- Introduction: Thoughts On Gardening, The 11th Hour, Thanks CyberAngels!
- New Resources: Highlights Of The Latest Additions To Our Resource Directory
- Simplicity & Slimming Down: Changing The Food Culture Where You Work
- Lessons From The Home Front: Making The Most Of The Military Life
- Oil Spill On The Bay: Considering Our Personal Influence
- The Life Of Simplicity & Contemplation: Spiritual Awakening
- When You Walk Out The Door At Five, Leave It Behind
From My Job Sucks & I Can't Take It Anymore! Help! - Gems Of The Discussion Forums: Summer's Coming!
- Money/Life Balance In The New Millennium: Managing Your Finances
Dear Friends Of The Simple Living Network,
Spring is really, finally here! The last small mound of snow on the north side of my house melted on May 1st. The daffodils and garlic are up and onions, leeks, potatoes, peas, beans, beets and radishes are beginning to take hold in the garden. Warmer afternoons and evenings have ushered in the Frisbee® Golf season and campfire barbeques in the back yard with friends. Life is grand!
Gardening is one of my great passions in life. I do not have a particularly green thumb, but I certainly get a kick out of watching my vegetables grow and knowing that I'm eating healthy, organic food I grew myself. If you are a gardener, I am sure you understand. If you are not yet a gardener, I urge you to try it.
I believe everyone should at least attempt to grow some of their own food. It does not really take too much effort to grow a little patch of lettuce. Once you get the hang of it you may find the rewards are more than worth it: eating healthy, getting exercise out of doors while you tend your crop, moving toward self-sufficiency and building community as you meet and share with other local gardeners.
If I have not convinced you to start your own little garden patch or you need a little extra inspiration, I would like to recommend my latest favorite book (and audio book), Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year Of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver. It tells the story of how her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life — vowing that, for one year, they would only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. It is part memoir, part journalistic investigation, and an enthralling narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat. I have been listening to the audio book (all 12 CDs worth!) while working in my own garden. It has inspired me so that I have more than doubled my growing space and planted several new fruit trees and berry bushes. (Thank you Barbara!)
If you still need further encouragement, I invite you to check out our growing Gardening Library. There you will find a wide selection of resources (many in inexpensive PDF format) — everything from the Stella Natura planting calendar to cold climate gardening, building a greenhouse, simplified gardening, complete vegetable garden "bibles," and much more. For the beginner, we offer a free PDF with some basic Gardening Answers.
Again, I urge you to have fun and experiment. As the important documentary, The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, reminds us: The end of oil is near. Things are going to change. Gardening is a critical skill to cultivate as we experience increasing food prices and global food shortages. We must all learn how to grow our own food, eat seasonally and locally, and build strong communities.
Happy gardening!
I must mention The 11th Hour, a new documentary produced by Leonard DiCaprio. If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to do so. Conveying urgent warnings and hope for a better future, The 11th Hour is one of the most powerful documentaries since An Inconvenient Truth. DiCaprio has assembled an impressive, wide-ranging group of experts from many disciplines who explain in simple terms the perils we face if we do not act now to reduce our dependence on oil, change our habits of consumption and work to repair the damage human beings have done to this precious planet. Priced low to be accessible far and wide, The 11th Hour is a must see.
Watch The Trailer...
The Community Services on this web site -- this Newsletter, the Discussion Forums, our Study Groups Database, SimpleRadio and the rest -- would not exist without your support.
Because The Simple Living Network is a small, home based business operating without government, industry or foundation support, advertising revenue, or subscription fees of any kind, we rely on user support to continue offering our services.
If you enjoy and use this web site, we ask for your voluntary financial support — any amount large or small will help!
Our goal for 2008 is $20,000 and we still have a long way to go toward reaching that goal. These funds will be applied toward important expenses we must cover this year. Keeping up with the technology required to operate this web site is expensive! Old software is beginning to expire and must be replaced with new versions. Old equipment needs to be replaced because it is worn out or cannot keep up with the speed and storage space of this growing web site. Bandwidth charges are increasing due to the growing number of folks, just like you, using this site. (I could go on....)
Please do your part! Without your voluntary user support, The Simple Living Network would not exist!
Finally, as always, thank you to those of you who have become CyberAngels over the years. Your generous, ongoing financial contributions make all the difference.
We hope you enjoy this edition of our Newsletter!
Dave Wampler
Founder
The Simple Living Network
Copyright © The Simple Living Network. All Rights Reserved.
Resources To Simplify Your Life & Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
- The 11th Hour:
Turn Mankind's Darkest Hour Into Its Finest
Highly Recommended! - The Better World Handbook:
Small Changes That Make A Big Difference - The Better World Shopping Guide:
How Every Dollar Can Make A Difference - Careers In Renewable Energy: Get A Green Energy Job
- How To End Global Warming — Poster
- How To End Global Warming — Post Cards
- How To End Global Warming — Bookmarks
- The One-Minute Cleaner: 500 Tips For Cleaning Smarter, Not Harder
- The One-Minute Organizer: 500 Tips For Getting Your Life In Order
- The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide & Cookbook: Recipes For Changing Times
- The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil — Highly Recommended!
- Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How
New Cookbooks
- The Big Book Of Preserving The Harvest:
150 Recipes For Freezing, Drying
& Pickling Fruits & Vegetables - Fix, Freeze, Feast:
Prepare In Bulk & Enjoy By The Serving - The Joy Of Pickling:
200 Flavor-Packed Recipes For All Kinds Of Produce... - The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide & Cookbook:
Recipes For Changing Times
New Gardening Titles
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year Of Food Life — DVD
Highly Recommended! - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year Of Food Life — Book
Highly Recommended! - Growing Vegetables West Of The Cascades: A Complete Guide To Organic Gardening
- How To Go Organic — Poster
- How To Go Organic — Post Cards
- How To Go Organic — Bookmarks
- Organic Gardening The Natural No-Dig Way
- The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
Highly Recommended! - Sharing The Harvest: A Citizen's Guide To Community Supported Agriculture
- Stella Natura 2008 Calendar & Agricultural Planting Guide Highly Recommended!
New Posters, Post Cards, Bookmarks, Bags, T-Shirts, etc.
- Be The Change — Bookmarks
- Children's Rights — Bookmarks
- Como Fortalecer Su Comunidad — Poster
Spanish Edition, "How To Build Community" Poster - Do Justice — Poster
- Do Justice — Post Cards
- How To Build Community — Bookmarks
- How To Build Global Community — Bookmarks
- Live Simply — Poster
- Live Simply — Post Cards
- Live Simply — Note Cards
- Live Simply — Bookmarks
- Natural Cotton Canvas Tote Bag — Quantity Discounts!
- Natural Cotton Tote & Long Handle String Bag — Quantity Discounts!
- U-N-I-T-Y — T-Shirt
New To Alternatives For Simple Living
- The 11th Hour:
Turn Mankind's Darkest Hour Into Its Finest
Highly Recommended! - Cause For Hope: Humanity At The Crossroads
- Living Faith: How Faith Inspires Social Justice
- Starting Simple: Conversations About The Way We Live
- Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How
Copyright © 2008
No matter where you work, from a university to a thrift store, there are going to be plenty of opportunities to share and eat food. Most offices have some combination of breakfast meetings, lunches, staff meetings, birthday parties, staff parties, and also snacks baked up the night before by well-meaning co-workers. At one place I worked everyone complained about gaining weight and it was no surprise because the lunch room was never in short supply of donuts, cookies, and cakes. We also ordered six-foot subs and pizza for our staff events.
There are some businesses where there is so much food, your instinct might be to stop participating in functions altogether, but don't try to fight sharing food at work — it is a sacred and wonderful practice. In order to simplify the food choices and possibly slim your waistline, try to take control of the planning process. Offer to bring in the food for the staff breakfast meeting; make choices like organic non-fat yogurt, a fruit platter (try to buy locally from a farmer's market) and bran muffins (possibly vegan). Make sure you tell your co-workers which food is organic, which food is local, and which food is vegetarian or vegan. Not only are you valuing your co-workers health, you are educating without preaching about how to buy with concern for the environment.
Another way for you to make changes is to offer to be in charge of all of the staff birthday parties. If you are given this responsibility, make sure you do a poll of which kind of cake each person would like for their birthday. When it comes time to make their birthday cake, use organic products or vegan products, for example exchange cow's milk for soy milk. Get your co-workers used to really tasty treats that are made with healthier choices both for their body and for the environment.
Another way to help change the food culture at work is to experiment with baking and cooking vegetarian and vegan, and bring samples of your experiments to work. For instance, someone may think that all vegan cookies taste awful until you bring in a vegan oatmeal cookie that tastes delicious. For a low-fat snack that is also vegan, you could make hummus and bring wheat pita slices or carrots. All of these choices will be lower in calories, and they are eco-friendly choices too.
Every step you make can be seen as progress. You may not completely be able to change the culture of food in the place where you work, but don't give up trying. There still may be times when you find that your co-workers order the pizza and subs, and in that case, maybe you can get them to choose wheat bread instead of white bread on the subs, and for the pizza, goat cheese and tomatoes instead of pepperoni and mozzarella. Don't give up thinking of ideas; you'll be doing the best any of us can do by thinking globally and acting locally.
About The Author
Rebecca Chamaa works for the YWCA of San Diego County. She tries to live by the motto reduce, reuse, recycle and refashion — her hobby of sewing old garments into new ones. Rebecca can be reached at rchamaa@earthlink.net.
