Our Discovery of Simple Living

Voluntary simplicity is a way of life that is gaining popularity. Our introduction to the concept began during our first visits to WL. It was astounding to learn that we could survive overnight without electricity, or even a week without refrigeration. Soon, we not only learned to survive but we thrived on it - the sound of birds and frogs instead of noisy electrical appliances (just listen to your refrigerator!) and traffic. We also felt the euphoria and satisfaction of being independent.

A week or two without television inspired us to cut the cable; it was then a small step to rid ourselves entirely of television. That was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. Within a few weeks, I started to notice the non-stop marketing to which we're exposed. When the TV is on most of the time, marketing becomes part of the everyday surroundings - and there are branches of psychology that provide corporations with techniques to influence non-conscious consumer behavior. That's why video is full of priming events - ideally these are seemingly unnoticed by a consumer. But the non-conscious mind is storing these events away for retrieval in, say, Wal-Mart. 

Does this sound conspiratorial? NY University and others offer advanced degrees in Consumer Psychology. NYU's program "explores the social and cognitive factors that influence consumers’ purchasing behavior". The research in this area uses state of the art technology (for instance, functional neuroimaging - PET and fMRI scans) to get you to buy stuff. This is a well-funded (by corporations...) branch of Social Psychology. It seems unethical to 'prime' someone's subconscious with urges to buy things they don't need (or candidates who have opposing values) - but that essentially is a definition of advertising.

Once we began eliminating our exposure to the incessant marketing and realized how much we can live (happily!) without, a new world opened up. This is the world of simple living, the rejection of consumerism and materialism, and it's a giant step towards happiness.