The Simple Life
Over this past summer, I experienced what I like to call "the simple life." I spent my days in a holler, located between foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, in West Virginia, at a place called Nazareth Farm. It was not merely a place I spent my time: I call it home. I woke up with the sun and went to bed every night to thousands of stars only seen by eyes unaffected by light pollution. All of my time in between sunrise and sunset was spent exploring, gardening, doing service, and enjoying the present as I learned about others and myself through the community around me. How was this possible? I rid myself of distractions. In the holler, there was no cell phone reception, internet was only used on the weekends, watching television was not an option, our food came daily from the earth we lived on, water was used sparingly, electricity was only used when necessary, and conversation was rich: we were always grateful for what we had. I finally knew what "the good life" was. The hardest part about living "the good life" was bringing it home with me.
Believe it or not, there are countless advantages to living “the simple life." In a society driven by technology and over-consumption, it may seem pointless to revert to a more simplistic lifestyle. In the posts to follow, I will explain why living a simpler life is important. Yes, living a simpler life can mean giving up modern conveniences, but I will offer tips on how to maintain your lifestyle with a simplistic spin. One of the biggest aspects of living a simpler life is maintaining a sense of sustainability. According to Dictionary.com, to be sustainable means that a system can “maintain its own viability by using techniques that allow for continual reuse.” As a race, we humans have become less inclined to be able to sustain ourselves. Nazareth Farm is a mostly self-sustaining entity. The food grown there is the food eaten; the food not eaten is composted and used to create what they like to call “future vegetables.” Nazareth Farm has a system like this for not only food but also other common aspects of everyday life.
What is Nazareth Farm? Naz is a non-profit, Catholic community that offers service-retreat experiences. Throughout the last year and a half, I have spent 7 weeks at the farm. Five of these weeks were spent in the summer as a long-term volunteer. Throughout my time at Naz, I have learned a lot about how to live “the simple life”…even in the 21stCentury. The things I have learned through my experiences are what I will share with you for the next 11 weeks.