Related Resources
Copyright © 2008
Imagine waking up one morning and being told in no uncertain terms that in two months you would be packing up and moving across the country. And then, three years later, you have to do it all over again. Such is the life of a military spouse — a life that is often uncertain, complicated, and rather difficult for someone who prefers life to be simple and predictable.
Since I married my husband five years ago, it's sometimes been a struggle to reconcile our lifestyle with living a simple, conscious life. Of course, many people move frequently due to career changes, family, or simply for a change of scenery. The challenge for me, at least, has been the feeling of not being in control of my life when choices have been made for me.
Over the years I've learned many strategies for keeping life as simple as possible even in the midst of whirlwind moves, overseas deployments, and having a husband who is away more than he is home. Most of these strategies can help anyone wanting to simplify an impending move — or even just to reduce the stress associated with our chaotic lives.
Simplify, simplify!
Thoreau's words serve as the soundtrack to my life, a constant reminder that because I don't have a permanent home, I can't fill a basement with piles of things I might need later. Early on, we did enjoy buying new things as most newlyweds do: furniture, dishes, music, candles, knick-knacks, tools — things we loved shopping for together. Then we had to pack it all up, move it, and unpack it all over again. In the process, things were broken, things were misplaced, and things often remained in boxes until the next move. But it wasn't until we decided to unload most of it at a yard sale, thinking we'd make a huge profit, that we finally had an epiphany. All this stuff was not enhancing our lives; it was suffocating us — consuming our free time and causing us extreme stress during already stressful moves.
Five years later, we are different people. We surround ourselves only with things that we find useful or which add to the beauty of our environment. Friends and family have learned to give us gifts of time or experience rather than things we'll have to pack up and move. We've developed organizational systems so that we know where all our important documents are, a far cry from our old method of tossing them in boxes in the basement. We're ready to go at the drop of a hat, which means I can sleep well at night, knowing the next move won't be preceded by frantic searching through unmarked boxes for banking information or important addresses.
Home is where you happen to be
"But why do we have to move again?" I used to ask my husband. He got accustomed to this question, and I eventually got used to the answer: "We just do." I've learned many things as a military spouse, but what's helped me most is to remember what's truly important. I've learned that home doesn't necessarily have to be where you come from, but can be where you happen to be living at the time. Any house, no matter how temporary, can be made into a home when it's full of the people I love most. I've also learned that each day is a gift. It can be tempting to live with the future in mind — retirement is ten years away — but the simple everyday pleasures are often missed as a result. Although a posting might be less than ideal, I've learned to find the assets each new town or city offers. I've also discovered the joys of new friends who become our extended family all over the country. Perhaps most importantly, this unpredictable life we live has taught me to savor each moment my husband and I spend together with our new daughter because any day could be the day he's sent overseas.
Simple living means different things for different people; for me, it's enjoying a minimalist environment, relishing the littlest pleasures, and appreciating each moment with my family, no matter where our next posting takes us.
Now, I must go pack some boxes — the next adventure awaits!
About The Author
Megan Peddle is an IT writer living in Canada. She keeps busy with her new baby, two dogs, and two cats. She's a foodie who's passionate about green living, being in nature, and spending as much time as possible with her husband when he's not deployed. She can be reached at megpeddle@yahoo.ca.
Related Resources
- Unclutter Your Home
- Making Peace With The Things In Your Life
- Walden
- 30 Days To A Simpler Life
- Voluntary Simplicity
- Simplicity & Success - Printed Edition
- Simplicity & Success - PDF Edition
Copyright © 2008
In my home in the San Francisco Bay Area, ocean freighter traffic is a fact of life. When we sail we have to keep well clear of the large, fast moving container ships that are constantly entering and exiting the San Francisco Bay. We also tend to be aware of local happenings on the water. The whole country heard when the Cosco Busan hit the Bay Bridge, but living on a houseboat and sailing another boat, we had to be more informed about the incident than the average Bay Area resident. Where could we sail, and where was restricted? Was the oil going to reach our home port?
The incident got me thinking — just what was that ship carrying, and where was it going? Was it carrying something I was destined to use? How much shipping traffic really does go through the Bay?
To refresh your memory, on November 7, 2007 the 900 foot Cosco Busan hit one of the fenders of the Bay Bridge. The collision tore a gash in the side of the ship between 100 and 200 feet long and spilled some 53,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the Bay. The fuel fouled 69 miles of shoreline and closed fisheries for three weeks. Twenty-six beaches were closed, several of which I'd been to before. Two thousand birds died and another thousand were oiled but recovered — at least long enough to be released back to the wild. We were left looking at those dark spots on the sailboat hull wondering if any of them were oil instead of algae.
The Coast Guard estimates 40% of the oil was recovered. The legal aftermath is still being sorted out. Government costs are estimated at $60 million; further costs were incurred on fishermen and oyster farms in the area. Given what we know about costs, what was my share of responsibility in the incident?
