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Thread: Voluntary Simplicity classes start tonight!

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    Senior Member Ultralight's Avatar
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    Voluntary Simplicity classes start tonight!

    I am coordinating two North West Earth Institute courses on Voluntary Simplicity this winter. The classes are 6 weeks with one meeting each week. The meetings usually last an hour and a half. The courses are self-directed and in the old "consciousness raising" style where everyone sits in a circle and talks and listens.

    http://www.nwei.org/discussion-cours...ry-simplicity/

    I have 12 people signed up for the Wednesdays class and 13 signed up for the Sundays class. I had to turn people away! Apparently there are more people interested in living simply than I thought!

    The first class is tonight. We're going to do introductions and a couple ice breakers, like the 10 for 10 Simple Living Test.

    Simple living community in real life.

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by UltraliteAngler View Post
    I am coordinating two North West Earth Institute courses on Voluntary Simplicity this winter. The classes are 6 weeks with one meeting each week. The meetings usually last an hour and a half. The courses are self-directed and in the old "consciousness raising" style where everyone sits in a circle and talks and listens.

    http://www.nwei.org/discussion-cours...ry-simplicity/

    I have 12 people signed up for the Wednesdays class and 13 signed up for the Sundays class. I had to turn people away! Apparently there are more people interested in living simply than I thought!

    The first class is tonight. We're going to do introductions and a couple ice breakers, like the 10 for 10 Simple Living Test.

    Simple living community in real life.
    hope this goes well! I hope you are left with participants at the end of the course. People will drop out, but if you end up with a small group who is highly interested, thats better than 12 who just want to get their finances in order.

    Thats what a majority of people may be expecting--information about personal finance. Thats usually the second biggest focus at the beginning of a new year, the first being weight control.

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    I just skimmed the NWei book's table of content. I have to say that is a limiting point of view. Earth sustainability seems to be the overarching principleo, which by definition is a "this is good for us, something we should do" rather than "this is fun and leads to a rich, self actualized life."

    But good luck. presumably these people have reviewed the content of the course, and you can always go off on tangents about why simple living is personally rewading..

    Be sure to send them here and to the MMM site as well.

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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    hope this goes well! I hope you are left with participants at the end of the course. People will drop out, but if you end up with a small group who is highly interested, thats better than 12 who just want to get their finances in order.

    Thats what a majority of people may be expecting--information about personal finance. Thats usually the second biggest focus at the beginning of a new year, the first being weight control.
    I have taken 4 other courses from the NWEI, including the Voluntary Simplicity class. There is usually like a 10% drop-out rate.

    But it is not that serious of a course. Basically we just read a few articles in the class book about Voluntary Simplicity. Then we come to class and discuss them and the issues they highlight. At the end of each class session we pick some task do to -- clean out the closet or whatever. It is always something small that can be done in a week or less.

    These classes are more about finding people who are like-minded already than converting anyone.

    I still hang out with almost everyone from the classes I took previously -- we do potlucks, wine tastings (I give my wine to the lushes, haha), or other social events.

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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    I just skimmed the NWei book's table of content. I have to say that is a limiting point of view. Earth sustainability seems to be the overarching principleo, which by definition is a "this is good for us, something we should do" rather than "this is fun and leads to a rich, self actualized life."

    But good luck. presumably these people have reviewed the content of the course, and you can always go off on tangents about why simple living is personally rewading..

    Be sure to send them here and to the MMM site as well.
    Oh yeah, it is for super-leftists.

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    Good luck. I tried to take that class. Everybody else who showed up was at least ten years older than I was and wanted to know where they could recycle (blank). I was a drop out - I looked at the group and what I was getting out of it and decided to simplify my life by not driving 45 minutes every week. Still have the book though. (Of course)

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    I think it's great you took this on and can share your wisdom with like-minded people. I have to google the Ten for Ten test.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chicken lady View Post
    Good luck. I tried to take that class. Everybody else who showed up was at least ten years older than I was and wanted to know where they could recycle (blank). I was a drop out - I looked at the group and what I was getting out of it and decided to simplify my life by not driving 45 minutes every week. Still have the book though. (Of course)
    Every class's demographics are different but it tends to (historically, apparently) attract people 60+ years old. So... I did the recruiting myself and have people from age 20 to 70, lots of folks are in the 30 to 50 range though. I brought in some people from the minimalist crew, the atheist crew, and a couple other similar groups. Then people who were in the class told their friends who they thought would be interested too.

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    Quote Originally Posted by freshstart View Post
    I think it's great you took this on and can share your wisdom with like-minded people. I have to google the Ten for Ten test.
    I am actually just coordinating it -- recruiting the people, securing the location, getting free parking, and so forth. I will attend the classes and orient people to the NWEI class style and protocols. But I am going to hold my tongue for the most part. The class is more about self-discovery and exploration than my "wisdom!" haha

    Thanks though, I mean it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by freshstart View Post
    I think it's great you took this on and can share your wisdom with like-minded people. I have to google the Ten for Ten test.
    I posted about the Ten for Ten Test on here before.

    One column: List the most expensive material possessions you currently own that you bought. You can be currently paying for them or they can be paid off, either way. These are usually things like houses or cars. Non-physical things, like a college education don't count.

    Second column: List the ten things that are most important to you and/or add the most value to your life. These can be physical things (like a house or car). They can also be non-physical things, like your Religion or your jogging hobby. These can be pets or siblings or a park you often visit -- anything!


    When you have honestly, genuinely listed both sets of ten compare the two columns. Do the most expensive things serve the more important things? Do the most expensive things take away from the most important things? If you got rid of something expensive, could you spend more time on something that is more important/adds more value from the second column?

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