Simpletom

Probably the most famous advocate of simplicity is Duane Elgin, the author of the timeless ‘Voluntary Simplicity’ – it’s a wonderful book, full of authenticity and integrity. Here are some of the highlights and my thoughts:

•    Voluntary simplicity is described as the avoidance of exterior clutter, of many possessions irrelevant to the chief purpose of life.
•    He quotes Arnold Toynbee, who concluded that society’s growth was found in the Law of Progressive Simplification. Namely the ability of society to transfer increasing amounts of energy and attention from the material side of life to the non-material side, thereby advancing its culture, capacity for compassion, sense of community and democracy.
•    To live more simply is to encounter life more directly. It is life in its vastness, subtlety and preciousness that is the context within which simpler living acquires its most compelling meaning and significance.
•    We live almost completely immersed in a socially constructed reality that so fully absorbs our energy and attention that virtually none remains to experience the wonder of our existence.
•    Clarification between our ‘needs’ and our ‘wants’ are marked.
•    Simplicity is essential if we are to avoid the evolutionary detours of either ecological collapse of bureaucratic stagnation.

The book is full of stories, such as my own, of people who have found reward in gentle and conscious simplification. The message – try it for your self, escape the mad rush for a while and come to the gentle realization much of what we do, we worry about and we get stressed over is simply superfluous.

Interviews by twitter make for nice succinct questions and answers. Here’s one with Ecospheric, who kindly agreed to chat about simplicity. Find her on her blog, or on twitter

Q1 Who are you and what are you up to?
I am Beth Buczynski, a recent Colorado transplant. I love writing about the environment and hate answering my phone.

Q2 What keeps u awake at night?
Honestly, money keeps me up at night. Freelance writing is a starving woman’s gig!

Q3 What role do you think simplicity plays in the green/sustainability movement
Simplicity is a very important concept for ppl to grasp about sustainability- it’s not going w/o, it’s realizing u don’t need.

Q4 Do you make a deliberate attempt to keep your life simple?
Yes. It’s not always successful though. See answer to question 2. Though it’s cliche, reminding myself to see the amazing beauty in the little things that happen w/o me trying every day. like rain. or seeds sprouting.

Q5 if you could make something much simpler, what would it be?
I would make habitation simpler. It should be easier for people to create houses/homes for themselves. I should be able to dig up my entire yard or have chickens or catch my rain water w/o interference from the law or cranky neighbors.

http://www.slideshare.net/cxpartners/secrets-of-simplicity

This is a nice presentation about simplicity, worth a squizz. However, there are a few key points that the author misses:

• The difference between simplification and simplicity. One is an attempt to take a DVD player control and make it easier to use. The other is a desire to design life in a way that enables you to no have to worry about the control, whether it’s complicated or simple.
• The presentation in 128 pages and no doubt took the author a long, long time to put together – after all, it includes some great images. Could the presentation itself have incorporated more of its own recommendations?
• It’s heavily focused on technology. How many of the examples are technological solutions to problems that were previously solutions – i.e. Google is a solution to the problem of finding information on the web, which originated as a better way of sharing information… we pile these solutions upon problems upon solutions. At some point we’ve got to ask whether the added value is worth the added effort.

I’ve written to the author, I’ll hope to post some of his thoughts if he gets back to me. I’ve started asking people about how they weave simplicity into their lives and will be posting their replies shortly – it’s fantastic to hear about people’s rewarding experiences. For more, read Duane Elgin’s ‘Voluntary Simplicity’ it’s filled with timeless wisdom from simpletomians.

Or, should I give up this blog and make life a little simpler for myself, oh wicked irony?

No, primarily because the task of digesting and writing these thoughts helps me simplify, regardless of who reads it. This blog creates value for me in-and-of itself. The knowledge that it is publicly accessible and potentially read from afar accentuates my discipline.

Simpletomians unite.

Here’s a piece just written for Sublime Magazine about ‘Holistic Economics’

There’s a deeper, darker recession that has been stealthily growing since long before the Lehmans and Madoffs of this world were consumed by their own greed. No doubt the financial crisis will affect many of us over the coming years. Its speed, coupled with the related financial tendrils that creep into many of our lives are surely cause for concern. Yet there is another financial disaster occurring that we’ve largely ignored as we’ve gorged on cheap money. One that’s less easily solved, taking place far from the trading desks and skyscrapers – the environmental crisis.

