For us, simple living isn't easy

RALEIGH -- Ever noticed how curiously difficult it is to slow down?

To sit still? To eat simple and healthy food, leave work at work and maybe even read a book?

In short, have you noticed how hard it is to live simply?

Wanda Urbanska has, too, and has made it her line of work to explore this modern paradox. In her new book, "The Heart of Simple Living: 7 Paths to a Better Life," Urbanska attempts to break down the issue and provide a lifestyle overhaul manual that's friendly, funny and - yes, simple.

Former producer and host of the PBS TV series "Simple Living," Urbanska has written or co-written eight books on and around the subject that's often called sustainable living. Think recycling, buying local products, reducing energy consumption - this sort of thing.

Urbanska's book focuses less on the macroecological aspects of sustainability than the individual benefits - practical, domestic, financial and spiritual - of simple living.

A resident of Mount Airy since 2002, Urbanska is moving this month to Raleigh, where she's working with the nonprofit affordable housing initiative Builders of Hope. She spoke recently from the Builders of Hope offices.

Q: Your book addresses a question I think a lot of us have asked: Why is the seemingly easy choice to slow down and live simply so ridiculously hard?

Well, first off, I think it's because the commercial forces in society are pushing in the other direction. Consumerism is urging people to buy products at every turn, and we have to work all the time to support this. I think America has been on this big, long binge of consumerism - this concept "that more is more" - until we've reached kind of a breaking point. It's not affordable, it's not sustainable, and our lives have become choked with things.

Q: So a lot of the problem is just - too much stuff?

Right. Things are spilling out of everywhere - attics, basements, storage rooms. It's more than you can thoughtfully own or even keep up with. The good news, in my view, is that since the recent recession we have reached a tipping point and made a major turn. I think we're making changes now rapidly, and that's been relatively unheralded in the press.

Americans have been saving more lately. Which is shocking, really, because in an economic downturn you'd think people would be extending their lines of credit and dipping into savings.

I have some statistics in the book. For example, in 2006, for every $100 Americans under the age of 35 earned, they spent $117. In the first half of 2009, for the first time in years, they were saving about $5 for every $100.

I personally believe that the American citizen is realizing there isn't going to be a personal bailout for you. So you've got to start making purchasing decisions that make sense.

Q: The book also addresses social aspects of simple living, like establishing family time and getting to know your neighbors.

Because of the overwork phenomenon, we are getting more and more isolated from one another. The electronic age has fueled this as well. We're spending a lot more time peering into computer screens.

It's about slowing down, really. Taking time out to engage with people as opposed to this rush-rush frantic lifestyle where everybody's running late, everybody's anxious all the time. I think it contributes to poor health.

Another thing that simplicity advocates are doing is working toward increased vacation time in America. America is the only first-world nation that has no laws mandating vacation. Time off has been proven to be important and restorative to your health and family life.

Q: You also stress the idea of rituals. What does that mean to you, in terms of simple living?

Part of it is people can really benefit from personal rituals, daily rituals, just really small things. What is your waking-up-in-the-morning ritual? That can color your whole day. Do you want to leave your house in order when you leave? Do you make your bed?

And food rituals - we've really gotten away from that. Breaking bread together has long been a ritual that has sustained human beings. That's fallen away. We eat in the car, or just standing up in the kitchen, shoveling it in.

My experience is it feels better to make that time and space for meals. No TV, no text messaging. When you're eating, eat. Multitasking is an enemy of simplicity. It's been a kind of long process. I've always been interested in environmental issues, since childhood. I remember as a girl thinking: Where does all of this garbage go?