Why Is Simple Living So Hard in Today's Modern World?

Maybe you’ve been feeling that desire to live a more simple life. You’ve started to notice the weight of the today’s world, and you’ve felt the pull towards making a change. But is it really possible to live a simple life in today’s modern world? Can it be done? I’m going to tell you yes.

is it possible to live a simple life in today's modern world

Oftentimes as people start off on their simple living journeys, they find themselves wondering why it’s so hard to live a simple life in today’s modern world. There are three major factors that make living a simple life in today’s modern world hard: high cost of living, societal norms, and the daily challenges of simple living. Overcoming these obstacles can be challenging, but there are ways to surmount them to create a simple life in today’s world.

What is a simple life?

The term simple can be defined as “easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty”. However, many people are finding that a simple life is anything but simple. Instead, living a simple life requires a lot of mental and physical effort, and that can be a major road block for many seeking to pursue the simple lifestyle.

A second definition for “simple”, which tends to fit better when referring to lifestyle, is “plain, basic, or uncomplicated in form, nature, or design; without much decoration or ornament”. With this definition in mind, we can come to the conclusion that a simple life is a plain life that focuses on meeting physical needs in as basic way as possible. Yet, though it sounds easy enough, actually living simply can be extremely challenging for a number of reasons.

1) High cost of living

A study done by Patriot provides exact numbers of the annual mean wage, median monthly rent, and value of a dollar for all 50 states. I used that data to find out more about the cost of living in the United States so that we could dive into and understand this issue further.

The cost of housing is more than most people can affort

To really get a good understanding of what these numbers all meant, I first found an average for the annual mean wage for all of the states and an average of the median monthly rent for all states. What I found was shocking.

On average, the average annual mean wage for a person working in the United States is $53,564. That may seem like a lot of money, at first. But when you compare it to the average median cost of rent, it’s just simply not enough.

The average median cost of rent ends up being $1,427/month. Multiplied by 12 months per year, the grand total ends up at an annual cost of $17,124 being paid each year on rent.

How does cost of living affect simple living?

No matter how simply you live, basic necessities are required. People will always need homes, they’ll always need food. On average, people in the United States are paying a grand total of $8,839 for their groceries, gas, and utilities in addition to their rent and/or mortgage. And these prices continue to rise with the COVID-19 pandemic.

So for a person who wants to live a simple life, this high cost of living can make things very challenging. While people desire to escape from this constant struggle with money, it can be hard to actually follow through and create a simple life on a homestead without having actual money to get started.

Cost of a simple homestead life

To live a simple life in today’s modern world, you’re going to need to be ready for the cost. Financially, physically, and mentally, a simple life on a homestead can be absolutely anything but simple.

Financial cost of a simple life on a homestead

To live a simple life in today’s modern society, you might decide that you want to be more self-sufficient. This means you need to provide your own food for your family by growing a large garden. You might decide to raise some backyard chickens of your own for eggs, and maybe you even consider adding a family milk cow to your property for dairy (and her calves for potential meat). There may be other animals, too, like rabbits, pigs, goats, or ducks. Whatever your family might need to be as self-sufficient as possible.

Animals must be fed, and that feed isn’t going to be free. After doing some research of my own, I found out just a few of the prices for some of these animals. The cost of self-sufficiency and simplicity doesn’t come cheaply.

Just raising a small flock of 10 chickens is going to cost you about $7 per week for food. Multiplied by 52 weeks in a year, that’s almost a dollar per day that you’ll be giving to raising chickens. A family cow? She comes at a high price too. Averaging about $150/month to feed hay and grain (this can be lowered if you have pasture year-round), that adds a whopping $7,800 per year to your annual expenses.

Perhaps you’ve sacrificed the size of your house so that you can live simply, giving you a smaller mortgage payment. Maybe you’ve even grown enough food for your family for the year. Even so, the cost of feed for animals and upkeep on a simple lifestyle homestead is enough to cause families to financially struggle to overcome this barrier.

Overcoming financial obstacles on your journey towards simple living

To live a simple life in today’s modern world that has such a high cost of living absolutely can be done! But, do know it’s going to take sacrifice. You will be sacrificing your time to care for the animals, garden, and land that you live on. Your physical body will be sacrificed as it works to provide the simple necessities of life. The house you dream of may need to be sacrificed so that you can afford to focus your money on the homesteading choices you’ve made. If you’re truly dedicated to living a simple life, you will find a way to make it work despite the sacrifices needed.

