Callies: How would you define "Choosing Simplicity"?

Pierce: "Choosing," of course, implies a voluntary component to the simplicity lifestyle. No one should confuse Voluntary Simplicity with involuntary poverty. However, voluntary simplicity does call on a person to live more lightly with fewer distractions. It's about focusing on what we truly need or genuinely cherish, not only with respect to our material possessions, but also in our work, our relationships, and our leisure.

Callies: What effect did your 1968 trip to Senegal have on your worldview? Was that trip the beginning of your eventual journey to simplicity?

Pierce: I didn't know it at the time, but the three months I spent living in a Senegalese bush village would have a profound impact on my life. I experienced a community of people who worked hard, but always with plenty of laughter and singing. These people were dirt poor by western standards, with no running water, electricity or any other modern convenience. Yet, they displayed tremendous joy in their lives, with their keen senses of humor and their proclivity for dancing and drumming till the wee hours of the morning. I learned a powerful lesson that would continue to impress me for decades to come: happiness is not dependent on material wealth.

And it was this lesson that eventually led me to question the American Dream -- a dream of gaining as much money, power, and status as humanly possible. Yes, I feel there is a strong connection between my Senegalese experience and my eventual attraction to a simpler lifestyle.

Callies: What was the turning point in your life that led you down your current path to simplicity?

Pierce: I had achieved the so-called American Dream to a large extent by my late thirties. My husband and I lived in Los Angeles, where I practiced law. I earned a six-figure income and enjoyed the expensive clothes and vacations that my salary afforded. I was respected in my profession. But after ten years of practicing law, I started to question everything. What kind of contribution was I making to society? How would I feel at retirement looking back on my career? After considerable soul searching and journal writing, I concluded that I did not want to spend the next 30 years of my life helping people fight each other.

It was this realization that led me to simplify my life and downscale our living expenses. With downscaling, I could work in areas that would offer me greater fulfillment and purpose, albeit at a considerably lower income. Writing and speaking about simplicity are now my passions and my work. Fortunately, my husband shares similar values and has been a willing partner on our journey to simplicity.

Callies: Why did you decide to create your own study and write a book about it?

Pierce: I'm sure you've heard the statement that a teacher always teaches that which he needs to learn. When I first became acquainted with voluntary simplicity, I read every simplicity book I could find. I read books that told me why I should simplify and how to simplify, but I found very few stories about people who had actually done it. So, I decided to find out what simplicity really looked like in our modern world. I conducted a three-year study (The Pierce Simplicity Study) of over 200 people from 40 states and eight countries. I share their stories in my book, Choosing Simplicity.

Callies: How did you find the participants for your simplicity study? Which of their many stories inspired you the most? Which story surprised you the most?

Pierce: To launch my study I set up a web site on which I posted a survey, inviting all those who had experimented with simplifying their lives to respond. It was an open-ended, comprehensive survey, covering many aspects of a person's life, including work, relationships, spirituality, leisure, environmental concerns, money, housing, and transportation.

This simplicity study was by far the most enjoyable work I have ever done. The study participants live such creative, diverse, and interesting lives. They exhibited a great deal of passion and joy even though many of them were living on less than what the average American would consider ideal.

It's difficult to pick one story that inspired or surprised me the most. But I will tell you a few stories that really impressed me. One is the story of Melissa Reid in Chapter 9, "Starting Out Simply," of my book. Melissa lived at home during college and worked part-time. A scholarship paid for her tuition and she was able to save up enough money for a down payment on a house from her part-time earnings. She bought a 700 square-foot home on graduating from college, took a job as a research assistant, and paid off her mortgage in four years. She then built up a small nest egg and at age 30 Melissa became financially independent! At the time I interviewed her, Melissa had just quit her job. Her expenses are quite minimal because her house is mortgage free and her transportation of choice is a bicycle. She can now choose to work or not, for compensation or as a volunteer. I was very impressed with Melissa's story -- what she did was quite remarkable and yet very simple.

One story that really surprised me was that of Jill Osborne. Jill is a single mother of two children. She and her former husband had once lived in the country, building their own home and barely scraping by on a home business of making children's clothes out of natural fibers. For Jill, simplification meant getting back into the mainstream. She moved to a small college town in the Pacific Northwest, took a 30-hour/week job and rides her bicycle to work. She has health insurance benefits, no money worries and her children are able to be a lot more independent in a small town. Her ex-husband lives nearby and is very involved with the children.

There are many myths about simple living and one of them is that you need to live in the country, grow your own food, and chop wood for fuel. What I learned from my study is that each person and family must create the ideal lifestyle for them, one that has just the right balance between material comforts (typically requiring money) and freedom (typically requiring freedom from earning money).

Callies: What are some common threads among the stories?

Pierce: It was interesting to look at what processes or events led people to adopt a simpler lifestyle. There were a number of people who chose simplicity after experiencing a serious illness or death of a loved one. We know that these events often get people to stop, think, and take stock of their lives. Other people decided to live more simply so that they could spend more time raising their children. But I think the presence of stress and lack of time were the dominant motivating factors that led people to simplicity.

It was also interesting to note the changes people experienced after they started to simplify their lives. The majority reported an enhanced spirituality, greater love of nature, increased commitment to preserving the earth's resources, improved relationships, and greater satisfaction in their work lives.

Callies: What are some common myths or illusions about voluntary simplicity (for example, confusing simple living with laziness or deprivation)?

Pierce: Years ago, I remember reading a newspaper article about voluntary simplicity that featured people spending the afternoon in a Seattle coffee house, seemingly free from not only work but also the normal stresses of our modern lives. The point of view of the article was that simplicity was for people who didn't want to work.

Having studied the lives of many simplifiers, I can count on one hand the number of them who don't want to work. Simplicity is not an anti-work movement. Rather, one of its purposes is to provide the opportunity to do work that is meaningful and enjoyable. The philosophy of voluntary simplicity views work as an essential, positive part of the human experience, but not the exclusive focus of one's energies. So, you find that people who simplify often cut back on their work hours, working maybe 20 to 30 hours a week and leaving time for other essential aspects of the human experience, such as relationships, spirituality, and spending time in nature.

Sometimes people mistakenly associate simplicity with poverty. It's not about doing without; rather it's about having enough. It's about figuring out what material level is enough for you, and this will vary from person to person. Inevitably, people who simplify discover that we don't need as much materially as our American culture would have us believe in order to be happy. They discover that there is a huge cost to excessive materialism, not only in terms of money, but also in time and energy expenditures.

Another myth is that simple living is the same thing as easy living -- perhaps perpetuated by media articles focusing on people sitting in coffee houses all afternoon. It's generally not that easy to simplify your life. It takes time -- often three to five years -- to make basic changes to the infrastructure of your life. And it is most certainly a learning process. You need to figure out what a high quality life would look like for you and your family. This takes experimentation and patience.

Callies: Why are "false starts" common among those choosing simplicity? How can they be avoided?

Pierce: When you think about it, people who simplify are going against the grain, against mainstream values. They are choosing values that do not idealize money, power and status. It's true that money, power and status sometimes evolve from a simpler lifestyle, but these values are not worshipped. Being wealthy per se is not taboo in simplicity circles. It's more a question of what you have to do to get your wealth and what you do with it once you have it.

People choosing simplicity have few cultural role models to follow. They must carve out their own paths. And this is why false starts -- for example, changing a job or moving to a new location that does not work out -- are not that uncommon. And there is probably no way to totally avoid them. I don't view them as mistakes in life but rather learning opportunities. Even so, to make your learning curve less disruptive, it is best to approach simplicity by taking small steps over a gradual period of time.

Callies: You recommend daily journal writing as a way to gain insight into one's hopes, dreams and values. How can this enhance the journey to simple living?

Pierce: I often say that simplicity is an inside job. Simplicity requires each person and family to envision and create a unique, high quality life. Journal writing is an excellent tool for some to envision that life. It's a way of going inside, seeing what's there, what makes our hearts sing. Other useful practices are meditation and prayer or walking in nature. Basically, we should strive to spend at least 30 minutes a day in silence and solitude, choosing a practice that works for us. Sitting on the porch by yourself listening to the birds sing qualifies (so long as you are not also listening to loud traffic noises).

Callies: Does a healthy respect for the environment come from simple living? Or did most of the study participants already have a concern for environmental issues?

Pierce: Living simply definitely engenders a greater sensitivity and concern for the environment. Eighty-two percent of the study participants have a moderate to strong interest in preserving the earth's resources. Many did not come to simplicity with this value. However, when a person engages in the process of determining what he needs and doesn't need in his own life, he becomes aware of the vast material waste in our culture. That awareness leads to compassion for the earth and for others who truly don't have enough on a material level.

Callies: Among those you interviewed, you also noticed a low level of participation in "traditional" community organizations. How are converts to simple living finding their sense of community in the larger world? What is the role of "community currency" in simple living?

Pierce: People who live simply find a strong sense of community among their family and friends. While they may not attend their local PTA meetings, they will help their neighbor plant a garden, baby-sit for a friend, or engage in informal barter arrangements. One person in my study exchanged farm produce for the services of a midwife. Their sense of community is more direct, more personal. Many people are tired of organizational politics, even in nonprofit organizations.

Callies: With 70-80 million Baby Boomers addicted to work and material possessions, how do we detach from worrying about saving for our old age, especially since Social Security may not be available for our generation in our later years?

Pierce: This is a real challenge. It is one that my husband and I struggle with. My husband is very concerned about having sufficient retirement funds while I feel more confident that we will have enough. There are a number of issues here. First, how well can we predict what our material needs will be? If we detach ourselves from our material obsessions, we will need less money to live on, without feeling deprived. The whole subject of inflation is a tough one. Not all living expenses go up at the same rate. If you buy used furniture, the fact that new furniture increases in price is less relevant. Many of our expenses (for example, a second car) may be totally unnecessary in retirement. And we will have choices and some flexibility in our retirement years. For example, we can downsize to a less expensive home.

We worship the idea of retirement in this country. We can hardly wait. Often it's because our jobs are exhausting, stressful, and not that fulfilling. But imagine a country of people working 20 to 30 hours a week doing work that they love. Chances are they will not be too eager to retire at age 65, but will want to continue to work well past retirement age. But again, it's difficult to predict how long you will be able and interested in working.

Resolving retirement concerns involves a balancing act between the present and future. You can work yourself to the bone now to save up that astronomical number that financial planners say you need for retirement. But then again you may never make it. If you were to die tomorrow, would you feel good about how you have spent your life? Or are you living entirely for the future?

On the other hand, even if social security does survive, the payouts are not sufficient to live very comfortably in most parts of the country. It is my bias that retirement planning is important. For me, it's a process of taking a long, hard look at your current expenses, making educated guesses about your future needs, and investing enough to produce the nest egg that will meet those needs.

Callies: You often mention the importance of finding one's own path to simplicity, and that it isn't easy. How did you find your own path to inner peace and fulfillment?

Pierce: Now that was a long, tortuous route! My own journey actually took 10 years and of course it continues. It started with discomfort about my law career, which led to a few false starts into the fields of computer consulting and real estate sales before I found my home in writing and speaking. The only way I learned about what would fulfill me was to try things until I found one that worked!

Once I started the process of listening to myself, observing my reactions to life and people, I discovered other things about myself. I learned that I hated living in a large, urban city and craved a smaller environment with more natural beauty. Eventually, my husband and I moved from Los Angeles to a small coastal town in California.

I gradually learned that my self-worth had nothing to do with the clothes I wore or the car I drove. (I feel that my 1986 Toyota Celica is truly a luxury in that it represents a second car for our two-person family and gives me enormous freedom, yet many people would be embarrassed to drive it!)

Once I had reduced my working hours and had time to walk, run, and hike in the beautiful area in which I live, I discovered that my connection to nature is a vital part of my life. I feel more "spiritual" hiking the Big Sur mountains than I ever did in church.

I would have to say that it was slowing down the pace of my life, and having the time to write in my journal, meditate and walk in nature that led to my developing a sense of inner peace and fulfillment in my life. I have always believed that we have the answers to life inside us. It's just a matter of turning down the outside volume enough to hear them.

Callies: Who or what has influenced you the most in your life? (Family, friends, mentors, authors, historical figures?) When you were a young woman visiting Senegal could you have imagined the interesting twists and turns your life would take?

Pierce: I think my parents influenced me the most. Material wealth, status, and power were never revered in our family. I was taught to value honesty, fairness, and consideration of others. My parents' greatest wish for their eight children was that they be personally fulfilled and happy in their lives. I don't think they were any more proud of me for becoming a lawyer than they were of my sister who at that time was interested in becoming a car mechanic.

Marsha Sinetar's book, Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics, published in 1986, had a profound impact on me on several levels. It featured real life people who were living lives of voluntary simplicity, although the author did not describe them as such. I was moved by the richness of their lives. Also, when I read this book, I said to myself, "This is what I would most like to do in life -- write a book about real people who are living inspirational lives."

I've already mentioned how my experience in Senegal impacted me. Other experiences of traveling in foreign countries also had a significant influence on me. I spent three months traveling the South Pacific one year and another few months living on the Galapagos islands. Experiencing non-Western countries gave me the perspective that the American way of life is not the only way to live, nor necessarily the best way.

Callies: You believe that Americans should take 3-4 month breaks every few years to live in another place, preferably a foreign country. What do you think would happen in our culture if we were all able to do that?

Pierce: Our culture would be totally transformed. As individuals, we would learn on an experiential level that happiness is not tied to material wealth, power and status. We would see that we North Americans produce, consume and waste so much more than our fair share of the earth's resources. We could not help but develop compassion for those who truly do not have enough. We would experience the joy and vitality of cultures who find meaning in community and in cultivating the gardens of the soul -- spirituality, art, the pursuits of the mind. We just might learn to laugh and sing ourselves.

Callies: You also recommend limiting work outside the home to 30 hours a week (20 for parents). Have you managed to do that with your career as a writer and speaker?

Pierce: I'm delighted to report that I have been able to maintain a part-time schedule. Generally, I work about 25 hours a week, sometimes far less and rarely but occasionally more.

Callies: When you give speeches and workshops about choosing simplicity, is there any one demographic that seems most receptive to these ideals? Is there any one area of the country (or the "industrialized" world) that also seems most receptive to adopting simplicity?

Pierce: I was surprised to discover that 73% of the study participants had at least a college degree and more than half of them had done some postgraduate work. And I have also found that university audiences are quite enthusiastic about this philosophy of life. But such enthusiasm is by no means the province of younger people. The baby boomers are now in middle age, a traditional time for evaluating one's life. Many of them are attracted to simplicity to bring more meaning into their lives.

It was also interesting to note that the study participants were not for the most part people such as myself -- people who had once earned substantial incomes, saved up a small nest egg, and now wanted to downscale. The vast majority did not have significant savings but still found ways to live enriching lives on less than what we all think we need.

If I were to generalize, I would say that Europeans are more receptive than Americans to the concepts of simplicity. They have not gone crazy for material wealth, status and power like we have. Their per capita level of consumption is far lower than in our country.

Callies: What are the most interesting lessons you've learned as a writer and speaker on simplicity issues?

Pierce: Life is a process, a journey. There are no right paths. There is no room in voluntary simplicity to be judgmental of others. Those of us who live simply do so because of the joy and meaning it brings to our lives. We would love others to discover the richness of this way of life, but we do not feel in any way superior to those who don't.

Callies: Your resource guide at the end of the book offers a wealth of information on the topic. Which ones were the most helpful to you as you were beginning to learn about voluntary simplicity?

Pierce: The Simple Living Network is the most comprehensive site on voluntary simplicity. It has been around for years and is an excellent introduction for the person interested in simplicity. Another great web site is the Center for the New American Dream.

The two most helpful books to me were Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin and Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book, Gift from the Sea, is very inspiring and beautifully written.