Radical Lifestyles

Radical lifestyles ahead

Yesterday, part of our influx of simplicity seekers was from theminimalistmom.com who graciously mentioned us in her blog about "living with 2 pairs of jeans, no car, no debt, more time and less stress."

NBA was mentioned in a post about people who are living different lives from the mainstream. People who are spending less, having less, and doing more of what they enjoy.

NBA's description in the post was quite accurate: "Radical living without buying anything except groceries and guitar strings and not selling anything." However, my first thought was, "Radical? Is our lifestyle really that radical?".

But of course, it is.

Canadian's household debt-to-income ratio is 150%. Yes, most of us are spending more than we make. All that money is being borrowed to buy more and more stuff to fill larger and larger houses. This is the norm today, and compared to this state of affairs we do represent a radically different way of living.

We have no debt, and have always enjoyed the freedom of being renters. Our current home is small, and when we need more room we just get rid of stuff. This frees up space - we do not need to 'move up' to acquire more.

We may buy a bit more than guitar strings and groceries, but not much. It feels very natural, but does sound radical when I think about it. But what are the real radical lifestyles on this little planet of ours?

If we were thinking soberly, living a high-impact 5-planet lifestyle would be considered the most radical of all ways of living, and what NBA advocates wouldn't appear as drastic or extreme.

Reaching sustainability will be difficult as long as excessively luxurious lifestyles are seen by society as 'normal' and the standard to which we should all aspire.

The world needs more radicals, more anti-authoritarians, more misfits and malcontents. And yes, theminimalistmom, we include you in this honourable continuum of people daring to live differently.

Such brave folks are needed to show the rest of us that we can overthrow our desires and obtain freedom from ourselves, as well as from those who wish to exploit us.

I don't mind being seen as radical, despite the negative connotations that come with this word in these times of high pressure conformity. I don't mind because I know that radicals create change.

Of course it is all relative, and when put up against the Amish, Linda and I are living a comparatively non-radical, luxurious lifestyle. We may seem radical, but we aren't that radical.

At least, not yet.

How radical are you willing to get in your efforts to simplify your life?