2. The Effects of Societal Norms

Another barrier that makes it hard to live a simple life in today’s modern world is the societal norms we are all taught from a very early age. Commercials on T.V., our neighbors, friends, movies, magazines all teach us what success looks like and what the norm is for daily living. We are taught that we need bigger, better, faster, stronger. Nothing is ever quite good enough- there is always something out there that could make life better. Never settle! Work hard to make money so you can buy more to make you happy. These are the messages that have been burned into our brains from our consumeristic culture.

Yet, buying happiness simply cannot be true. With 40 million adults struggling with depression in the United States and suicide rates climbing to record highs, this perfect plan to happiness that society has taught us is obviously not working. We see it again and again with celebrities, who seem to have everything that money could possibly buy. Time and time again, we watch their demise unfold, as they battle mental demons and face inner struggles that money cannot fix.

Choosing a simpler path

Still, choosing to live a simpler path remains difficult. Even though we might recognize that simple living will bring us a more fulfilling life, the challenge lies with what is all around us. Choosing to live simply goes against societal norms, and you might feel that peer pressure from those around you to conform. Friends will purchase new cars, and you might feel left out if you don’t purchase them as well. Clothing trends might change. And though you’ve dedicated your life to living simply, you still might feel a slight sense of embarrassment as you walk into a room with something that might not be as trendy as what everyone else is wearing. The weight of the pressure that we put on ourselves to fit in, can be a huge hinderance to succeeding in living a simple life in today’s modern world.

Overcoming and allowing simplicity

Overcoming the voices that tell us who we are supposed to be is hard. Yet, if we feel that drive towards simplicity, it can be done.

Some ways that you can overcome the barrier of societal norms to live a simple life in a modern world include:

Be clear with your friends what your goals are. Being honest can help take away some of the awkwardness when you decline an invitation to a restaurant or don’t buy the new shoes. Make sure your friends understand your vision.
Surround yourself with likeminded people. If you do this step, you very likely won’t even have to do the first item on this list. Surround yourself with people who echo your beliefs and who will be happy to receive a home preserved food item as a Christmas gift.
Remember that humans made society’s norms. People who wanted you to buy things are the people who told you what is “normal” in society. Remembering that can help you mentally overcome on those days when you question your choices.

3. Daily challenges of living simply

There are, of course, daily challenges to living simply that make a simple life hard. Physically and emotionally, to live a simple life in today’s modern world can be very hard.

Physical Challenges of Simple Living

If you’ve chosen to live simply and to provide for yourself, you’re going to be face to face with physical challenges. Your body is going take the brunt of the work as you kneel in the garden and carry feed buckets to the animals. Your hands will dry out in winter, and you’ll be covered in sweat in the summer. For some people, this challenging aspect of simple living is a burden that cannot be overcome. For others, it’s part of the reward of the lifestyle.

Emotional challenges to simple living

There are some big emotions that can happen when you’re living a simple life in today’s modern world. Your simple life might not be what you were expecting, and that can trigger emotions. Animals will die and gardens crops will fail. At times, you may even feel isolated as you live in a way that is different from societal norms. You might feel left out from the groups you had once been a part of as they continue living in a way very different from you. Embarrassment might creep up when you give a gift that might not be worth as much money as one that you’ve received.

Overcoming challenges within your simple life

Though the physical and emotional moments might feel like barriers as you try to live a simple life in a modern world, they can be overcome. Here are some ways to overcome challenges within your simple life:

In moments of struggle, remind yourself why you’ve decided to live this way in the first place. Remembering the roots of the lifestyle can really help in times of emotional distress.
Stay strong to who you are. Build your convictions and solidify them everyday. Talk about them with your friends. Journal about them. Make sure you totally believe in your lifestyle choices because if you don’t, no one else will either.
Take time for rest. Though there is always a project on the homestead, remember that rest is important, too. Just like the trees need rest in the fall, you need rest to be sure you can physically meet the demands of a simple life on a homestead.

Conclusion

To wrap this all up, it absolutely can be done to live a simple life in today’s modern world. Though it may be hard to live simply, many who live it argue that the life created is more fulfilling than any other they could’ve lived. It may not be easy living simply, but it will be worth it. The choice is up to you.

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Why Is Simple Living So Hard in Today’s Modern World?

What is a simple life?

1) High cost of living

The cost of housing is more than most people can affort