Exhausted, unhappy, and in debt, a growing number of Americans are finding that "voluntary simplicity" can provide them with the things money can’t buy: fulfillment, passion, and joy.

In his late 40s, Peter Kelsey was living the life of many association professionals in the Washington, DC area. A vice president overseeing the legal department at Edison Electric Institute, he worked the usual killer hours and spent the usual excessive money sustaining the typical lifestyle of a successful, busy association leader - until his personal life fell apart. He suddenly found himself divorced, unhappy, and unsatisfied.

"I decided I wanted to find more meaning and to align my career more closely with my values and my passion, which were around nature and the environment," says Kelsey. "Also, in my prior marriage, my lifestyle had gotten out of alignment with my values, so I wanted to start living more simply."

He decided to quit his job and work on energy issues for an environmental organization. However, no organization seemed a good match for what he envisioned, so Kelsey started his own - EcoStewards Alliance - hoping to "bring a little heart and spirit into guiding the intellect toward more sustainable life choices and lifestyles."

Now, seven years later, he and his 200 members have shepherded more than 500 people through 60 self-directed "study circles" in the Potomac Valley region, many of which explore one of the nation’s fastest-growing social trends - "voluntary simplicity." These intimate groups of four to eight people gather weekly or monthly to support each member’s efforts to reduce personal consumption, ease overscheduled calendars, unclutter households, and "recondition ourselves to make more conscious and mindful choices," Kelsey explains.

His group is among hundreds of small and large associations that comprise the diverse movement of people who are redefining the American dream of "having it all" to exclude hyper-consumerism, improve relationships, and encourage pause for thought on the usual career ladders. This is not a hippie thing, assures its advocates. Simple living doesn’t mean people start growing their food and sewing their clothes - unless they want to. Rather, simplicity can start as easily as downsizing your family’s hectic schedule or be as challenging as phasing out friendships that drain more of your energy than boost it.

"We have a definition of success in this society that tells us ‘more is better,’ and it’s not just more stuff," says Cecile Andrews, author of The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life and a former columnist on simple living for The Seattle Times. "It’s like you have to do more, move up, get more promotions. Being famous is the best thing of all. When you have such a culture, it’s a guarantee that people will be dissatisfied. It means you can never stop and say, ‘Wow, I really like where I am. I don’t need to keep striving. I can relax a little, enjoy what I have, and appreciate life.’ We’re talking about a new definition of success that begins with meeting humans’ basic needs - time with friends, family, and ourselves for reflection and creativity."

She points to statistics gathered by The New Road Map Foundation and other organizations as evidence of a society with its focus blurred:

On average, Americans spend six hours a week shopping; surveys have found that shopping ranks number one among the nation’s favorite out-of-home activities.

U.S. households average $8,570 of non-mortgage personal debt and save less than 1 percent of their incomes per year.

Per capita consumption in this nation has risen 45 percent in the past two decades.

During that same period, Americans have added almost 20 days to their annual work and commuting times.

A survey taken several years ago indicates that more than 10 percent of the U.S. population is making significant, intentional changes to simplify their lives.

Citing stress, insomnia, and busy-ness, only 35 percent of adults get the recommended eight hours of sleep per night needed to promote good health.

 

"Simple living is having an examined life," responds Andrews, whose book includes a curriculum so readers can start their own supportive "simplicity circles." "It is the art of discernment. It’s asking ourselves what’s important, what really matters, and if that’s what we’ve been doing… But there’s no creed, formula, or guidelines that say, ‘If you follow me, you will have a simple life.’"

Vicki Robins agrees. "People come into this movement through a variety of doors," she says, noting that some are prompted by financial reasons, while others are attracted to the lifestyle’s links to environmental protection, social justice, and good health. "… Simplicity is really about relinquishing activities and possessions that don’t mean anything to you because there’s something you’ve discovered that’s more important to you than money and stuff."

Robins founded The New Road Map Foundation after she and Joe Dominguez wrote the best-selling personal finance book, Your Money or Your Life, which is a staple of simplicity followers. She also is coordinating the new Simplicity Forum, a coalition of 25 simplicity organizations and leaders who joined forces last summer to "examine the theory and practice of voluntary simplicity and start demonstrating collectively that people who simplify their lives not only are healthier and happier, but also are contributing more to their communities, which makes a real difference to society."

The partnership was sparked in part because Robins believes "millions of people in this country are making the choice to simplify their lives, but they are not a constituency yet."

Indeed, the movement’s largest potential growth centers on middle-class, middle-age Baby Boomers, more than 11 million of whom are expected to have adopted simple living as their lifestyle within the next decade.

But Boomers also will find younger, yuppie-rejecting professionals in the thriving simplicity circles in Takoma Park, Silver Spring, and elsewhere around Washington, DC. Despite growing up in a "gimme-everything-now" culture, they say they like a lifestyle that avoids debt and promotes creativity, fun, freedom, relationships, personal growth, and spirituality.

Eric Brown, communications director at the Center for the New American Dream in Takoma Park, Maryland, was drawn to simple living and an association career after working in the film industry in Hollywood. "I was spending a lot of money," he admits. "I was in debt and was working in a profession that, while I was enjoying it, I wasn’t making the world a better place. I thought, ‘There must be more to life than this.’ In Hollywood what you drive is way more important than who you are. That’s a lot of pressure - and it’s not that much different here in DC."

Brown and his 24 coworkers now spread a different message: "Being a part of a community group in which people take care of the Joneses instead of trying to keep up with them is what’s really important."

His organization, whose motto is "more fun, less stuff," focuses on "the big picture of the costs of the American lifestyle and our quality of life to the environment." When people call the center for advice on how to regain control of their lives and reduce their imprint on the planet, the center usually starts with an invitation to "unplug a bit from the commercial culture. Spending less time in front of the TV is a good first start because there’s more to life than TV, and it also subjects us to all those commercial messages that say what we wear and drive is who we are," says Brown. "Other times we give people tips for how to simplify the holidays or how to deal with credit or look at spending."

Associations are a good way to find simplicity information that ranges from the practical - e-zines such as Simple Times about how to cut down your grocery bill and avoid excessive holiday celebrations - to the philosophical - books, classes, and online simplicity circles that look deeper into the philosophy of developing a satisfying, joyful existence by centering time and money only on what means the most to an individual.

Even universities such as Cornell and Stanford have departments, ongoing courses, or research projects about simplicity. But the most successful elements of the movement to redefine "the good life" remain longtime leaders such as Andrews, Robins, and journalist Janet Luhrs, whose book, The Simple Living Guide, has introduced myriad readers to the benefits of simplicity, and organizations such as Alternatives for Simple Living, a nonprofit organization that "equips people to challenge consumerism, live justly, and celebrate responsibly."

"Voluntary simplicity may start with working fewer hours or being more frugal, but we expand that definition way beyond those basic steps to include reaching out to other people - not only to needy people, but also who we call ‘needy privileged people’ to help them reduce stress and debt, and focus more on doing good rather than on spending so much on themselves," explains Gerald Iverson, national coordinator for Alternatives for Simple Living.

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