Learning to Live Life to the Simplest

Ellen Furnari doesn’t think of herself as a convert to the “voluntary simplicity” movement.

“It wasn’t that a bell went off--it was more of an evolution,” she says.

“About six years ago, I started to realize there was a gap in my life. I was saying that, of course, my children were the most important things in my life, but I was hardly ever seeing them. I was even bringing work home on weekends.”

And though she was proud of her career with nonprofit organizations that aim to make the world a better place, she had to acknowledge that “when you are in management, there are aspects of your work that are never done.”

So she became a part-time consultant.

“If my daughter is playing basketball, I will be there and not in a meeting,” says Furnari, 43, who lives in Burlington, Vt., with her husband and two teenage daughters.

The family scaled back financially. Nothing drastic, she says, just buying used cars instead of new, rarely buying new clothes and cutting out travel.

“I do use a credit card, but I pay the full bill every month,” she says.

It’s a conundrum, she says, that American consumers are maxed out on credit right now, yet are being bombarded with “18 zillion messages every day saying, ‘Buy, buy, buy!’ ” because it will keep the economy going.

“What we should be doing is acknowledging the conflicts and working on a rational vision of where we should be going,” she says.

That’s the goal of a how-to conference aimed at helping consumers free themselves from the spending trap of conspicuous consumption scheduled for Sept. 19 at USC’s Davidson Conference Center.

“No Purchase Necessary: Building the Voluntary Simplicity Movement” is a one-day event exploring various approaches to a scaled-back lifestyle.

“A lot of people are spending more time on the job, even have two-income households, but don’t feel the richer for it,” says actor-activist Ed Begley Jr., who will be keynote speaker. “They are beginning to question the price of materialism, and this conference will investigate that notion.”

While voluntary simplicity is not yet a major social movement, it is a growing trend, says Furnari, who now works with organizations concerned about sustainability.

People usually come at it from one of three concerns, she says:

* The environmental degradation from a high-consumption society.

* The personal stress of fighting the work-spend treadmill.

* The spiritual realization that rampant materialism contradicts one’s religious teachings.

“All three areas will be addressed during the conference,” Furnari says. “We hope to give greater visibility to the subject and also provide a vehicle that helps people struggling with these issues see what others are doing. The idea of voluntary simplicity goes so much against the grain of what most of us are taught that people have a need for support and connections.”

“We think it’s the first such conference on this scale,” says Carol Holst, founder of Seeds of Simplicity, a Los Angeles-based national educational program with an emphasis on downplaying materialism in children’s lives.

Her group is hosting the event with a number of co-sponsors, including the Sierra Club, Adbusters Media Foundation, the New Road Map Foundation and the Jane Goodall Institute.

With 18 experts as speakers and four audience forums, the sponsors hope to raise such philosophical questions as “How much is enough?” and provide remedies for the national epidemic of “possession obsession,” Holst says. “It’s a dialogue that is very new in our culture.”

Although “voluntary simplicity” may be a relatively new phrase, the concept is not, Begley says.

“The idea of living with less has come from such different thinkers as Mahatma Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau.”

Environmentalist Begley will discuss his own sustainable lifestyle, which includes a San Fernando Valley solar-paneled house with backyard citrus trees, vegetable and herb gardens, bicycles and an electric car in the garage.

“I will give credit where it is due,” he said. “I grew up in show business, and I’ve gone a long way toward simplifying my life, but many of the people at this conference are way ahead of me, and I’m very much in admiration of them. My motivation has been to help the environment, but in doing so, I’ve gotten rewards I didn’t count on, such as more serenity in my life.”

To guide others toward more serenity, in addition to the audience forums the conference panel will offer guest experts on three panel discussions:

* “The Best Things in Life Aren’t Things,” an examination of values and spirituality with speakers including the Rev. Peter Moore-Kochlacs of San Diego, director of Environmental Ministries; Mary Kalifon, director of Parent-Child Resource Service at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; and consultant Duane Elgin of San Anselmo, author of “Voluntary Simplicity” (Morrow, 1981).

* “Taking Action on Simplicity in Your Life,” including Cecile Andrews of Seattle, a leader in developing community simplicity circles; and Janet Luhrs of Seattle, editor of the Simple Living Journal.

* “Taking Action on Simplicity in Your Group,” including Lois Arkin, director of Eco-Village in central Los Angeles; and Julia Russell, founder of the Los Feliz Eco-Home, a model for urban sustainable living.

“We will be talking about what’s happening around the world,” says Furnari, who will be the wrap-up speaker.

There is no admission charge or registration process for the conference, which will begin at 9 a.m. in USC’s Davidson Conference Center at Figueroa Street and Jefferson Boulevard on the campus. Parking will be $6 at Gate 5 off Jefferson. For further information, call (818) 247-4332.