Happiness in life = ?

WARNING – The following message contains hippie and idealistic philosophies that may cause extreme eye-rolling, incredulity and sarcastic comments. It may also highlight the fact the authors are yet another couple of jaded city slickers with a desire for “a simpler way of life” and might be anti-establishment, leftist radicals.

For most of us in today’s modern society, our lives follow a certain pattern. We work stressful 9-5 jobs to pay for our mortgages, car loans, flat screen TVs, fashionable clothing and many other material goods. Our money is also spent on entertainment, such as dinners, movies, bars and vacations. Most people find themselves in debt in order to finance these possessions. In the US, for example, we make more money and are vastly more wealthy that most other nations. Granted, this system provides us with an economic system where even the poorest in our country have more than most. Yet, we still complain that we don’t have enough, that we work too much, and don’t have the time to spend with the people we care about. Why aren’t people satisfied?

What are the basic things needed for people to be happy?

• A place you call home
• Enough food to be healthy and wed-fed
• Family and loved ones to share experiences with
• A way to provide for yourself that is fulfilling

In our society, we go to work and make money as a means to achieve these things, but what if there were another way?

Sharing resources – Only recently have we separated ourselves from each other. We strike out on our own as soon as we’re able, breaking away from family and community in order to focus on individual success. This behavior is encouraged by both our social and economic culture. We look after number one an are told this is the best way provide for ourselves. What if we could spread around the cost of living with other, unburdening ourselves with this solo responsibility? Living together and sharing things like housing, transportation and everyday items would greatly reduce the amount of stuff we would need and work we would have to perform. Additionally, we wouldn’t have to pay for things like childcare and elderly care if we just lived like everyone did a few generations ago. This simple concept would reduce the cost of living enormously, allowing us both work less and enjoy the company of others.

Making it yourself – Our work has become increasingly specialized and now we have to buy everything because we don’t know how to provide for ourselves. Why do we need to work for 30 years in order to have our own house? Essentially, you’re renting it from a bank for half your life until it’s paid off. I do recognize the economic benefit of this system, where by specializing, we can work less and have more. However, that doesn’t mean it’s the best path towards happiness. Within this system, we are encouraged not only to buy what we need, but also all kinds of extra stuff (whether we can afford it or not). If you simplified your life by making everything you needed (home, food, clothes) and cut out the superfluous things, you could get by working much less and being a lot more happy (not even getting into the social and environmental costs of a consumer economy).

We spoke with Pi Jo and Peggy about the evolution of Pun Pun and community living in general . One point struck me in particular: Pi Jo, who was a monk for many years, said, “Community members have certain responsibilities on the farm but I don’t force them to work too much. There is time to be alone with yourself here because only then can you develop as a person.” And it’s true – Even hardened cynics like myself and TD are reevaluating our future and realizing that other possibilities exist. After simplifying our lifestyle (both back home and while traveling), we’ve realized that you don’t need much to be happy. Still, I’m not saying that everyone should go live on a farm, be completely self-sufficient and start a radical community. But I do think people would benefit from taking a step back and deciding what is truly important in their lives.