Treasures of Simple Living: A Family's Search for a Simpler and More Meaningful Life in the Middle of a Forest

By Tyra Arraj and James Arraj

Our future was set out for us: full-time jobs, mortgage payments for the next 20 years, and retirement at 65. Our children would go to school and we would see them as much as our busy schedules... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0914073044
• ISBN13: 9780914073048
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Inner Growth Books
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Cure for Affluenza

Tyra and James Arraj's Treasures of Simple Living is one of the best books currently available on simple living. Although it is the tale of one family's journey back to the land, the book questions modern lifestyles in a light relevant to anyone interested in simplifying their life, whether in the country or in the city.Searching for a better existence, the Arrajs leave their home and jobs in the big city. After travels in Central America and a small business venture in New England, they settle on a remote 20-acre patch in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. They build a house and an earth-sheltered greenhouse. They learn to bake bread, forage for wild foods, and grow their own vegetables year-round. They collect rainwater from the roof and put together a small solar electric system. They homeschool their children in a freewheeling way that harnesses the children's natural desire to learn. As a family they grow to appreciate a life close to nature and to eachother, without television or many of the other artificial stimulants that so many Americans are dependent on today. Written in a direct, human style, it reads well on three different levels: First, as a story of personal transformations within a family on their journey towards a more meaningful life. Second, as a collection of practical ideas and tips for how to go back to the land with a minimum of unpleasantness and discomfort. Third, and most important if all, it lays out succinctly what is wrong with our modern-day cult of affluenza, and how we can return to what really matters in life. Even if you are not ready to quit your job in town and and go eat dandelion greens in the woods, the Arrajs' philosophy of sane, simple living could change your life.