Getting Back to Basics

I added a new website to my reading list the other day: Choosing Voluntary Simplicity . It’s not only a fascinating and inspiring site, full of ideas for developing a more frugal lifestyle and making your life less complicated and more enjoyable, it’s also a source for recipes that I’m itching to try, and for triggering ideas about life, the universe, and just about everything.

It answered one question that’s been rolling around in my head for quite a while: whatever happened to the concept of voluntary simplicity? Its principles are alive and well, of course, and becoming ever more healthy and vigorous as the economy sinks into a pool of quicksand. But the term itself disappeared from the media after a brief run that seemed fueled more by hype and bandwagon boosterism than by a deep commitment to our welfare as residents of the earth.

It also reminded me of an article that I’m still planning to discuss in a future post, about the attempt of one couple to live for a month on a dollar a day for food. One of the details that stuck in my mind was their decision to make their own tortillas, and finding that rolling out the dinner tortillas every evening after a long day’s work was pretty tiring. I admit I laughed when I read that. In trying to live more cheaply they also managed to make their life more complicated and less pleasant.

I could give you the link for “Mix In The Pan” Applesauce Cake, but I’ll let you find it for yourself, while I go add some of the ingredients to my shopping list.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS