This is really good helpful information about all aspects of simple living. A lifestyle, really, from winnowing down possessions, to practicing deep breathing regularly to preventing over scheduling. I enjoyed it and will probably purchase it. ( )

I marked this as "read" although I didn't read it all the way through. It would be difficult to do so, I think, since it's so incredibly full of information and suggestions. Instead, I skipped through, reading a bit here and a bit there and focussing my attention closely on those areas of particular interest to me (and then just picked today to say that I was, effectively, done).

While there’s more information in this book than one can really use, that's kind of the point. Luhrs presents snapshots of people engaged in the practice of voluntary simplicity as a way to give the reader ideas for his or her own life. There's no way anyone could do everything in this book, nor should they try.

This isn’t a typical “here’s how to live simply” book that flippantly presents just one way of living simply and leaves out the internal process that precedes the external changes involved in living simply. Rather, it says something more along the lines of, “Here’s the philosophy. Here’s what some people have done to live that philosophy. Maybe something here will work for you.” Identifying one’s values and discovering ways to live them is a very personal and often very difficult process, and while I, too, find the scope of information in the book overwhelming, I appreciate that Luhrs isn’t just giving the same old, “It’s simple, Stupid,” suggestions that shoot down would-be practitioners of voluntary simplicity for not doing it the one “right” way rather than inspiring them to find their own path.

With each suggestion (and I use the term loosely), Luhrs refers back to the philosophy, which is basically to identify your values and align your life with them. For example, in the section about Families, she talks about chores and allowance. She explains that before you decide what to do about chores and allowance, you need to determine what your motivation is. If you want to use chores and allowance to teach your children about money management, you'll handle things one way, If you want to use them to teach the value of work, you'll handle things a different way. She explains that both are valuable lessons, and that it's each parent's decision which lesson they're hoping to teach. She then gives examples of how real families have done things to meet each motivation. In the end, my husband and I decided to do something different from any of the things she suggests, but the ideas got us thinking and got us into a conversation that we'd been avoiding. Our families of origin handled money very differently, and we've been stymied about the best way to teach our daughter the lessons we've acquired over the years. When we're stymied, our natural tendency to procrastinate takes over. Luhrs' suggestions got us over that hurdle, and that's fairly impressive.

So, good (albeit slightly dated) suggestions, love the focus on the philosophy. If you've started doing the inner work of identifying your values and want to read about how other people are living similar values, this is a decent place to start. You can't follow this book from cover to cover and find yourself living simply. Luhrs offers you the tools, and you need to choose which are appropriate for living the values you want to live. ( )

Det här är en tankeväckande men även praktisk guide till hur man kan få ett bättre liv genom frivillig enkelhet. Fokus ligger på att vara medveten i vardagen och att göra medvetna livsval. Boken tar upp ämnen som pengar, bostad, arbete, hälsa,mat och resor utifrån både filosofiska resonemang och berättelser ur verkligheten. ( )

This book was pretty solid, although somewhat repetitive and simple. As always, it was a bit lacking on the more actionable content that I am looking for. It did have some great resources listed in an annotated bibliography style that could serve as a useful reference. In general, I think the book would serve well as a starting point if I am looking to embark on some changes in some area of my life, or trying to figure what to change. ( )

I seem to come back to this book every six months, and each time I read it I find a new idea that helps me in my attempt to simplify and calm my life. Luhrs brings together many of the strands of the modern 'voluntary simplicity' movement, stressing that simplicity is as much about concious decisions as it is about giving up things, if not more so; and that it is as much about gaining as it is about letting things go. Each chapter has a list of further sources which are very interesting if you are interested in voluntary simplicity, or simply want to learn more about a certain aspect covered in the book, such as housing, gardening or work. ( )