The Cosco Busan is capable of carrying about 5500 20-foot containers. These containers are half the length of the most common tractor-trailers you see on the highway. At the time of the incident, the ship wasn't carrying anything I was going to buy at all — it was carrying waste paper, lumber, and agricultural products destined for China. I do recycle my paper. I certainly wasn't aware my recycling was heading to China.
Let's say the ship was carrying equal loads, by volume, of paper, lumber, and agricultural products (wheat, soybeans, and cotton). If we estimate that one cubic foot — about six pounds — of my recycling was on that ship, here's my share of responsibility in the incident:
- 4 teaspoons (about 20 milliliters) of bunker fuel in the Bay, 40% of which was recovered
- $24 of government cleanup costs
- Collectively, the city of San Francisco's 700,000 residents are responsible for 28 dead birds and 14 oiled ones
- More costs to fisherman and other individual parties (which could have been us, had the oil reached our boats and necessitated cleanup) are yet to be determined
That's interesting in itself. But these incidents don't come around that frequently, while shipping happens every day. What are the fuel costs of shipping my paper to China? I calculated .05 gallons of bunker fuel to take my six pounds of recycled paper to China. That's about 3/4 of a cup or 1/5 of a liter. If the fuel was being used to bring something to me — say bananas from Ecuador — the fuel cost would be .035 gallons for a cubic foot of bananas (about 25 pounds worth). This estimate only includes the ocean freighter costs, not ground transport and other associated costs.
Some six millions tons of recycled paper was sent to China in 2004. Given our estimate of one-third of the Busan filled with recycling and my 300 pound share of US recycling, that means I'd probably have a little over 5 ounces of recycling on that ship (that presumes my recycling was equally split among all US ships carrying recycling, which it wouldn't be). How can we visualize six million tons? That's 863 tractor-trailers.
Why was my paper going to China? The short answer is market forces. Return on investment for recycled paper is better in China than in the US. Labor costs for sorting are lower in China, so much so that Chinese paper recyclers have captured enough US supply to put local recyclers out of business. It's cheaper to ship the paper to China and process it there than in the US. Waste paper use lowers the Chinese demand for virgin wood, which is wonderful, especially since the US has stricter environmental regulations than China. Do the environmental costs outweigh the benefits? How much oil is a tree worth?
What's remarkable about researching this data is both how large and how small the numbers are. The compiled numbers are enormous and too large to really conceptualize. Our individual portion of these numbers is so small as to seem insignificant. Does that mean we should give up efforts to live more sustainably? No, though the more sensitive among us can take heart in knowing that the individual impact of things they find too difficult to change isn't as large as they might fear. I still find these numbers motivating. By switching from Ecuadorian bananas to locally grown pears I can save almost half a gallon of bunker fuel a year. If San Francisco switched for just 15 days it would save as much oil as was spilled by the Busan.
About The Author
Ann Haebig is a part-time geek, part-time bicycle advocate, and dedicated follower and promoter of the Your Money Or Your Life program. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her partner, cat and recently adopted banjo. Ann can be reached at ahaebig@pobox.com.
Related Resources
- Low Carbon Diet
- Our Ecological Footprint
- The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide & Cookbook
- The Circle Of Simplicity
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Copyright © 2008
Our real journey in life is interior: it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts.— Thomas Merton
In a world of ever-increasing activity where we are expected to work hard, compete, strive and achieve, I deliberately take refuge in an alternative existence — a life of engaged simplicity. I deliberately turn my back on the values of our fierce marketplace culture in order to find solace and comfort in an uncomplicated, relaxed but committed life. I long ago reached the point where I thought, "enough is enough;" I have never regretted this. Too many though continue on the economic treadmill, reaching out for material rewards. They never quite manage to question their motivation and values that carry them off into so much unnecessary doing. Life is a precious gift that we must all hold sacred. The underlying obligation we face in accepting this offering is to live it well. We cannot afford to waste our time pursuing the wrong goals and objectives that will diminish our existence. We must prioritize our lives and take them forward into a journey of discovery to find out who we are and our rightful place within this infinitely inspiring world of ours. Anything short of this is to waste life, to throw it away and miss the opportunity to reach out for an authentic, personal fulfillment and completion.
Thomas Merton: A Spiritual Journey
If anyone knew about leading an authentic life in pursuit of simplicity and truth, the Trappist monk Thomas Merton did. In over fifty books, he poured out his heart and mind to share with his readers his thoughts and reflections on life. His tragic death in 1968, at the age of 53, never diminished his influence and he is still widely read and respected as an individual of outstanding spiritual insight. His core thoughts on simplicity, woven around many of his writings, have deeply affected me and made me think much more deeply about how I should live my life.
