I often wonder what simple living entails. We look back with fondness on how our grandparents, and other distant relatives lived, thinking they had a simple life. But did they really?
I can't see myself trying to cook on one of the old wood stoves that they used. Having to make sure they had enough wood chopped or coal stored for a frigid winter here in Canada.
Using oil lanterns to light my home and breathing in all the smoke that could be given off would not be good for ones health. Candles, while lovely do not give off enough light.
I knit, sew, weave, embroider and make quilts for pleasure. I can not see me having to do so in order to be dressed and warm.
Washing clothes by hand in the winter would be tedious to say the least and take many days to dry.
The definition that I found online states:
Simple living is about getting rid of the excess and focusing on what matters most. Simplifying is making an intentional choice to minimize stuff so that you have more time to spend on things that are meaningful to you.
Now that is something I can get behind. It is however hard to minimize "stuff" and still be frugal. I am always afraid that if I get rid of something, I will find I need it in a few months. I do rid my home of those items that are broken, unusable, or which are now unnecessary. I do have many appliances, but those make meal prep much easier. Or, as has happened numerous times my oven breaks down.
Do I need 5 sewing machines? Probably not, but one belonged to my mother, 2 are regular machines and when one needs to be cleaned I use the other, one is a serger, and one I use for embroidery work (plan to use this one a bit more this year to make some lap quilts and add some pop to a few of my sewing ideas).
I did remove many books a few years ago, and now just collect them on my ereader. Most of which are free. There are a few cookbooks that can be removed as well, once I copy the few recipes I use from them.
There are a few too many baking pans so I need to go through them once again. I am not like my mother-in-law who would bake 7 pies a day (the most I ever did was 4, and that was for a birthday at the school), so pretty sure I could remove a couple of those from the closet.
Really, nothing I own causes me to not do things I enjoy and are meaningful to me. I do need to downsize if we ever move to a smaller place, and have storage limitations. Yet, I do have some simple storage ideas that could help with my hobby stuff. Most of which I already have.
I am beginning to think I might have made living a simple life much more complicated than it needs to be.
What are your ideas about simple living?
Everybody have a wonderful evening.
God bless.
I agree that our ancestors didn’t have it easier. One grandmother cooked on a wood stove and was always burning things. A great-grandmother had a hand water pump in the kitchen and an outhouse. My parents had a wringer washing machine when I was old enough to help wring put the washed clothes and hang them. I’m 75 so in the scope of lives not that long ago.
ReplyDeleteI do like the definition you show and think that in our material over abundance as a society it will make life simpler.
I agree with the definition of simple living. I’m always trying to simplify my life and my home. Simple living is also a state of mind. Being happy and content - not keeping up with others.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that much about living back then was simple....it was a full-time job. Of course few women went out to work in those times and homemaking was considered to be their 'job'. Having said that, I'm constantly trying to simplify my life, mostly when it comes to 'stuff'. After several years of concentrating on using my stash (only buying what I ran out of or needed to make gifts) I can't see an appreciable difference in my stash. It's hard to understand when I've been concentrating on using it up.
ReplyDeleteI agree that simple living was harder in our grandparents generation. If I worked that hard during the day I would sleep sound at night from exhaustion. Simple living today to me is doing without a lot of extras because I realize I just don’t need them. I don’t need the latest fashion, gadget, car, or latest thing on TikTok. I like my simple life and have no plans to change it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think our ancestors really had simple lives - they worked their bums off. It wasn't easy. No they didn't have a lot of stuff - but simple - no.
ReplyDelete"Simple living is about getting rid of the excess and focusing on what matters most. Simplifying is making an intentional choice to minimize stuff so that you have more time to spend on things that are meaningful to you."
I love your statement.
Downsizing from a house to an rv, pretty simple living because we don't have room for impractical stuff.
ReplyDeleteI use the 'if it's useful or you love it, keep it' which works for me, we often pop undecided items into the garage on a shelf, for a few months to see if we miss it, that way we have a buffer time. My mother worked far harder that I ever have in the home.
ReplyDeleteI think as technology marches on it becomes increasingly difficult to live a simple life. I don't have gadgets like a microwave or coffee maker, but just buying a replacement washing machine or cooker becomes difficult when everything comes with bells and whistles i.e. more bits to go wrong! My attempts to live a simple life concentrate on using up and making the most of what I have and not constantly buying new stuff. It also means not rushing around constantly going to events/dining out etc. When things like that do take place they are a real treat and I really appreciate them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Debby that simple living is a state of mind. It's not craving every new thing that comes out, not wanting a new phone every year, or a new i pad or the latest fancy car. It means being content with what you have yet making the most of everything. The older I get the less 'stuff' I want. I can understand why you keep your sewing machines, Jackie, they mean something special to you.
ReplyDeleteAngie x
I think simple living probably means different things to different people. But a common denominator would probably be having less stuff, and a feeling of having time to do only what you want, when you want.
ReplyDeleteMy rental unit is a small park model, likely less than 400 square feet. I could easily live in here (by myself) as the amount of storage is simply astonishing. The owner has a lot of stuff stored in here still, and even with my craft/yarn stash there would be lots of room.
ReplyDeleteI think being retired makes simple living easier because there are only one or two people. It's harder when there are children (more stuff) and working (work clothing, etc.). We can pay more attention to what we are doing/buying and focus on the important things in our lives.
It's been interesting what your readers think of simple living entails too. My mother had to light a fire under the copper to do the weekly wash, and only had a wringer which worked by turning the handle. Watch out for fingers and long hair! I started life as a young Mum with an agitator washing machine, not quite as hard but still needed a lot of attention. Arent we lucky these days with automatic set and forget machines.
ReplyDelete