Voluntary Simplicity

"The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life. It's so easy to make it complex."

So says the sage figure - Yvon Chouinard - in a scene from 180° South

The quote (and documentary) really resonates with me, but instead of trying to wax poetic on the subject of voluntary simplicity, let me take a simple stab at trying to put the idea into a prep context.

Preps gravitate towards quality, the classics, and the time-tested.  Be it "stuff" like clothes, cars, and furnishings or those pursuits of the mind and soul: education, charity, and the spirit of stewardship.

Tradition. Ritual. They link us to the past and give us a heading for the future. I try not to clutter my closet or my mind with "stuff" I don't need. A "prep lifestyle," or moreover, a "Cascadian prep lifestyle" suits this aspiration.  Fortuntely for me, the people of the Pacific Northwest (for the most part) get this concept. But then again, it's hard to be showy and ostentatious when you're indoors so much of the time or when you don't know whether the person next to you is a billionaire. (Seriously)

Men's Patagonia Rain Jacket

As a company and as a brand, Patagonia also gets this concept. Now don't think I'm getting all weepy on you. One has to be very selective in what you buy from them or you might come out looking like a "Trust-a-farian" - you know a Rastafarian wannabe with a trust fund - or that pizza guy at your favorite summer or winter resort who "doesn't care about money," yet drives an A6 and lives in the corner suite of that new condo complex. Just sayin'.

Keepin' it simple in Cascadia... one "Rain Shadow Jacket" at a time.

(At the time of this posting it's  57°F and lightly raining.)