Rhonda Hetzel - The Simple Life: Penguin Special: Penguin Special

Penguin Specials

We believed in the existence in this country of a vast reading public for intelligent books at a low price, and staked everything on it

Sir Allen Lane, founder of Penguin Books.

The first affordable quality books for a mass audience were brought out by Penguin nearly eighty years ago. And while much has changed since then, the way we read books is only now becoming different. Sometimes it is still only a hardback or paperback book that will do. But at other times we prefer to read on something either more portable a dedicated reading device or our smart mobile phone or more connected, such as a tablet or a computer.

Where we are or how much time we have often decides what it is we will read next.

Penguin Specials are designed to fill a gap. They are short, they are original and affordable, and they are written by some of todays best and most exciting writers.

Written to be read over a long commute or a short journey, in your lunch hour or between dinner and bedtime, these brief books provide a short escape into a fictional world or act as a primer in a particular field or provide a new angle on an old subject.

Always informative and entertaining, Penguin Specials offer excellent writing that you can read on the move or in a spare moment for less than the price of a cup of coffee.

Contents

To the family I came from and never left my late mother and father,
Jean and Frank McGrath,and my beautiful sister, Tricia de Chelard

Introduction

If youd asked me 12 years ago if I could see myself living the kind of gentle, simple life I have now, I would have thought you quite mad. Back then, when my days were focused on the almighty dollar, deadlines and stress, most of the time I believed I was living the dream.

I think I slowly realised there was little time for my family or for myself and my career took all my energy and most of my time. I dont know if it was just sheer luck or the hand of fate that stepped in, but at a certain point I hit a brick wall and couldnt go on with that way of life. I knew I needed to do things differently. I wanted a simpler way of living. So I closed down my technical writing business and embarked on a new journey. Since then I have discovered happiness right in my own home. And now I have found true joy and fulfilment, I can see that Ive been looking for that kind of satisfaction all my life.

With the benefit of hindsight, I can see why I was so attracted to this simpler way of living. My husband, Hanno, and I now have a lot more control over our lives. Our way of life offers us the freedom to live alongside, but separate to, the minefield of materialism that has become a large part of todays culture. Were living on much less than we ever did in the past, yet we have more independence. Above all though, we have become much happier and more confident, we smile a lot more and we have hope in the future. And that is a good thing because in the past couple of years, our grandchildren have been born and for them, and for all of us, there must be hope.

My hope for my grandchildren and, indeed, for all children is that they will learn many of the traditional skills that we are using in our home now and will use those abilities in their future. I hope they will see the value in doing that because unless there is a significant shift away from commercial convenience towards sustainable lifestyles, I wonder what their future holds.

My husband and I took a big leap in making the decision to change our lives, but we got to where we are now in small steps. Whether you are 20 or 50, whether you have kids or a partner, whether you have a mortgage or rent, you can make small or big changes that will allow you to slow down and work out how to live a simpler life and maybe even thrive.

Starting to change

The key to simple living

Over the years Ive been asked many times what the key to living simply is. There is no easy answer but there are some things Ive come to understand as Ive changed the way I live.

When I set out to simplify my life, my basic understanding of simple living was that it was not a single idea like debt reduction or food production; it was many loosely associated concepts rolled into one. Now I know that the definition of simple life is different for each of us and will change as time goes on. My own definition is centred around slowing down to live a life that is focused on family, friends and home while voluntarily spending less, buying local food and products as much as possible, being more environmentally aware and becoming skilled enough to be self-reliant and partially self-sufficient. In my version of the simple life, work plays a large part and enough really is enough.

I think there are four main areas that are crucial to living simply and many smaller ones that will be different for everyone and will be dictated to some extent by personal circumstances.

1. Personal vision

Think about the life you want, then set about creating it. Modern living is built around a consumerist model of convenience, acquisition and debt. You dont have to fit in with any standard idea of how you should be living. Think about your own values, work out what you want your life to look like, then create a list of actions that will help build that vision. Remember, this is a life-long exercise. Take it slowly. Its all about the journey, not the destination.

2. Mindset and contentment

Its important to establish what success means to you. This will probably mean a change of mindset so that instead of defining success in terms of money and possessions, your successes become more personal. You might think about raising happy, resourceful children, paying off debt, living within your means, re-skilling, or completing the cycle of planting seeds to raising and harvesting a crop from them.

I think there is a way to develop contentment you consciously think of what youre grateful for. Those of us who have computers and cars and homes to live in are extremely lucky. Most of the people in the world do not have what we have. Dont take anything for granted. Work hard to get what you want out of life and be thankful when you have it. Share. Develop a kind and generous attitude. Be grateful that youre in a warm and comfortable home with those you love around you. Hopefully that, and seeing your new life develop, will bring you contentment.

3. Mindful spending and debt reduction

Work out what your level of enough is. When it comes to spending, dont buy things to show off; buy what you need, with purpose and function in mind. Buy good quality and, instead of frequent upgrading, keep everything going for as long as you can.

Many of us take on a mortgage at some point. When you do, try to make extra payments and pay off your debt as fast as you can. The banks will not encourage you to reduce your debt quickly, but if you do, you will shave a few years off the length of the mortgage and therefore save thousands of dollars. Youll also open up a few extra options for yourself. Once you have secured a place to live and paid for it, youll have the choice to work less, if thats what you want to do. Its all about choice youll have more of it if you have no debt.

4. Work and skills

Think about how much work and re-skilling you are prepared to do. When I simplified my life, I was keen to simplify my home chores too. I wanted to use fewer chemicals, grow fruit and vegetables and keep chickens for fresh eggs. Cooking from scratch meant I shopped in a different way and I started a food stockpile. I was determined to reduce the amount of food I wasted so I started preserving much of what we grew and taught myself how to freeze food without losing its quality. I also learned how to bake bread and make sauces, dressings, jams, relishes and much more.