There is more than one reason why we might move towards a simpler lifestyle. First, there are concerns related to social justice. When we recognise our essential oneness with others, can we continue to prioritise our own pursuit of luxuries ahead of their basic needs? As Jesus put it, “He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” (Luke 3:11.)
Then there is the environmental imperative. According to research carried out by the Global Footprint Network, humanity uses the equivalent of 1.6 planets to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste. [4] Our present consumption-oriented lifestyles in Europe, the US and elsewhere in the economically developed world are unsustainable. If everyone in the world consumed the same resources that the lifestyle of the average person in the UK demands, it would require 2.9 earths to support humanity. To sustain the lifestyle of the average US citizen, 4.8 earths would be required. If we take more than our fair share, what will be left for our grandchildren?
When we stop to reflect on this, we may find ourselves led to live more simply for the good of the Whole. But there is also a third, positive, reason to adopt a simpler lifestyle. Simplicity does not only benefit the world. It can also nourish us.
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For me, simplicity is about cutting down on what’s not so important to give space to what is. It’s about removing the attachments and distractions – material or otherwise – which prevent the Love or Light of God shining through me in the world.
Some time ago, I facilitated a session on simplicity at my Quaker Meeting’s weekend away. I asked those present to identify something that’s important. We went around the circle and each person tried to think of something different until we had more than twenty words on the flip-chart. One person said love; others said friendships, health and peace of mind. No one suggested their giant-screen television, and no one mentioned promotion at work, or reputation, or ‘being right’ either. When we stop to reflect, we already have a sense of what truly matters. Why then do we invest a disproportionate amount of time and energy focusing on things that don’t matter all that much?
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Often, the things we would add to our life situation do not bring us closer to the truth about Who we are, but move us further away from it. First, there is the time and energy we expend in earning the money to pay for the latest gadgets, the new clothes to squeeze into our already brimming wardrobes, or the more modern car. This is time which we could have spent nourishing ourselves spiritually, whether by going within or connecting with others. Then, there is the attention we devote to those things when we do have them: the hours we spend in front of the television or on the internet; the time it takes us to maintain our larger homes. First, we seek after things. Then, for a while, we worship them. Soon the novelty value wears off and we seek after something else. This cycle continues, until one day it may dawn on us that true lasting happiness cannot be found in things that do not last. We may come to a sense of what truly matters: quality time spent with loved ones, acts of kindness given and received, taking time to listen to and be fully present with another person… Things in themselves are not bad. Money is not the root of evil. But love of money, which is another way of saying attachment to material things, distracts us from what is real. If we seek to find ourselves in things, we lose touch with our Self.
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In my early thirties, I switched to working a four-day week. While it has meant less income, it gives me an extra day a week to spend as I choose. I now have more time and energy to do the things which make me come alive. I also have the space to take my time, to give things my full attention, so that I do them more lovingly. Being less tired means I find it easier to remain true to my Self.
For some people, part-time working may not be an option. Some may work long hours in a job which they find rewarding, and where they can make a positive difference. But even in these circumstances, we can benefit from time to recharge our spiritual batteries – ideally every day. I’ve noticed a real difference since I started switching off my computer at 8 pm and setting aside the last part of the day to re-centre myself. As Caroline Stephen experienced, “Words may help and silence may help, but the one thing needful is that the heart should turn to its Maker as the needle turns to the pole. For this we must be still.” [5] The more centred we are, the more we can make a positive difference in the world.
It’s about finding the balance between being and doing that is right for us personally. When I think of being and doing, I’m reminded of the Taoist symbol of yin and yang: both energies are necessary and one feeds the other. If I focus solely on being, I risk becoming self-absorbed or aloof. But if I put too much emphasis on the doing at the expense of my state of being, my actions may be lacking in love.
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I no longer have a ‘To do’ list of tasks that I pursue with stubborn determination. I do though keep a note of ‘ideas and possibilities’ that emerge during my times of contemplation. I leave space in my life for pursuing these – or not – as I feel led.
Increasingly, a question I ask myself is, ‘Can I do this lovingly?’ Can I give the person my full attention when I make a phone call? Can I be present as I carry out some voluntary work, or is it a task I’ll resent, wishing all the while I was somewhere else, doing something else? If I can’t do a particular activity with love, perhaps it might be better to postpone it until I can, or not to do it at all?
