Hetzel - Down to earth: a guide to simple living

Had I known what profound and beautiful changes were awaiting me, I would have had a change of heart much sooner. About ten years ago I eased myself out of shopping, fashion, eating out and other non-essential spending. I felt like I was taking a giant leap into the unknown and everyone was asking me, Why!? Now times have changed. There has been a worldwide financial crisis, a grey tsunami of retiring baby boomers is beginning to influence our lives as they leave the workforce and many move towards government pensions, and many more people are worried about the economy, the environment and the future. Clearly the time is right for a simple change. But its not just for those who are facing difficulties. Even if recent years have treated you more kindly, simple living will have something to offer you. Its not just a refuge in a sea of environmental and economic calamity, its a beautiful and significant life choice in itself.

I was pulled into simple living before I knew what it was. It crept up on me using the smallest of steps and didnt reveal its true beauty and real power until I was totally hooked. I was searching for a way to live well while spending very little money. What I found was a way of life that also gave me independence, opportunity and freedom.

I live with my husband, Hanno, in the hinterland of Queenslands Sunshine Coast. Weve been married more than thirty years and have two sons, Shane and Kerry. They have both left home and settled down to build lives with their partners, Sarndra and Sunny. Weve recently welcomed our first grandchildren. Life, as we move into our later years, looks pretty good.

I guess you would say were retired but we still work almost every day, making bread, jams, relish and soap, cooking from scratch, growing vegetables, recycling and mending what we use in our home. We aim to live productive lives, so while many of our contemporaries are travelling in caravans or planes were pleased to be homebodies, finding satisfaction in our simple home, and excitement and adventure in a backyard full of fruit, vegetables, chickens and wildlife. Rhythms, seasons and daylight rather than clocks, calendars and investment portfolios guide our days. We are in a fortunate position to be able to live this way and we both find it very satisfying to be active at this stage of life and to feel enriched by what we do.

After many years working as a journalist and technical writer I was burnt out. Id just finished a major contract for a big company when I realised I didnt want to work for a living any more. I wanted to stay at home and rebuild my spirit. I wanted to look after my family, slow down, collect eggs and honey, and sit and dream in my garden. I also wanted to feel more alive.

What I had been doing was working in a job I didnt like so I had enough money to pay for a lifestyle I didnt want. I was shopping for clothes and shoes to make me look like everyone else. I was buying things for my home to make me feel comfortable in a place I didnt take the time to feel comfortable in. And I was buying food to comfort and nurture because I didnt feel at ease in my life and I didnt have the time or energy to cook the food I liked. This destructive behaviour seemed to be quite acceptable and, from what I could see, my family and friends were doing a similar thing. Continuous consumption was even encouraged by our government, who told us that shopping was good for the country and we were growing the economy.

We live on a limited budget but I am richer now than Ive ever been in my life.

And the strangest thing is that when I was living in this way, I didnt think about the sadness I was feeling. I didnt realise I was unsatisfied and I didnt see the need for change. I believed I was the queen of my realm, that the more I had and the more dollars I spent, the more power, strength and independence I had. When I stopped spending I realised how pathetically wrong that was. I had actually been giving away my independence.

Now that I look back on it, I must have been a bit crazy to believe that I could just stop shopping without changing the way I lived too. I thought I would just stop the mindless spending while finding satisfaction within my own home, and that would be that. I didnt know then that the charm of living without shopping, and of making do with what I had, would open up a whole new world for me, where independence and opportunity would live side by side and lead to a kind of gentle liberation.

Luckily, at that point, I discovered that others had walked this road less travelled before me. I found a group of writers who had been explaining their philosophy to the world for many years, so I started reading. I found Walden by Henry David Thoreau online and devoured it within hours. I ordered books from America that were not yet available in Australia The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs, Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, the Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery, and The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn.