Quotation of the Week “Even though something is commonplace, do we really need it in our lives?†With that question in mind, all sorts of things were up for grabs: buying a house in the “right†school district, needing two incomes, cell phones, minivans, and even (hold your breath!) signing our kids up for soccer. It was like a little compact fluorescent light bulb turned on to illuminate some of the chains of conformity we had allowed to make our decisions for us. We began to see how deeply we’d bought into culture’s code of success being equated with more and more. The results of all this “more†were clutter and confusion and so we decided to simplify our lives. Removing some of the typical suburban clutter was a bit scary, but over the course of a few years, it really has begun to make room for life. We soon discovered the joy of having fewer bills to pay, fewer trips to make, fewer calendars to juggle, and fewer agendas to manage. Lurking amid the resource of free time, we discovered the pleasure of not just having neighbors, but of knowing our neighbors. From Chad Hall at Out of UrÂ