In Search of Simple: Field Notes from Near and Far on Slow Living

What does it take to "live simply"? Sounds easy enough, but when we dig deeper into what drives the actions of human beings, it gets a little more complicated.

What if we discovered that changing our ways could lead to more beauty and more joy than we thought possible? What if living life (simply) really is a dizzyingly splendid idea? Just think of what would happen if more of us grew carrots and felt the wind on our faces and let birdsong be the soundtrack to life.

This anthology explores what it can look like to seek out slow living and embrace a life steeped in intentionality. Whether it's navigating grief to decluttering a home or habits to processing trauma, the writers in these pages have a wide variety of lived experiences and approach simple living differently-but they all end up in the same place: living the life they are made to live. You'll move from Romania to Colorado to New Zealand to Minnesota to New England to Canada with these writers, and by doing so, you'll see that there are folks in search of simple, scattered near and far. We hope this anthology inspires you to find the pace of life that sets you up to best contribute to the healing of the world.

Heidi Barr is a writer and wellness coach whose work is founded on a commitment to cultivating ways of being that are life-giving and sustainable for people, communities, and the planet. She is the author of three works of creative nonfiction: Collisions of Earth and Sky, Woodland Manitou, and What Comes Next; two poetry collections: Slouching Toward Radiance and Cold Spring Hallelujah; and one cookbook: Prairie Grown: Stories and Recipes from a South Dakota Hillside. She is also the co-author of 12 Tiny Things and editor of "The Mindful Kitchen," a wellness column in The Wayfarer Magazine. She lives with her family in rural Minnesota, where they tend a large vegetable garden, explore nature, and do their best to live simply. Learn more at heidibarr.com.

L.M. Browning (they/them) is a two-spirited bestselling poet whose hybrid of introspective travel writing and visual art focuses on the alchemizing of trauma through active awe-seeking and a re-wilding of one's life and self.Over the last fifteen years, Les' twenty-something intention to help "ensure the mainstream isn't the only stream," has taken shape in the form of the enduring indie platforms: Homebound Publications, Wayfarer Books, The Wayfarer Magazine & Navigator Graphics. Their own published works have received five Pushcart Prize nominations, two Foreword Review Book Awards, and the Nautilus Gold Medal for Poetry.Recently Browning accepted a position on the State of Connecticut's/NAMI's Lived Experience Committee and received national certification as a Survivor of Suicide Attempt (SOSA), Group Peer Facilitator through the Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services Foundation in Los Angeles. They are a graduate of the University of London and Harvard University. Les and their coydog, Kiva, divide their time between their home in Northern New Mexico and Wayfarer Farm in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts.