Fifteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Despite capitalism’s assurances that satisfaction, happiness, and purpose will be found in the pursuit of “more”, a growing population is waking up to the realities of an excessively materialistic existence and seeking simpler, more meaningful ways of living. Countering the competitive orientation and scarcity mindset found in consumerist societies at large, the voluntary simplicity lifestyle flips the story to one of abundant, albeit different pleasures than those offered by the work-to-spend cycle (Elgin, 2010). Too often, however, the voluntary simplicity lifestyle is misunderstood as one of sacrifice, regression, poverty, and extremism. Leaning on performance theory and ecopsychology, the purpose of this interdisciplinary work is to help make the voluntary simplicity lifestyle more accessible and appealing to a mainstream audience by focusing on its connections to the “good life”. This in-progress autoethnography is a combination of the researcher’s personal data as a new simplifier, supplemented by additional insights from extensive, in-depth interviews with three experienced simplifiers, all of whom have unique motivations for choosing to live more simply. Although analysis is in its early stages, it is clear that moving beyond social norms for how (1) well-being, prosperity and success are defined, and (2) identity is (re)constructed all play critical roles. Tapping into the opportunities offered by creative (non)fiction arts-based research and public ethnography principles to produce accessible, evocative work, narrative inquiry is being used to collect and analyze stories (“data”). Final representation(s) will be untraditional in form and content, intended for both general and academic audiences: an illustrated fairy tale.