You may be certified simple - in a good way - if you engage in a variety of actions that establish your credentials as a serious simplitista.
This certification honours a lifestyle that values simplicity, sustainability, and mindfulness.
For example, if you would rather stick needles in your eyes than go shopping, you may be certifiably simple.
Other signs to watch out for are if you
- grow some of your own food,
- have a composting system,
- have fewer possessions as the years go by,
- try to acquire things you need in the following order,
Borrow, barter, rent if applicable, find for free, buy used, buy new on sale, and last resort, buy new full price,
- interrupt a walk to pick up rubber bands and other useful things,
- spend more time in nature than your average bear,
- walk, bike, roll, or use public transportation when possible instead of drive,
- repair and mend clothes,
- make your own cleaning products,
- cook your food from scratch, or
- hope to have your personal possessions down to what can fit in a shoebox by the time you leave this materialistic world,
you may be certifiably simple… in a good way.
A very good way.
Let us know how simplicity manifests in your life in a comment below.
I am certifiably simple. I've never been much of a consumer but I'm even less of one now. I grow a lot of our food or buy from local farmers or markets. I cook from scratch. I have a large pantry with what we regularly eat and use so I avoid high prices and shopping as much as I can. I do need to get a composting system in place. Thanks for that reminder.
ReplyDeleteWe have built a good pantry over the years, and we maintain it like you do - when cooking from scratch it is nice to always have the things you need to make the meals you like. Plus, as you point out, one can save a lot of money by being savvy about purchases.
DeleteComposting is easy and fun. The best composting advice I have ever heard is to compost no matter what - even if all you do is make a pile, cover with soil, and leave it for a while. Even without constant maintenance and doing all the things one is ‘’suppose to’’ do, nature works wonders and eventually nice, useable compost results.
- Gregg
Hi Gregg, I just want to say I read and love all your posts. But I don't always know how to say something... but I feel supported by you in how I live my life and minimalize consumption/consumerism, even though in a city that works out in a different way than for you. Thank you for being a kindred soul.
ReplyDeleteThank you for you kind and supportive comments. We love to read them. Simplicity takes many forms depending on our situation, but we are all joined by a similar desire to make life better through reducing waste and living more closely with the laws of the natural world.
DeleteThose of us that are certified now may seem weird and crazy today, but will be the ones leading the way for everyone else tomorrow as the world tends to bend in the direction of simplicity.
Thanks for reading, and commenting.
- Gregg
I can pass the certified simple test with my eyes closed. (And, as a retired lawyer, I snickered over the meaning of the word "certified" or "certifiable,," putting a legalese spin on them. Yeah, I probably am certifiable to many who look at my lifestyle and scratch their heads.) Good thing though that there is no diploma or certificate to print out: I'd have to skip printing it and wasting the paper!
ReplyDeleteIndeed - if one is not engaged in consumeristic behaviours it must look certifiable to most. To all those acting insane, the sane appear to be insane.
Delete- Gregg