There is a perverse form of contemporary violence [that is] activism and overwork... The rush and pressure of modern life are a form of violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our inner capacity for peace.— Thomas Merton
Merton left a frantically busy work ethic in New York to find a peace, stillness and awakening in monastic life. His rejection of consumerist America and his new-found Christian faith led him slowly to this commitment. But soon after settling in at Gethsemani Abbey he came to the realization that an unnecessary 'busy-ness' was even present there. When a guest speaker attended the Abbey and spoke about monastic life, one of the monks raised the question of what was the most 'dangerous' aspect of this existence? The reply came back: "A spirit of pragmatism." Merton later commented, "Bull's eye!"
Merton's quest was to find awakening — insight into the nature of reality — and in order for him to accomplish this he needed to surround himself with simplicity and silence and allow the voice of God to speak to him. However, this surrender of the will to a greater source is not exclusively Christian, and Merton acknowledged this. In all religious traditions there is an emphasis on a need to find truth through an inner realization. Each may take a different path in their quest, but they are all after the same fundamental aspect. Merton's recognition and respect for this led him to engage in many inter-faith dialogues with leading spiritual thinkers of his day. He also ventured beyond this domain to thinkers who were not bound by any form of religiosity, but were trying nevertheless to reach out to touch profound truths both individually and universally in nature.
Waiting: Being Made Ready
Last year was a particularly difficult and challenging time for me. My mum died, I received my divorce papers, I lost my job, I was attacked by a street gang, I faced a housing crisis and then I became ill. In this violent storm of circumstances, a maelstrom of adversity, I made a committed resolve to remain strong and trust in the universe to guide me through it all. I had arranged to spend some time in Thailand on a pilgrimage to visit some of the outstanding Buddhist sites in that country, but because of what had happened to me I decided to pull back and cancel. When asked by a friend what I would do by staying back in London, I clearly remember saying, instantaneously and without any apparent thought, "Wait." He then asked what I was waiting for and all I could say was: "If I knew what I was waiting for, I wouldn't be waiting." A few days later I happened to visit St Paul's Church in Covent Garden and whilst walking around in this sacred space I noticed a wall plaque that read, "What else is wisdom? To stand from fear set free. To breathe and wait." (Euripides). These few words, written over two thousand years ago, magically confirmed my decision to wait, to wait patiently and attentively, to wait quietly, listening and observing until I received from my inner depths, a call for moving forward. Too often in the past I have gone charging off into misplaced activity and wasted energy in areas of life that now seem so unimportant. Too often I have given full attention and patience to things that now seem so unwarranted. This time, after such a testing year, I decided to stay comfortable within the certain knowledge of not knowing.
Constantly involving our lives in perpetual activism could be considered a subtle form of slavery that restricts our spiritual growth and understanding. Perhaps we should abandon all notions of 'laziness' and 'idleness' — which are often used to discredit a meditative, contemplative non–activity — and instead embrace the implicit potential for self-renewal and liberation within the simple presence of just being. The words of John Milton still resonate with me after many years of feeling their weight: "They also serve who stand and wait."
Spiritual Awakening: Our Journey Towards Wholeness
We all have a deep, instinctive need to find peace, harmony, insight and meaning in a world that constantly distracts us with a very loud cacophony of activity and materialism. In former times there was much more of a spiritual way of being, with strongly shared family connections, with simple, nourishing, organic work to meet our needs, and a leisurely approach to living that embraced, in an unashamed way, quiet, rest and reflection. Evelyn Underhill once said, "Only the mystic can be called a whole man, since in others half the powers of the self always sleep." I believe in former times there were many mystics, everyday mystics, who lived out their lives in engaged in spiritual simplicity. Unfortunately now, despite our technological advances, many of us are falling asleep; we are allowing the gift of a cherished life to pass us by unnoticed.
The quest to find out who we are and our place within the overall scheme of things can never be found in the distracting noise of the marketplace. It can only ever be found in the depth of reflection and contemplation that is enwrapped in stillness. To live our lives as somebody else, to become something of a stranger who just happens to inhabit our body would be a tragic situation that would devalue and undermine our innate potential and authenticity. We must always ensure that there is time and space within our lives to simply be and avoid the trap of constant busy-ness that will carry us off to only half a life.
Thomas Merton: A Full Life Lived
We would like to be quiet, but our restlessness will not allow it. Hence we believe that for us there can be no peace except in a life filled up with movement and activity, with speech, news, communication, recreation, and distraction. We seek the meaning of our life in activity for its own sake.— Thomas Merton
Merton's journey was one of paying attention to the rewards that simplicity and contemplation could bring. He constantly refined his spiritual practice in a reductionist manner. In the last few years of his life he was allowed, after repeated requests, to eventually lead a solitary life in a hermitage to further this end. Merton's acceptance of an innate, unbounded potential within the soul of everyone never, ever faded. He persistently opened up and shared with his readers this core issue of prospective renewal — a renewal that needed full engagement if it was to take us off to a quest into truth and liberation.
