherd, organic farmer and mother of five. She is also the Founding Editor of Real Living - a new 'zine for the organically inclined. Contact Michelle directly by visiting www.mishakennedy.com.
Copyright © 2007
I would say that there exist a thousand unbreakable links between each of us, and everything else, and that our dignity and chances are one. The farthest star and the mud at our feet are a family, and there is no decency or sense in honouring one thing, or a few things, and closing the list. The pine tree, the leopard, the Platte River, and ourselves we are all at risk together. We are each other's destiny.
- Mary Oliver
This summer I retrieved a small shrub from a communal garden where I live. It was in poor condition, having been uprooted for weeks. The foliage had gone completely and all that remained were a few brown, brittle stems and a dried up root system. Any reasonable gardener would have pronounced the death sentence - but I couldn't. I saw it as a horticultural challenge to do all I could to bring it back to full life - if I could. I snipped the stems back, untangled the root system and placed it in a bucket of water on my balcony. After a few days I prepared a fine compost mix in a terracotta pot. I bedded the plant in its new home and gave it a good watering. Finding a sunny position, I left it to rest and heal. Days came and days went, but all I saw whenever I looked at this "plant", were a few short brown stems. It had been a good summer and my gardening work took me off to many areas. New growth, new blossoms and new blooms were everywhere, which always amazes and delights me. Then one evening whilst in the process of tending to some cuttings, I noticed a very small green shoot on my "patient plant". I just couldn't believe it, as a few days earlier I was ready to discard it because I felt I had failed in my caring duties. Soon more shoots started to appear and just before the movement into autumn my "dead" plant was in full, micro foliage ready to flourish next season.
Planetary Healing
Nature is resilient. It has remarkable homeostasis qualities that quite simply astound me. My hope for the future is that our much-mistreated planet can heal itself, just like my dying plant. Certainly the forecasts of climate change are a cause of great concern, but perhaps this beautiful earth that we all live on - with our sustained and committed support - may just surprise us all.
We are now living in a technological age of rich sophistication, a period that offers people such unprecedented benefits from scientific advances that it seems unlikely we would attempt to move backwards into former times, even if we so desired. Trying to return to a former, pre-technological age just doesn't seem an option. So perhaps we have got accept our current state of advancement and work constructively with the tools it provides, especially the greener ones, to secure a better future. Up to now the pursuit of economic goals has dominated the political landscape, but now that must be replaced. The new political agenda, one that is gaining in popularity, must be the health of the planet. This must be our priority now. It's something we all need to attend to with environmentally friendly lifestyles that lead the way for others to follow.
Climatic Change: Time For A Rethink
Clearly the problems we suffer cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.- Albert Einstein
Mainstream news reports that focus on averting global warming have asked questions such as "How much will this cost?" and "How much will we have to cut back on economic growth?" Such irresponsible and naive questions highlight the scale of self-interest and ignorance that dominate national debate. If we are not part of the solution (attempting to seriously reduce carbon emissions) then we are part of the problem (ignoring the serious consequences of global warming). Whatever the "costs" are to save the planet, this will be our greatest challenge and our greatest investment. If we fail in this task, then we will perish.
A crucial question that has often been raised is that regarding the tipping point. How near are we to the stage of committing irreparable damage to our planet earth? How near are we to final meltdown? Many leading experts take differing stances on this issue, so it's difficult for us to assess what exactly the real position is. But however near or far we are from this pivotal point, one thing is for certain: action is required from us all, both individually and collectively, to minimize any likely catastrophic effects.
What we desperately need is imaginative, innovative and inspired visions for a more sustainable, fairer world before it is too late. We must start thinking radically, outside the box that created this problem in the first place. We must look beyond unsustainable economic growth and devise better sustainable egalitarian systems that meet real human needs rather than human greed. What we need is a new worldview and a new philosophy of life (weltanschauung) that embraces everyone and everything on this living planet. But are we big enough for this new worldview? Are we big enough to work wholeheartedly for this new vision, or do we just allow the forces of the marketplace to dictate? These are the same forces that contributed to the problem in the first place.