This is very much counter to the rat race society in which we live. Even in caring professions, many people feel pressured into seeing more clients, or cramming more and more activities into the working day in pursuit of efficiency. It is a false economy. Yes, they see more clients, but how much assistance will they be to those people if they are overtired and stressed themselves? One patient leaves and the next enters the consulting room before the doctor or counsellor has had time to pause. How present can they be with them? How much loving attention can they give?
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Quaker writer Richard J. Foster has set out ten principles for the outward expression of simplicity. Last of these, and in a way the composite of the others, is to “… shun whatever would distract you from your main goal”. [6] What is my main goal? Despite what I might have believed in the past, it is not to pay off my mortgage, or to publish my novel, or to marry the woman of my dreams, or even to change the world. It is the same function that all of us have... To share love. To experience peace and joy by letting them flow through us into the world. In short, to be true to Who we are.
Consider what really matters to you. When have you felt happiest? What have you appreciated most?
For me, it’s simple things. Connecting with friends. Quality time with my family. Being present in nature, whether it’s watching a sunset, gazing up at a star-filled sky, or seeing a pelican in flight. Sharing with others in the things which are eternal. Doing little things for people, just for the joy of lifting their spirits. Sitting with a glass of green tea and a pack of oat cakes and taking my time over them, present in the moment. Putting to one side my selfish preoccupations and letting God work through me, whatever it is I’m doing.
Why not take some time now to reflect on the moments in your life when you have felt happiest? What warms you when you think of it now?
If your own list is anything like mine, you will find value in simple pleasures which don’t cost the earth (metaphorically or literally, in terms of their environmental impacts). And yet we invest a greater proportion of our time and energy in the supposedly bigger things, few of which will count for very much when we look back at the end of our lives. Imagine you are on your death bed, looking back over your life. How would you have spent your time differently? What would you change from this day on?
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Busyness and a focus on material things tend to keep us living at a superficial level, but there are also inward distractions to be aware of. How can we hear the still small voice when it is drowned out by another voice in our minds which is anything but still? This voice of the ego dwells on guilt over past actions, anxieties about the future, and judgements about other people and ourselves. It separates us from others and stops us experiencing the peace and joy that is our birthright.
Before we can begin to set this mental clutter aside, we first need to recognise it is there. Once we are aware of it, we can come to appreciate that it does not serve us; that it is not Who we are.
Simplicity is about stripping away what isn’t essential to make room for what is. Put another way, it is about letting go of our identification with the ego and allowing our true essence or nature – that of God in us – to shine through.
• What is distracting you from your main goal? What may be preventing you from “loving the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37-39)?
• List your current commitments, including any volunteering you do, responsibilities you have taken on, and activities you choose to do in your free time. Then, go through your list and ask yourself: ‘When I do this activity, how do I feel? Do I do it lovingly, giving it my full attention, or do I sometimes resent the call it places on my time? Do I feel enthusiastic about it? Does it make me come alive? Or am I bored by it? Am I at peace when I do this activity?’
• You might do this exercise with your partner or a friend. Invite them to share with you about one activity that they have taken on more through a sense of obligation than as a result of feeling a genuine calling. Then ask them to tell you about another task they are involved in and which they are enthusiastic about. Observe the other person as you listen to them. Do you notice a contrast in how animated they appear as they speak about each task? Then swap roles and ask them to observe you as you speak.
• If it doesn’t matter so much what we do, but rather how we do it – our state of being – then the question to ask ourselves is not, ‘What should we do?’ but rather, ‘What can we do lovingly?’ Or better still, ‘How can we share our love?’ That, after all, is how we create the kingdom of heaven. Spend some time reflecting on ways in which you can share the Love that you are.
• List your current goals, big and small. What are you working towards or saving up for? What places would you like to visit? What activities would you like to try? Now, reflecting on each goal, ask yourself, ‘Would I rather achieve this goal or be happy?’ Consider the cost of each goal, in terms of the time, energy and money you need to invest to attain it. Is it worth this cost?
• It has been said, ‘that person is rich who knows he has enough’. Make a list of twenty things (material or otherwise) that you are grateful for. For the next week at least, at the end of each day, add three new things – it doesn’t matter how ‘big’ or ‘small’ they are. When you’re feeling down, ponder on your list. If you feel tempted to acquire something that you don’t really need, consider whether you would be prepared to give up one of the things on your list in order to have it.