Monica Furlong's excellent biography of Merton concludes with his words that he had seen "through the shadow and disguise." But this clarity of insight hadn't come easy. Merton had dedicated his entire life to following a spiritual path — a life of 'walking the walk' and not just 'talking the talk.' He had enclosed his life in a solitary stillness in order to find a depth of awakening that few of us can attain. But we still, nevertheless, contain these full seeds of liberation; it is our duty to nurture them as much as we can. Otherwise we could end up living a reduced life. That would be a terrible waste.
There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force that really changes our lives from within. And yet the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is deepest, most original, and most personal in ourselves. To be born again is not to become somebody else, but to become ourselves.— Thomas Merton
May we ALL find this potential for renewal.
Journey well. Michael Lewin
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.
Related Resources
- Gifts From The Mountain
- Simpler Living, Compassionate Life
- Journeys Of Simplicity
- Radical Simplicity
- Living More With Less
Copyright © 2007
Note: The following article is an excerpt from the new book by John White, My Job Sucks & I Can't Take It Anymore! HELP! -- The Real-Life Job Survival Guide
Do you have trouble leaving your job behind when you walk out of the office at the end of the day? Do you lie awake at night thinking about the big project you've been working on or the imminent deadline you're facing? Have you ever been guilty of not being fully engaged in conversations with your family because in the back of your mind, you're thinking about some work issue that's bothering you? I guess if your job is truly the most important thing in your life, maybe that makes sense. However, if it's not, you need to stop and think about why you're doing it and what you can do to stop. Do you think that going around in a semi-zombie state is fair to your family? In addition, you're probably not doing your employer any real favors either because if you live, eat, and sleep your job twenty-four hours a day, it can lead to premature job burnout.
First of all, you need to ask yourself what you're accomplishing by thinking and worrying about the job while you're not there. Do you really think it helps to make the situation better? If the answer is no, it sounds like you need to come up with a different strategy. I understand this because, in the past, I would occasionally take my work home with me. However, for at least the past few years, when the workday is over, I leave it totally behind. When I shut down my computer at the end of the day, the portion of my brain that I devote to work gets turned off too. It wasn't always that way. In the past, even though I might not have been consciously thinking about it, "work thoughts" would occasionally be churning in the back of my mind when I was supposed to be fully engaged in doing something else, like living my own life. However, over time, I eventually got to the point where I could turn it off like a light switch. There are certain methods I used to help get there.
The first of these is the most obvious, but in reality, probably the most difficult to act on. However, with practice and repetition, it can become almost second nature. Whenever the dreaded "work thought" comes into your head, consciously force it out of your mind. Mentally switch gears and think about something else you're interested in. Pick up a book and read it, go talk to your spouse or one of your kids. Do anything other than think about work. It probably won't happen overnight, it may take time to get into the habit, but remember the payoff: You'll be getting some of your own time back. You'll be more fully engaged in life. Do not allow yourself to think work thoughts away from the workplace.
Here's something else that helped me. It was probably the easiest one to act on and the most effective. Not to be overly morose or dramatic, but have you ever thought about your own mortality?
I mean, really thought about it?
I'm 49 years old now. When I "do the math," it's a pretty safe bet that I've already burned through more than half of the years I'm going to get in this life. And just to make things worse, I need to subtract all the working days I'm going to have to put in before I can retire. When I look at it like that, it's really not that hard to convince myself that I shouldn't devote any more time or thought to my job than I absolutely have to.
Something else began to happen after I turned forty that had a huge impact on me.
Some of my co-workers suddenly died. One situation in particular stands out.
Like myself, he was a Database Administrator. I actually spoke with him on the day he died. It was just like any other work day, we had a conversation about the IT profession and how difficult it had become in the past few years. He confided in me that he had recently signed up to take classes in automotive repair. He had decided to chuck the office job and become a car mechanic. I came in to work the next day and found out that he had died later that night. I was never able to find out all the details, but I heard that it was asthma related. The guy was about ten years younger than me.
He spent his last day on earth working at a job he didn't like.
His death made quite an impact on me. For years, I had been rethinking my entire philosophy concerning my relationship to the workplace and how much of my life I was willing to give to the job. That singular event brought it all to a head. I would never look at my job the same way again.
On the positive side, there's a couple of things you may discover once you get into the mode where you're actually able to leave it all behind when you're away from work. You might find that you're less stressed (both at home and work). Come Monday, it might not be such a chore dragging yourself into the office. You may also realize that you're able to focus better at work. You'll come in each day with a better outlook because you'll discover you've gotten some of your life back.
It's made a huge change in the quality of my life. You might find that it has a profound effect on your life too.
About The Author
John L. White is an author and founder of Everlove and Bohannon Publishing. He also works full-time as an IT professional for a large international company. He can be reached at EverloveBohannon@aol.com.