Busy, Busy, Busy
I have read much and found nothing but uncertainty, lies and fanaticism. I know about as much today of the essential things as I knew as an infant. I prefer to plant, to sow, and to be free.- Voltaire
If only we could take the lead from Voltaire and simplify our lives, pulling back from an ever-deepening dependency on materialism, in order to pursue something far nobler: a sane life. In our postmodern age we are increasingly pushing ourselves into busy-ness, too much busy-ness that is harming our bodies, our minds and our planet. We need to slow down more, taking time out to reflect on the important issues of life. We weren't built for a 24/7 existence as if it was the only way of being in this world. There is simply too much preoccupation with "doing", and not enough simply with "being". Part of this modern hyper activity is, I suspect, evasion. We escape from confronting thoughts that could challenge us personally and the economic system we are involved with. If only we could give ourselves time, precious time to contemplate this wondrous gift of life we have been given and the tremendous purpose we could serve in this world. It's a purpose that is large enough to embrace the well being of the planet and all its inhabitants.
Conclusion
Governments and powerful agencies may, in the end, let us down in this fight for planetary survival. They may do too little too late in stemming the tide. But we as individuals must still continue to do what we can to live in much greener ways, irrespective of the outcome. We must show future generations to come that we tried to be the custodians of this beautiful planet, not its exploiters or its destroyers, and that we did everything we could to protect it from catastrophe even if, in the end, we failed in the quest.
Carry on with the simple life...
To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night, to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring these are some of the rewards of the simple life.- John Burroughs
About The Author
Michael Lewin, who has a degree in Psychology, has spent 25 years teaching and supporting a variety of different groups, from children with special needs to adults with learning difficulties. He is active in a number of UK-based Buddhist groups and has regularly published articles in a number of UK psycho/spiritual magazines. As he says, "I am at that stage in my life that I want to pursue the spiritual path even further to find out the depth I can penetrate. I am a seeker, if not for perfection, then at least for some kind of personal progress that can bring me joy, contentment and happiness." Contact Michael at: lewinmick@hotmail.com.
Introducing...
What started as a personal, spare-time, volunteer project for Simple Living Network Founder, Dave Wampler, has now turned into a full-blown, community service web site for the thriving mountain town of Trout Lake, Washington (home to The Simple Living Network).
If you've ever wondered why we choose to live and work from Trout Lake, we encourage you to drop by our web site for a visit.
At www.TroutLake.org you'll find local news, plus information about recreation opportunities, events, groups and organizations. In addition, you'll find the www.TroutLake.org Store, featuring local huckleberry goodies, country living books, and works by local and regional artists such as photographer Carolyn Ganus who has created a beautiful collection of hand made photo note cards and prints of natural locations around the Pacific Northwest.
And, Introducing...
Managing My Life Programs is a library of quality wellness resources to help individuals improve the quality of their lives and improve their productivity at work.
Topics covered include:
- Managing Change
- Managing Stress
- Managing My Health
- Managing My Time
- Direct Approach to Employment
- Planning My Retirement
- Making the Retirement Decision
- Career Choices Made Easy
- Managing My Money
- Careers for Heart and Spirit
- The Art of Joyful Parenting
- Managing Grief
Managing My Life Programs have already been used in North America by more than 100,000 individuals.
Copyright © 2007
Do you have a tendency to worry whenever you are facing uncertainty? Do you have a desire to be loved and appreciated by everyone? Do you value loyalty and reliability in others? How important are clear rules and procedures to you? Do you have a tendency to want everything to be done perfectly? We all have different answers to these questions, and our individual answers reflect what is called our value system.
Our value system is identified by the relative importance we assign to our beliefs about what is right, good or desirable. According to psychological research, most of our beliefs, which lay the foundation of our value system, are learned in childhood. We adapt our behavior in order to help us secure the love and acceptance of our parents, brothers and sisters, friends and teachers. Probably most of us remember being told by our parents that we should be honest, and can remember how guilty we felt when they found us lying about having done our homework or having done our household chores, or how relieved we felt when they didn't catch us lying! By the time we reach the age of 12 or 13, most of our beliefs and convictions tend to be relatively stable and enduring. The belief that was retained in this case is that honesty is very important.
