WASHINGTON — For many, the good life means having a big house, a luxury car and going on fancy vacations. For others it could be a bit simpler — as in no running hot water, no car, no internet, no problem.
This was the kind of “good life” adopted by the folks author Mark Sundeen spent time getting to know for his latest book, “The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today’s America.”
From a family living in rural Missouri to city dwellers in Detroit who turned vacant lots into farmsteads, the families Sundeen profiled were living very differently from most Americans. They ate what they grew and willfully discarded modern comforts such as hot water, electricity and cars. But they managed to find happiness.
“For them it was just following their dreams,” he said. “That dream just happened to be outside the mainstream.”
To say this was an easy lifestyle would be an obvious overstatement. Key challenges Sundeen observed were the voluntary poverty — which is compounded when you have kids — and the isolation that comes with living a radical lifestyle, “when you say ‘why isn’t anyone else doing this?’”
But happiness is a matter of perspective. “I came to realize that they loved the way they lived,” Sundeen said.
From the limitations of living with less, he said, these families managed to find abundance. Less time spent seeking and acquiring material wealth means more time spent with your kids and doing things you’re passionate about. “This wasn’t all renunciation and suffering,” he said.
Not everyone may be willing to shed everything to become an “unsettler,” but there are some ways people could adopt this lifestyle in smaller doses.
“I would like folks to examine the way they make a living and see if it’s satisfying to them,” Sundeen said. “If it’s not, look into your heart and find that meaningful work.”
WTOP’s Hillary Howard and Shawn Anderson contributed to this report.