Resources By This Author
- My Job Sucks & I Can't Take It Anymore! HELP!
- I'm In Debt, Over 40, With No Retirement Savings, HELP!
Other Related Resources
- Simplicity & Success (Printed Edition)
- Simplicity & Success (PDF Edition)
- The Joy Of Not Working
- Get Satisfied
- Your Money Or Your Life
Copyright © 2008
Two forums deserve noting for the summer season: the Travel & Home Exchange forum and the Gardening & Farming forum. Those going on vacation can use the travel forum to ask about destinations and logistics. Those staying home and gardening can post about anything from which plants do well in certain conditions to what crazy antics their chickens have been up to lately. This forum is for the backyard dabbler and the serious farmer alike.
My personal favorite discussion of the moment is about the differences between our simple living dreams and current realities. Folks discuss where they are now, where they want to be, and if there's a difference, why and what they intend to do about it. One poster stated that just reading the question inspired her to action.
Another interesting topic is The Perfect Uselessness of Thrift Stores in Frugality & Tightwadding. It's a good discussion of the finer points of thrift stores and thrift store shopping, and why it works for some people and doesn't work for others.
There have been remarkably civil discussions on a number of very difficult and contentious topics lately. There's one about forgiveness, another on intimacy, and in the Spirituality & Religion forum, a discussion on the very meaning of life itself. All these topics add up to, as one participant puts it, why I keep coming back here. We're an extraordinary community. Join in!
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE INTRODUCTION to our on-line community. Then join in the fun!
About The Author
Ann Haebig is a part-time geek, part-time bicycle advocate, and dedicated follower and promoter of the Your Money Or Your Life program. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her partner, cat and recently adopted banjo. Ann can be reached at ahaebig@pobox.com.
Related Resources
- The Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook
- A Simple Choice
- The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map To True Riches — Book
- The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map To True Riches — Audio CDs
Copyright © 2008
This is the ninth and final article in a series discussing Your Money Or Your Life from a modern, personal perspective. The most recent article in the March-April edition of this Newsletter reviewed Step 8: The Crossover Point. In that step, we added a line to the Wall Chart showing our investment income each month. As we followed along that line and projected it out into the future, we were able to estimate the date when our investment income will exceed our monthly expenses, freeing us from the need to ever work for money again (by the way, I since discovered this cool calculator on the internet: http://www.whatsmycrossover.com/). We then recharacterized working for money as a life stage that will only continue for a finite period of time, and spent some time contemplating what that may mean for us. Now in Step 9, we're looking at the next life stage, when we're finally free of the need to work for money. How will we manage our finances for a lifetime of independence and freedom from a paycheck?
It seems that any discussion of Your Money Or Your Life tends to get sidetracked into a discussion of investments, mixed with folks dismissing this program as being only about investing in government bonds. Consistently, the Financially Independent folks can be seen sitting off to the side, waiting for the digression to finish. That's because they know firsthand that Step 9 isn't about investments; it's about self-empowerment, education, and a lifetime of financial freedom. After all, if we still have to think about our investments all the time, isn't that just another job?
Help Yourself
In his 2005 Letter to Shareholders (see page 18 for the section entitled "How to Minimize Investment Returns"), Warren Buffett illustrated how the costs of an army of brokers, mutual fund managers, financial planners, portfolio advisers, and so on "may well amount to 20% of the earnings of American business." In the years since he wrote this letter, the financial services industry has grown robustly, meaning that Buffett's estimates are now likely understated. If these financial "helpers" don't have our best interests at heart, who does? We do!
The book introduces the idea of disintermediation. This is simply the process of taking out the intermediaries who offer to manage our capital for us. We do this for two reasons: 1) to keep our expenses low, as we discussed in Step 6, and 2) we are the only ones who fully understand our situations. Our way of achieving Financial Independence is profoundly different from the general idea of "retirement". Many financial services professionals won't truly understand our way of a Financially Independent life of "Enough." We're left with little choice but to manage our own finances.
This is a lot simpler than it may sound. We only need to educate ourselves enough to know which investments will serve our needs. We don't need to learn about high-growth stocks, options, hedge funds, junk bonds, derivatives, variable annuities, etc. We only have to educate ourselves about safe, income-producing investments which we can forget about for at least a year at a time. A day spent in the local library reading about income investing should do the trick (The Bond Book is a good start).
Start now! If you're worried about making mistakes and losing money, do that now, before you have a large nest egg invested.
Staying Fiscally Fit
So here we are, with a tidy nest egg we hope will last us a lifetime. How do we manage our cash flow now that we no longer receive paychecks? As Step 9 is laid out in the book, we break down our savings into three categories: Capital, Cushion, and Cache. Capital is the invested money, which we won't spend. Cushion is enough instantly-available money to cover six months of normal living expenses. Cache is the extra money we find ourselves with in the months we under-spend our income (after all, there are unusually-expensive months with those once-a-year bills and unexpected medical troubles, and there are unusually-inexpensive months where we just don't seem to spend much at all).