There is a direct link between our value system and stress. Simply stated, high levels of stress are in good part a result of our value system being challenged.
Stress is the result of change that requires adaptation. With the increased number of changes happening in our personal and work lives over the last twenty years, stress has become an ever-present factor in our lives. When a change occurs and it is wanted - such as spending a two-week vacation in the Caribbean - it supports our existing value system. When the change is unwanted - for example we are unexpectedly asked to work overtime and we had a personal commitment but we have no choice but to accept to work - it usually challenges our existing value system. Perhaps we're upset because things did not happen the way we planned them. Perhaps we feel frustrated because we feel we have little control.
Unwanted changes lead to unhappy thoughts and feelings and high levels of internal conflict. This can turn into a self-defeating circle: the unhappier we feel, the more we experience conflict and the more stress we generate. As we generate more stress, we reinforce our value system and eventually we become even more rigid in our beliefs. For example, if I value cooperation and someone I work with promises me something and then forgets to follow through, I'll be very bothered by this. If I allow myself to become worked up over it, I'll generate considerable stress. The more stressed I become, the more strongly I feel that cooperation is important.
On the other hand, under an extremely stressful situation, we can also react by making a radical change to our fundamental values and beliefs. A person who values hard work much more than personal enjoyment, after experiencing a heart failure, may put more value on personal interests than on working long hours at work.
According to Dr. Albert Ellis, a well-known American psychologist and the author of more than 70 books, most of our psychological problems stem from ten common irrational beliefs. These irrational beliefs are a reflection of our strongest values. They are irrational because they are not realistic. Believing you must be accepted and loved by everyone is unrealistic. Several of our common irrational beliefs are: believing everything must be done perfectly, believing everything must happen as planned, and believing we need to worry whenever there is uncertainty. As unrealistic as these beliefs are, most of us hold onto at least three or four of them. We generate unhappy thoughts and feelings whenever we perceive things happening in conflict with these beliefs.
In order to manage stress more effectively, we need to modify these beliefs and think more rationally. This means accepting life the way it is and accepting others and ourselves the way we are. It's very simple principle but often a very hard one to act upon.
Try to remember next time you feel rejected by someone not to let the situation affect you in a harmful way. Become aware that your expectations are unrealistic and focus your thoughts on all the good relationships you have developed. Next time you make a mistake, don't let your spirits fall, but try to learn from it and then focus your attention on previous accomplishments. Next time something doesn't happen the way you planned it, take action to resolve the problem and remember all the things that did unfold the way you wanted them to. Most importantly, when you catch yourself worrying, take the necessary action in whatever way you can to solve the situation, and then get completely involved in an activity you enjoy or which will absorb your attention.
Learning to let go of some of our irrational beliefs is the direct path toward avoiding self-defeating emotions and undue stress. But learning to accept life doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to excel in everything we do or not stand up for what we believe in. It simply means that if we have a tendency to be inflexible and overreact when we are challenged in some of our beliefs, we have to learn to let go. We have to emotionally accept the situations and the people, while taking whatever actions we can to improve our situation. If we do this, we will be making stress work for us, not against us.
On behalf of everyone involved with the Managing My Life project, I take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful 2007.
About The Author
George Beshara is the author of Managing My Life: Managing Stress and a new Simple Living Network Partner. Managing My Life resources can be accessed by clicking here.
Special Offer: Now through May 31, 2007, Managing My Life Programs is offering a 15% discount on purchases made by Simple Living Network visitors. Follow this link to visit the Managing My Life Programs web site. To apply your 15% discount, use the code "USAMML" (for United States) or "CADMML" (for Canada) during the check out process.
