One speaker we listened to was Samuel Alexander, the founder of the Life Poets' Simplicity Collective. (I must note, Pete totally called it - he took one look at this chap and said, "he looks like someone who is just going to sit there and read us his manifesto". Which is exactly what he proceeded to do, much to Pete's smugfactor).
In a nutshell -
The Life Poets’ Simplicity Collective is a diverse grass-roots environmental organization dedicated to promoting and celebrating sustainable culture. Our planet needs us to explore alternative ways to live, and one promising way to lessen our impact on nature is to simplify our lives by consuming less and living more. This way of life has come to be known as ‘voluntary simplicity’ (a.k.a. ‘downshifting’ or ‘simple living’) and it is the idea upon which our Collective is based.
He spoke about working less and earning less, but getting more value from life, experiences and memories. It was certainly quite interesting, and I have been really trying to think about the easiest way to extract the most joy from the littlest things - hmm, a rather large subject to ponder and not one for which I have any answers!
Today kicked off my new found zeal to be extremely stingey. To get myself mentally and fiscally prepared for when I go back to uni full time next year, and to get some practice in now while I still have a safety net of income behind me! Me thinks it will take some getting used to, so I'm looking at it more like a transition phase into abject poverty. So when I fall off the wagon and binge on shoes I can just mark it down as experience and move on - cool?
As fate would have it, I received an email from the Life Poets in my inbox today with a few updates and a little quote which was just perfect for what I am trying to bring into my life right now -
‘To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter, to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over bird’s nest or a wild flower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life.’ – John Burroughs
Sweet, no? I decided to revisit the LPSC website this arvo to take a look around and see what I could find to get me motivated and excited about the simple life. Ah ha - here's Samuel's bio:
The Life Poets’ Simplicity Collective was founded by Samuel Alexander, a part-time lecturer and doctoral student at the University of Melbourne Law School and the editor of Voluntary Simplicity: The Poetic Alternative to Consumer Culture (2009). Living simply and happily in a small hut that he built himself using mostly abandoned materials, he spends his time quietly planning, with youthful ambition, the non-violent erasure of consumer culture.
Ok, right-o, well, I'm not sure about the small hut business, but I really like the Burroughs quote so I'm just going to stick with that y'all. Each to their own and everything, right?
PS - total disclaimer here about trying to be conservative with the moola right before my birthday. Rest assured I will be doing my bit this week as a loyal Gen Y and keeping the Australian economy afloat. So no smart alec remarks, thanks!
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