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3/11/2000 VS Chicago Meeting Notes

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Jill opened the meeting space for Ross, Bob, Pam, Woody, Kathleen, Dick, Tracy, Mike, Dave, Lisa, Tina, Elizabeth, Bob, Micky, and Ken.

A brief round of introductions highlighted the following reasons for attending:

To learn/continue to keep life simple
Do the steps in the book, Your Money Or Your Life (YMOYL)
Been keeping track of expenses for a couple of months now
Stimulating / seeking like-minded folks/conversations
Found my "FI Buddy" here (someone to work with the steps in YMOYL)
Eliminating clutter
Have eliminated 20% of my credit card debt
Used to live this lifestyle (simple) years ago, but am now living a rat race

Announcements…

From Don: Tai-Chi going to be happening on the lakefront when the weather breaks, will keep you posted

The group then posted discussion topics and/or questions. An agenda developed as the group resolved the postings into six discussion topics:

Do you live with resentment of or acceptance of what occurs daily in life?
YMOYL study guides and/or audiotape session - Any interest? How, when, where?
Risk and passion - Is it riskier to stay where you are if you're not happy,
OR take the leap and follow your passion?
Values in congruency with Voluntary Simplicity
Want to barter or find local & convenient storage space for my stereo boxes
Discuss and share organizations or groups that fit or support your values and those of YMOYL (i.e., Chicago Vegetarian Society, Co-op America, UCS, and Center for Sus. N.)

To provide ample opportunity for everyone to participate, the group decided to use the "coffee break" aspect of Open Space and discuss the items in concurrent groups (for a great explanation and example of Open Space, visit Michael Herman's web site at; http://www.globalchicago.net/mha/openspacetech.html).

As in previous meetings, the smaller discussion group sizes and openness of the meeting space got everyone quickly involved in discussion. Observations and thoughts offered by participants, led to new and synergistic ideas and insights. Some folks used the "Law of Two Feet" to float freely between the two discussion areas, "pollinating" each with ideas from the other. Lively discussions ensued...

As noontime approached, the group reconvened to share and summarize:

Values

Values are often difficult to identify, may need to first define what a value IS, and then ask how your identified values align/relate to voluntary simplicity (VS)
One person's values are not necessarily important to another

Consciousness

What's most important is living a CONSCIOUS life - being aware of all of our "programming" from advertising, family, society about what we should/should not do or be, making an effort to question that programming and get to core of who we truly are and what we want to do or be.
Conscious living - our lives are interwoven threads, it's sometimes a challenge to see all the different threads clearly and how they're interwoven.
Living "in the moment" can help you see things more clearly, be more focused.
In VS, our TIME is the most important and precious possession we have, so we look at maximizing our awareness & values to be most effective and efficient with the time we have in our lives.

YMOYL study group

Decision to consciously put forth a topic in Open Space each week around YMOYL, so that people working with the book and steps can bring their questions and concerns to the group, receive help from others further along, we can all gain insight from the sharing.

…and a place to store stereo boxes was successfully found!

Posted by: Mike Lenich

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(Addition -- from Woodie)

VS March meeting notes

One of the discussion groups combined the topics of Values in congruency with VS and Discuss/share organizations that fit/support the values from the book, Your Money or Your Life (YMOYL) such as "living lightly on the earth", "living more environmentally aware", "making the world a better place", "having a meaning or mission to one's life", "moving toward sustainable consumption", "informing others of the benefits of a self-downsized life", etc.

The discussion opened with one of the participants sharing information from, and websites for, a few organizations that are already working to foster some of the values listed above.
Such as:

Co-op America 1612 K Street NW, #600 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 872-5307, a nonprofit organization that describes itself as "dedicated to creating a just and sustainable society by harnessing economic power for positive change. CA's unique approach involves working with both the consumer (demand) and business (supply) sides of the economy simultaneously. CA programs are designed to: 1.) Educate people about how to use their spending and investing power to bring the values of social justice and environmental sustainability into the economy, 2.) Help socially and environmentally responsible businesses emerge and thrive, and 3.) Pressure irresponsible companies to adopt socially and environmentally responsible practices.

www.coopamerica.org (Their main site)
www.greenpages.org (These other sites of theirs can be accessed from the main site or individually)
www.woodwise.org www.greenpagesstore.com www.sweatshops.org www.boycotts.org www.socialinvest.org
The Union of Concerned Scientists, Two Brattle Square, Cambridge, MA 02238 (617) 547-5552, "is an independent nonprofit alliance of scientists and committed citizens working for a cleaner, safer world."
They warned of the issues of Genetically Modified Food crops back in 1996, before any had been planted. Their investigations have led to the early shutdown of several Nuclear power plants because of poor safety, etc. They promote Solar and Wind energy initiatives. They've been pressuring the big automotive companies to redesign the popular SUV's to be less environmentally destructive. They have launched education/grassroots campaigns such as "Renewables Are Ready" to promote alternative energy sources, and "Zevolution" to promote/demonstrate the market for clean (zero-emission) cars.
www.ucsusa.org (Their main site)

The Chicago Vegetarian Society (CVS), www.chicagovegetariansoc.org, promote healthier & more earth-friendly vegy lifestyle.

Like the GreenPages above, another Directory of Green products and services (including dating): www.greenpeople.org
Other members of the group indicated their involvement with The Sierra Club, www.sierraclub.org and the Boy/Girl Scouts for their focus on preserving and enjoying nature. (sorry no address info)
Two other groups were mentioned for their environmental focus: John Robbins' Earthsave (web address link is already on the VS site) and a group called "Center for the New American Dream".

The group seemed to think it would be useful to add to the list of sites as new resources are discovered that support the values promoted in YMOYL & VS.

A last minute addition that may be of interest: www.earthday.net (info etc. about Earth Day 2000)
(There's even a sign-up to win a FREE Toyota Prius (hybrid gas/electric) car that gets 50+ MPG & runs 86% below Federal emission standards!)

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Email Mike Lenich at: vschicago@juno.com