Copyright © 2007
This is the second article in a series discussing Your Money Or Your Life from a modern, personal perspective. The first article in the January-February edition of this Newsletter provided some introduction and thoughts on Step 1: Making Peace With The Past. That first step had us reviewing how much we had earned in our lives and calculating what we've got to show for it. I feel the most important advice in that first step is, "No Shame, No Blame." We're taking note of what we have been doing, but avoiding judgment. We don't want to knock ourselves over the head with a 2x4; we simply want to know what we have been doing. Then we can figure out what we'd like to change, if anything.
This time, I'd like to dive into Chapter 2 and Step 2. The chapter title is "Money Ain't What It Used to Be - and Never Was", while the step is more concrete: "Being In the Present - Tracking Your Life Energy".
When I reread the chapter again before writing this article, I was shocked at how many folks I know right now whose money habits closely mirror the examples in the book! It's actually kind of eerie just how up-to-date this chapter remains today. Let's get started...
What Is Money?
This chapter starts out by discussing four perspectives of money and their deeper consequences. A lot of our emotional hang-ups are addressed in an effort to help us gain a rational sense of the reasons behind our financial behavior. The material isn't particularly dated. Sure, our tools for moving and tracking money have evolved to include auto-debits, spreadsheets, and online banking. The core behaviors we exhibit in our lives, and the reasons behind them, remain the same. The end result of contemplating money hasn't changed one whit: Money is something we choose to trade our life energy for.
A First Look At "Financial Independence"
This section of Chapter 2 hit me like a brick when I first read it. The fact is, we confuse "Financial Independence" with "endless riches". Achieving endless riches is an unrealistic goal, a daydream of opulent luxury. Financial Independence, on the other hand, is attainable! Reaching the point where our monthly income from savings is sufficient to pay for our basic needs, gives us total freedom in our lives. At that point, the only reason to work is that we enjoy our work. An FI person never "works for money" again! The dramatic point here is that it's possible to become FI in a reasonable period of time. It typically takes years, but not decades.
Step 2 of the Your Money Or Your Life program has two parts.
Calculate Your Real Hourly Wage
The book instructs us to calculate our Real Hourly Wage, which is what our wage turns out to be after we figure in all those extra work-related hours we spend and all of our work-related expenses. A glaring absence in the book's calculation of Real Hourly Wage is income taxes and payroll deductions. What matters is what the job pays after taxes, not before. Note that tax reduction through retirement plan contributions and other deductions increases your Real Hourly Wage. The book also feels a little dated in its discussion of commute costs. The latest estimate by the American Automobile Association (AAA) puts the average cost of driving at 52.2 cents per mile, based on 15,000 miles per year, for a total of $7,834 per year. That's a far cry from the $50/week in the book's example!
The result wasn't a big surprise for me. At the time, I was working as a computer programmer in an office across town. I didn't have expensive wardrobe requirements for my job, but I did wear button-up shirts I otherwise wouldn't have bought. I already brought my lunch from home most days, since there wasn't a lunch spot nearby. I commuted about 45 minutes each way by bicycle. It wasn't clear to me whether I should consider my bike commute to be a detrimental part of employment or not, since it was pleasant, got me outside in the fresh air, and gave me exercise. In short, my Real Hourly Wage wasn't drastically lower than my net income.
In talking with others following the Your Money Or Your Life program, I've gotten some feedback from their experiences. Steve (I'm not using real names here) started bringing his lunch to work, rather than eating out each day. Not only did this improve his Real Hourly Wage, but he also found himself eating better food (he tends to buy organic produce, and cook healthier meals than restaurants do). Sarah didn't count her commute in calculating her Real Hourly Wage, since she walks about 30 minutes each way to work, and would walk anyway for exercise and enjoyment. Lisa noted that with her recent move, her Real Hourly Wage has changed due to the different commute and decompression possibilities.
It's important for us to know our Real Hourly Wage, since we're trading our time, our life's only valuable resource, for it. Time is all we have, so we aim to spend it in alignment with our own personal values.
