What is Simplifying? Should You Do It?

Today’s news is filled with scary stories about the cratering sub-prime lending market, the dollar’s decline, and the plunging Dow. This has got a lot of people pondering ways to cut back on their spending, getting ready for a severe recession that seems more and more inevitable.

Tightening your money belt is a good thing, it’s a smart strategy. However, it’s very different from simplifying your life. Cutting back is painful; simplifying is freeing and fun. Maybe now more than ever, it’s time to think about simplicity.

Simplifying isn’t a new concept: the Shakers were propounding the benefits of living a simple life over 150 years ago. Janet Luhrs’ book, The Simple Living Guide, has had steady sales since its debut in 1998, and this April will mark the 14th anniversary of Vicki Robin’s famous speech to the United Nations, “A Declaration of Independence from Overconsumption.”

What is simplifying? It’s going against the materialistic mainstream and proactively living a life that you have consciously defined for yourself. There are many reasons for simplifying, and there are many different types of simplifiers.

For some, simplifying life means reducing stress for health reasons, for others it’s a social justice or anti-consumerism issue. Simplifiers can be as straight-forward as families transforming into one-income households so their kids can have a full-time parent at home, as well as someone deciding to buy only organic or locally-grown produce. They can also be as multifaceted as environmental activists, seeking to minimize their consumption of fossil fuels by living off the grid along with those involved in The Compact, where members have committed to buy absolutely nothing new for one full year.

Ed Begley, Jr., of the cable television show “Living With Ed,” is a simplifier. So is Julia Roberts, who took time off from her career to stay at home with her young children.

If the news of an impending recession has you pondering your way of life, and wondering if perhaps there is a better way, then you may be interested in simplifying. Should you choose to do so, know that it has tremendous benefits: there is a surprising sense of freedom with each step you take, and there is suddenly more time to do the things you care about. However, it’s not for the faint-hearted: you’ll have discouraging friends and family who will not understand this change in attitude, and you’ll have moments of being overwhelmed at the undertaking.

For those who have taken steps to simplifying their lives, though, it’s been worth all their efforts. Life truly is better without the call of the mall.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out:

1. In Print

Choosing Simplicity: Real People Finding Peace and Fulfillment in a Complex World by Linda Breen Pierce. Stories of those who have downsized their lives, relates their experiences and whether or not they regret the change.

Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Joe R. Dominguez and Vicki Robin. Financial guide, a landmark in the Simplicity movement.

Living the Simple Life : A Guide to Scaling Down and Enjoying More by Elaine St. James. Good, practical tips (cancel the newspaper subscription, eat at home).

Voluntary Simplicity, Revised Edition: Toward a Life That is Inwardly Simple, Outwardly Rich by Duane Elgin. History of the movement, discussion of spiritual motivations behind downsizing.

The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs. Must-read; describes all variety of lifestyles within the "voluntary simplicity" world.


2. Online

Everyday Simplicity (http://everydaysimplicity.blogspot.com)
The Simple Living Network (http://www.simpleliving.net/main)
Simple Living America (http://simplelivingamerica.blogspot.com)

Free TV and Free Movies at Hulu.Com

Have you heard about the latest "free" movie and TV site: hulu.com? Good news: it offers some decent stuff. Bad news, there are commercials.

Why check it out? First, there are the collections. (Click here for the full list.)

There's the Christopher Walken Collection (remember the Continental?) and the Steve Martin Collection (includes the full run of The Jerk, plus several SNL skits), as well as several collections from The Family Guy, the Office, In Living Color, SNL ... you get the idea.

Second, there are the full-feature films.

(Go here for the list.) There are sorta current movies like:

Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World with Russell Crowe
The Simpsons Movie
Ice Age

as well as not so current movies, such as:

October Sky
The Big Lebowski
The Usual Suspects
Sideways

No real classic films, though - unless you count The Three Amigos or Planet of the Apes as classics.

And then there are the TV shows (full list is here). They have full episodes of old and new shows, such as:

The Family Guy
24
Charlie's Angels
Prison Break
Medium
Alfred Hitchcock Hour
My Name is Earl
Monk
The Rockford Files
Miami Vice.


No Seinfeld, though. No Star Trek, no Magnum P.I., no Golden Girls or All in the Family or Friends.

But heck. It's new, it's growing, and there's some pretty cool stuff here to check out for free.

New finds for me today included Mrs. Piggle Wiggle - one of my favorite children's books (actually a series) with Jean Stapleton in the starring role, and some great SNL skits -- "Down By the River" is here, some of "Celebrity Jeopardy," "Killer Bees," "Mr. Bill," plus lots of current stuff.

No "More Cowbell," though. At least, I couldn't find it.

Personal Post: Lost Dog - Found Dog

Driving down a busy street on Wednesday, I almost hit a puppy who was stuck mid-lanes, scared and not sure which way to run. In a bad decision, the pup darted to its right, and almost got hit by a big, white delivery truck. Thankfully, the truck screeched to a stop as I had done, and together, we blocked traffic on the road until the dog safety manuevered itself out of the street.

Pulling to the side of the road, the pup came right to me: a chocolate lab mix, with pretty green eyes, very friendly. Obviously someone's pet who had no street-smarts. This was a baby who was cared for: nails freshly clipped, clean, knows all about riding in a car. No tags, no collar. The dog knew some commands: sit, come.

So, I put the puppy in the back seat and took her to the nearby vet: no microchip. Brought the baby home, segregated the poor thing in a side courtyard (yes, I've done rescues before) and did the following:

1. Printed out signs "Found - Puppy" with my cellphone number and placed them at intersections near where I'd found the dog. (I learned in surfing the web that most dogs are found within a 2 mile radius of their home.) No personal info - the cellphone number, so far, isn't identifiable in some web listing. (Policeman-friend insisted on this anonimity.)

2. Called all vets in the surrounding area. There were four. (Lots of people, I learned, call vets to see if their dog has been brought in for care.)

3. Called the Animal Defense League and the Humane Society. Both are no-kill facilities.I never heard back from the ADL, but I spoke with the Humane Society.

At the Humane Society, you call at 8:30 each morning, to see if they have space. Sooner or later, you get in. Puppies and kittens get taken first - they have the biggest turnaround. (I would have to take the pup to the Humane Society, there was simply no way that our family -- especially my oldest dog, male and a Border Collie mix -- would be able to keep this adorable mutt.)

4. Placed an ad in the San Antonio Express-News -- they will run lost and found pet ads for three days, for free. Great community service.

5. Called several friends and found someone on stand-by to take the pup if the owner didn't appear.

And, voila! The next afternoon (after a noisy night of dogs barking and puppy crying - you know the scenario) the owner called.

What worked? The signs on the telephone poles at the street intersections. One of the owner's friends saw the sign, and called him.

Lesson I learned: Microchipping dogs can be a very good thing. The border collie I mentioned earlier doesn't have a chip, and I'm taking him in -- the Humane Society can do this for $25 and it takes less than a minute.

Sure, it may be painful for him: but that chip could get him back to me, if he ever got lost. I vote yes for microchipping your pet.