In a world shamelessly obsessed with economic value, the reasons for protecting the environment still make economic sense. When you factor in the value-added services, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon-dioxide, it is calculated we lose $2-5 trillion annually through forest loss. That’s just forests. There’s climate change, which could risk reducing global GDP by 20% according to the Stern Review, coupled with marine issues, pollution, water shortages, and desertification – to name but a few. By some reports, the annual (yes, annual) loss in ecosystem services from biodiversity loss could exceed €14 trillion by 2050.

It’s hard to fully comprehend the value of our natural resources. After all, it’s rather difficult to pay off your credit-card bills in stag beetles, or take a redwood down to your local store. Yet we must be mindful of the value in mother nature’s store. Most of us can put a price on a pint of milk or a jar of honey because these natural products have woven their way into our consumptive cycles. But what of the value of poison ivy, jellyfish and slugs? Even if an acre of rainforest is worth more to us intact rather than in flat-pack boxes, how do we make that value apparent and accessible to would-be loggers? Is it possible, or do we need governments to make that determination, regardless of localized pressures? Not only might it take many years for a responsibly-managed forest to release the same value that might be captured in a day’s logging, but the value might be almost impossible to perceive, such as in the case of absorbing carbon-dioxide.

Yet perceptions of value are changing. We’ve begun to try to quantify and value some of the wider externalities of our actions, such as by considering the ‘triple-bottom-line’ impacts, measuring ‘ecosystem services’, or by studying cradle-to-cradle models. Economists such as Lord Stern have tried, with some success, to influence climate change policy at a global level by examining the holistic economics – despite the costs involved, the few immediate or local benefits, and the ownership issues (or lack of them) that might provoke a ‘tragedy of commons’. A more comprehensive valuation process is emerging, which represents a return to wisdom. Lets heed that wisdom.

Wisdom is defined in the dictionary as, ‘the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment’.  Wikipedia states it is, ‘an ideal that has been celebrated since antiquity as the knowledge needed to live a good life’. Sadly, we often ignore our wisdom. True wisdom implies understanding nature’s interconnectedness and, most importantly, making decisions based on deep, ancient experience, rather than acting, or reacting, in the short-term. I believe that if we ask individuals, organizations and governments to utilize greater wisdom, we’ll start to maximize true value.

For example, if the marine life in an ecosystem grows by 10% a year and the catch expands by 15% per year, the system will eventually collapse – with that in mind, it’s fairly easy to determine a ‘wise’ course of action. We should accept nothing less. When we do the math and look at the immediate value realized from catching the 15%, versus the the compound growth that would occur with say a 5% yearly catch, it’s even easier to make a decision that incorporates ‘experience, knowledge and good judgment’. Another example might be a forest that supports a community that would otherwise be displaced and attracts sustainable, long-lasting income through tourism or careful resource use. If that value is many times greater and employs and sustains more people than the immediate value gained through logging, once again it’s easy to be wise. Both examples play out daily, yet there are too many smart people who continue to make irrational decisions. There must be greater economic accountability for their foolishness.

It’s not just politicians and civil servants, but organizations that we need to ask to tap into their inherent, but under-utilized wisdom. Trends indicate that organizations with the strongest CSR agendas and deep, sustainable principles outperform those that lack these values. Look at the economic benefits of GM’s ecomagination campaign, or how well Patagonia, The Body Shop or Innocent Drinks, Timberland are doing. Google, ever-keen to remain at the forefront, offers subsidies to employees buying hybrids, serve organic sustainable foods in their cafes and have been making inroads through Google.org. These companies understand the economic benefit this brings in terms of the quality of employees they can attract. Those with far-reaching sustainability agendas are not only tapping into a zeitgeist, but are getting better value from their people, their products and often their customers.

We should also look more closely at what constitutes economic ‘development’ and ‘progress’. By way of example, the book ‘Ancient Futures’, by Helena Norberg-Hodge details changes in the Ladakhi culture, who until recently lived in almost perfect symbiosis with their surroundings. Westernization, under the cloak of development, has resulted in a higher GDP, but it has also led to rapid social and environmental deterioration in Ladakh. If a holistic economic study was conducted, assessing the true social and environmental costs of development, I wonder whether the deterioration in ancient wisdom has caused a reduction in overall value in the region. For example, a diesel powered mill in Ladakh brings with it economic value that displaces subsistence farming (which has no apparent value), but when we realize that diesel must be bought, parts replaced, pollution is caused, and people are put out of work – then the overall value contributed might be negative, even if more money is traded.  It seems that in our relentless drive to develop our world according to the latest fad, we continually overlook ecosystems that are far more developed than anything we can create, and often destroy things of far more value.