Keep Track Of Every Cent That Comes Into Or Goes Out Of Your Life
The second part of Step 2 is fairly simple. We are instructed to begin keeping track of every penny that passes through our lives. While the simple instruction to keep track of every cent remains the same as time moves on, the ways in which money moves has changed. It used to be that we used cash, checks, and credit cards. Now we have direct deposit, auto-debit, electronic bill paying, Pay Pal, and online banking. While this can add a lot of complication to all the financial events we need to track, the step itself remains clear and simple: Keep Track Of Every Cent That Comes Into Or Goes Out Of Your Life. One way to keep this from getting too hard is to avoid too many different types of transactions. I try to stick with cash, for the most part. Others avoid cash, and stick to a credit card (paid off every month), which gives them a record of the transactions. I avoid automatic bill paying, with the exception of my health insurance (I never want to risk missing a payment there). The simpler I can keep my finances, the easier this step is.
When the book was written, there also weren't such a wide variety of methods for tracking income and spending. Back then, most everyone used notebooks or ledgers of some sort. It was all on paper. Now, plenty of folks use spreadsheets or financial programs like Quicken. Some track their daily transactions on handheld computers ("Personal Digital Assistants" - PDAs). I still prefer a paper notebook in my pocket. When I drop it, it doesn't break. Nobody wants to steal it. There's no battery. And best of all, I can jot down other notes about why I made that purchase.
Regardless of what works for each individual person, this step is crucially important to the Your Money Or Your Life program. Without an accurate record of our financial transactions, we can never know exactly what we're doing with our money, let alone how to improve.
Still, this step is where a lot of people give up. It feels tedious to write down that $0.50 in the vending machine at work, that bridge toll, the couple bucks at the hardware store for some sandpaper, the ten bucks for a few beers, the five bucks for a video rental, and so on. For me, this was pretty weird. I started using 3x5 index cards, but those became too scattered. I've since used a series of small notebooks in my pocket for many years now. At first I was a little embarrassed, not wanting to look like some kind of miser. I would furtively write in my notebook when no one was looking. After awhile, I became less concerned with others' thoughts on the matter. I just write it all down.
The thing is, we're tracking our life energy here! We only have so much time left in our lives. To spend it wisely, we have to first know how we're spending it. Otherwise, we'll blindly spend our lives working full-time to try and keep up with the payments. A little tedium now can help us create lives we love.
Coming Soon
In the next article, I'll get into Step 3. This step introduces the monthly tabulation, where we figure out exactly how much of our lives we're dedicating to everything we're buying. The book has some dated-feeling numbers in this chapter, but the concepts hold up well. However, a lot of people drop out of the program at this point! I'll address that, and try to talk frankly about my own experiences and others'. It's a tough step, but an important one. Stay tuned!
About The Author
Fred Ecks is the volunteer Newsletter Editor for The Simple Living Network. He's a dedicated follower of the 9-step program detailed in Your Money Or Your Life. He uses the time freed up in his life for writing, volunteering, sailing, and trail running. He maintains a Web Log at http://fredx.livejournal.com.
Related Resources
- Your Money Or Your Life
- Transforming Your Relationship With Money — Audio CD/Workbook Course
- On-Line Study Groups For Your Money Or Your Life
Registration In Progress.
What Is An On-Line Study Group?
OnLine Study Groups were created by The Simple Living Network (SLN) in cooperation with The New Road Map Foundation (NRM). Our purpose is to provide hosted, interactive, on-line classes for those following the nine-step program in the best selling book Your Money Or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin.
Your Money Or Your Life presents a simple, nine-step plan that will transform the way you think about, earn and spend money. This plan, a whole systems approach based on simple record-keeping and your own unique life situation, works for anyone who earns or spends money. Singles and couples (with and without children), retirees and students, big earners and those below the poverty line have all been successful in doing the program.
We have created this OnLine Study Group venue because we recognize that group study is very helpful for those following the nine-steps. However, we also recognize that there are many folks out there who...