Most Financially Independent folks do indeed maintain Capital as proposed, but our Cushions vary substantially. While some maintain large Cushions to cover as much as a year's living expenses, others of us find a minimal Cushion does the trick. It depends on a lot of factors. The book seems to pick the "6 months" number because that's how often Treasury bonds pay interest. If you only get paid twice a year, you obviously need to make it last 6 months, right? But what if you choose investments that pay annually, or monthly? For example, in my case, I hold a mix of S&P 500 index funds ("Spiders") and 30-year Treasury bonds. As such, I get paid February 1st & 15th, May 1st, August 1st & 15th, and November 1st, all in various amounts depending on what's paying me. Given this, I maintain a minimal Cushion that covers perhaps 3 months' expenses, and have instant check-writing ability on a line of credit that can handle emergencies. It sounds complex, but it's not. Everyone's situation is different — we do what works best for our own unique situations.
Likewise, everyone's perspective on Cache is different. For me, it's clear that Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin were right when they wrote, "between the ingrained patterns of consciousness, the intellectual appreciation of how much more fulfilling your life is when lived at 'enough,' you may find that you are still spending less." Even though I was reluctant to trust that inflation wouldn't significantly affect me (so I waited and saved more before deciding to try FI life), I find that my core level of spending hasn't significantly changed since I began keeping records 11 years ago. In the meantime, my FI income has increased as I've found myself with increasing Cache (savings), which I roll over into Capital (investments) on a regular basis.
Getting Personal About Inflation
While the discussion of inflation in Your Money Or Your Life was largely aimed at addressing our fears and dismissing inflation as an unnecessary worry, many followers of the program have been hesitant to assume inflation won't affect us. Instead, we continue working and saving longer to build a larger nest egg to compensate for the possible effects of inflation. But how can we have any idea how much more capital would be required? What rate of inflation will we encounter?
Conveniently, we've been tracking our cash flow for a long time. Because of this, we don't need to use some government-prescribed indicator like the Consumer Price Index to estimate how our expenses may change in the future. Instead, we can simply look at our expenses line on our Wall Charts, and project it into the future. We have a Personal Inflation Rate! A quick search on the Internet for "Personal Inflation Rate" or "Personal Rate of Inflation" shows that this isn't a radical concept at all — many have already written about it. It's a great way to dispel all those worries about outliving our capital.
Step Nine Revisited
In 2001, four members of the Speakers' Bureau wrote a document entitled, "Step Nine Revisited". This document focuses on investments. It was an effort to discuss various investments further, in light of developments in the economic climate since the book was written. The irony is that this effort to bring the investment ideas in Step 9 up-to-date is now starting to seem dated. Regardless, this is an important document to read when considering what Step 9 means to us.
The core advice of "Step Nine Revisited" remains the same, that we alone can decide the best way to invest our Capital, given our own unique circumstances. As the document expressly states at the outset, "Study • Choose • Caveat Emptor." Again in closure it says, "Find the road to FI that's right for you."
The people who have reached FI vary widely in their own choices of how to invest their capital. While one member of the Speakers' Bureau prefers local and state bonds, another prefers socially-responsible mutual funds. I use a mix of government bonds and index funds. Everybody's goals and criteria will be different. Find the road to FI that's right for you.
Conclusion
Step 9 concludes not only Your Money or Your Life, but it also concludes this series of articles I've written about the program over the past year and a half. While this process slowly takes us through to the freedom of Financial Intelligence, Financial Integrity, and Financial Independence, it ends there. With Financial Independence, we become free to pursue anything in life without needing a paycheck ever again. While that sounds wonderful, it's not as simple as it seems. As one person noted, the book needs a Step 10: quit your job! It's difficult to let go of the edge of the pool and trust that we can indeed swim. The book leaves us there, discovering on our own where life takes us after we no longer need to work for money.
When I reached FI, a friend and member of the Speakers' Bureau told me that it typically takes about five years for a person to adjust to FI life. At the time, I said to myself, "Hogwash! I'll just settle right in, doing my own thing as I please!" Looking back, I see that he was absolutely right. Reaching FI is the beginning of a new stage in life. It's been over six years now for me, and it's only been in the last year or two that I've finally felt comfortable in how I live and what I'm doing. Be ready for it to take a long time. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Stick with the program. It works.
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 ultramarathon trail running. He can be reached at fredx@pobox.com.
Related Resources
- Your Money Or Your Life
- The Bond Book
- Get Satisfied
- My Job Sucks & I Can't Take It Anymore! Help!
- Making A Living While Making A Difference
- The Joy Of Not Working
What Is An OnLine 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.