It’s time for each and every one of us – from presidents to farmers, executives to village elders – to follow our internal compasses and exercise our wisdom. If you face a tough decision, go walk amongst nature as the seasons change, as they have for millions of years, and bring yourself back to act on the real crisis at hand.

Have you noticed that the wrinklier ones amongst us (being the older folks) often live a rather simpler life than us youngens. There comes a time in one’s life, it seems, when you stop worring so much about whether your cardigan is in fashion, or what you ’should’ be doing and focus instead on the things you like. Grannies are some of the finest purveyours of chocolate the world over. Grandpas are fairly adept at a good old pint or two.

Take some time to watch and listen to a person many years older than yourself now and again. There’s a lot there that we could learn from – a certain comfort with unpretentious things. I remember my granny’s deep enjoyment of a cup of tea, the birds on her bird table, or sitting at her piano playing the Rachmaninoff 2nd piano concerto (she was an awesome tinkler!).

Old folks have been around a while… don’t waste their wisdom. Here’s a passage I came across this week, with some hand-me-down wisdom, from Nadine Star, of Kentuky at the tender age of 85:

If I had to live my life over again,
I’d dare to make more mistakes next time.
I’d relax. I would limber up.
I would be sillier than I have been this trip.

I would take fewer things seriously.
I would take more chances. I would take more trips.
I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers.
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would perhaps have more actual troubles,
but I’d have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I’m one of those people who live seriously and sanely,
hour after hour, day after day.

Oh, I’ve had my moments. And if I had it to do over again,
I’d have more of them.

In fact, I’d try to have nothing else, just moments, one after another,
instead of living so many years ahead of each day.

I’ve been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without
a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute.
If I had it to do again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had to live my life over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring
and stay that way later in the fall.

I would go to more dances.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies.

Over the last week or two, I’ve been quietly absorbing information – letting ideas slowly slot into place in my mind. Instead of forcing problems, I often find that leaving them to percolate produces wiser more thoughtful results (perhaps thoughtfulness is a misnomer). When I was learning juggling tricks as a wayward teenager, I remember a piece of advice – which was that if you were struggling with a trick, then practice hard and then have a nap (this was an appealing solution) and when you awoke, you’d likely be better than before you dozed off. It worked.

A number of topics have caught my attention these last weeks, and I’m slowly, gently sorting them as I go about my days (although they’re lacking in siestas). Here are a few highlights:

I’ve run across Dee Hock, the founder of VISA previously, but I’d forgotten how interesting his life has been. He essentially founded VISA, creating what he describes as a chaordic business, built on evolutionary principles, rather than traditional hierarchical premises. Not only did he found one of the most influential and interesting organizations of our time. He then retired, completely, to live a simple existence: ‘In May 1984, at 55, Hock put his beliefs to the test. He resigned from Visa and three months later, with his successor in place, dropped completely from sight. Six years later, in an acceptance speech as a laureate of the Business Hall of Fame, Hock put it this way: “Through the years, I have greatly feared and sought to keep at bay the four beasts that inevitably devour their keeper — Ego, Envy, Avarice, and Ambition. In 1984, I severed all connections with business for a life of isolation and anonymity, convinced I was making a great bargain by trading money for time, position for liberty, and ego for contentment — that the beasts were securely caged”‘ I’m reading Dee’s book at the moment and hope to update soon with further thoughts.

A friend Andy, who runs this fantastic consultancy, was kind enough to introducing me to the concept of ‘Slow business’ in this great article. It details an example of another company that has blossomed through simplicity and a focus on their core personal and professional values.

I’m also weaving through Dwane Elgin’s ‘Voluntary Simplicity‘, a fantastic book that details many people’s explorations of simplicity. I’ll post a summary when I’ve finished reading and percolating.

Finally, I’ve just finished an article on ‘holistic economics’ a perhaps less-dodgy name than the ‘triple-bottom-line’ theory John Elkington coined. More to follow on that shortly.

Simply stated, the process of thinking, exploring and examining simplicity has caused the concept and its benefits to blossom in my mind. Testament to the power of attention. If you’re interested in a topic, focus some time and attention on it.