- do not have access to a local Study Group,
- find it difficult to attend face-to-face meetings on a regular basis, or
- wish to maintain the anonymity provided by the internet.
Curious? Click Here To Take A Tour
Copyright © 2007
For most of my life, I have lived a simple life. For thirty-five years, I bicycled almost everywhere. I did a lot of bicycle touring. I learned that all that I needed, I could fit in my panniers. Either way, I lost weight on a bike trip. If you hauled too much weight on your bike, you lost weight. If you didn't bring enough food because you wanted to travel light, you lost weight. It was a win-win weigh-weigh situation.
If the frugal, simple living movement wants to make a lot of converts, we just need to tell the general population that simple living means that you will lose weight! Buying fewer groceries means that you both save money and reduce caloric intake.
For twenty-five years, I was a psychotherapist. I remember interning in a Weight Loss group. The leader's wise advice was to eat off a smaller plate if you wanted to lose weight. I applied the same principle to simple living: live in a smaller house so that you have less junk.
I know people who have big houses with rooms full of junk that they never use. We all know such people. They like going to rummage sales and then having rummage sales. My saving grace is that I hate shopping. I can handle shopping at True Value and at the grocery store. That's it. In my small community, both places are more social centers that a place to shop.
I think that the majority of the population considers the Simple Living folks kind of odd. I admit it: we are odd. I am willing to be a lone bicyclist on the road. I stop to pick up pennies. That isn't because I am frugal, but because I think such pennies are good luck. I have always preferred biking to the enclosed capsule of a car. You miss too much livin' in a car. I prefer fresh air and to smell the world around me. Sensory delights are what make life rich. I love wind and rain in my face. I still remember the smell of springtime flowers when I biked to work (Crisis Clinic) at 3am in college.
I think that many people mistake having money for really living. Really living to me is seeing the sunrise and the sunset. I've done as much hiking and mountaineering as biking, for exactly the same reasons. I love being out in the elements. My favorite destination is a ridge top or summit where you can gaze and gawk at the sea of peaks all around you.
Hiking, like biking, teaches you to live simply and travel light. You can tell that someone is a hiker because they pull out their Swiss Army knife. Other wise souls treasure these Swiss Army knives. I met a man at a fiddler's convention on one of our long bike trips who had made his fiddle with a Swiss Army knife. He scrapped it down to thickness and carved his portrait into the scroll head with a Swiss Army knife. That's class.
I was thinking like Thoreau before I ever read him. Even though I read Duane Elgin and Your Money Or Your Life, I wasn't converted by the books. I was living simply because it fit my style.
I made the biggest leap in simple, frugal living when I was preparing to go to Africa. I was working in the Balkans at the time. I was email-chatting with my older sister about why I wanted to go to Africa. "One, I have always been fascinated with Africa. Two, based on what I have learned about international work, it would be smart to scope out Africa before I commit to a job. Three, I want to see how 7/8ths of the world lives - the 'have-nots'".
Since then, I have lived a simple, frugal life for new reasons. "Live simply so that others might simply live." — Gandhi
With my current work as Director of NGOabroad, I converse daily with colleagues and partners all over the world. My consciousness has changed dramatically. Paulo Freire of Brazil wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed, awakening the poor to their situation and suggesting what they can do. He did not write "Pedagogy of the Oppressor", but we badly need it, wouldn't you say? We need a dramatic rethinking of how the rich 1/8th of the world impacts the poor 7/8ths of the world. The closest thing that I have seen is Erik Dammann's Future in Our Hands network.
The internet is bringing us closer as a human family. It is one thing to read about places and another to be in daily contact with people all over the world. As my colleagues and I design our Partners Volunteer Programs, I learn about their daily life. "I met two rag pickers today. They were hungry and only wore rags. This is why I want to make a shelter." "I went to the slum. There was one section where there was open sewage. I was looking for a way around. I saw a bridge made of logs. As I was crossing, these guys yelled to me that I must pay to use their bridge. There were three of them and only one of me. I was scared; I ran."
As I work with people all over the world, my heart is opening. They are family, and I want only the best for them. I am on the edge of learning about abundance, where all of us have what we need.
About The Author
Ann McLaughlin MSW is a social worker by trade, with a passion for world cultures and international affairs. She founded and directs NGOabroad, which matches your skills to international humanitarian needs. NGOabroad just launched the Partners Volunteer Programs, and offers Career Consults for people in transition or entering or advancing in international work. For more information, see www.NGOabroad.com or email info@NGOabroad.com.
Related Resources
Copyright © 2006
This is the time of year when many people take stock of themselves and their future. So alongside your plan for a trimmer waistline, we'd like to suggest some financial resolutions for the new year.
Resolve to save at least $1 each day. It doesn't seem like much, but it does add up faster than you might think. You've probably seen the numbers before. Let's assume that you earned 10% per year on your savings. That's the long-term average for the stock market.
At the end of 10 years you'll have nearly $5,000. After 20 years you will have accumulated over $20,900. If you start at age 30 and keep it up until you're 65, your measly $1 a day will have grown to $99,000!
So how will you save $1 a day? How about bringing soda to work instead of hitting the vending machines at break time? Or skip the 'supersize' at lunch. If you can't think of something, ask your friends or family for their ideas.
Maybe you'd rather do the whole week at one time. How about staying in for lunch one day a week? How about carpooling twice a week with a neighbor? You get the idea. Anything that'll help you save $1 a day or $365 a year will work. Certainly there's somewhere in your expenses that can be squeezed that much.
Resolve that your credit card debt will not increase in any month this year. A comic once said that the first key to getting out of a hole is to quit digging. It may not be funny, but it is true.
To keep your card balances from increasing you'll need to pay off any new charges you make each month and also pay any interest caused by your old balance. For some people that will be tough. They see no connection between using a credit card and paying it off. They think that paying the minimum each month is a major victory. It isn't.
Keeping this resolution will require you to keep track of your credit card spending and to stop spending when you run out of money.
Roughly one third of all credit card users carry a zero balance. While you might not be able to achieve that goal this year (wouldn't it be nice if you could!), you can manage to keep your financial hole from getting any deeper.
The next resolution will help you achieve the last one. Resolve to consider alternatives before making any purchase of $100 or more. Over the last 30 years the size of the average home has grown by 50%, and self-storage locations are a fixture in most towns. The reason for this is simple. We buy too much stuff and then have to store it.
The concept is simple: before making any major purchase, wait a couple of days. Use the time to think about ways you could get the benefit without spending the money.
Do you really need a new fertilizer spreader? Couldn't you borrow one from your next-door neighbor? Rent one? Or even buy one used?
Often going to the store and pulling out the plastic is not the best way to achieve your goal, but you'll never know unless you think about alternatives first.
Resolve to have a proper will and estate plan. No one likes to think about his or her death, but everyone should legally prepare for it. It's important even if you're young, single and don't have any children. If the unexpected happens someone will need to step in and make decisions about your funeral and take care of closing out checking accounts and IRAs and selling your car and other possessions.
Everyone should have a will. Many may want to have a 'living will' to state their preference on being kept alive using life support equipment. It's wise to also have a plan in place in case you're incapacitated.
These documents aren't as expensive as you might think. In most cases, they'll work fine for many years. Take the time this year to put the proper legal papers in place in case something happens. Your loved ones will already be dealing with grief. Don't make them deal with legal complexities too.
Finally, resolve to learn one new money-saving tip each month of this year and put it into practice. There are literally thousands of ways to save money. You really don't have to look very hard or very far to find good ideas. It's simply a matter of making up your mind that saving money is important to you and being willing to put forth a little effort to accomplish your goal.
Try one new money-saving idea each month. You might just find that you end the year in much better shape than you entered it. Isn't that what resolutions are all about?
About The Author
Gary Foreman is a former financial planner who currently edits The Dollar Stretcher website and newsletters. You'll find hundreds of articles to stretch your day and your dollar. Visit today!
