Why is it more complicated to live a simple life?

I was thinking that it's very ironic that going simple is more difficult than being complicated!

We have to drive 45 mins out of our way to buy fair trade, hand made items at Ten Thousand Villages, rather than going to the dollar store or department store. We have to seek out and sign up for a special program for fresh local produce. Walking to the grocery store means spending on average $20 more than driving 20 minutes away to the nearest city, and takes nearly as long. Not caving in to the trip to Walmart when we need to buy a gift means getting creative and taking much longer to find the right gift. And this is only available to us because we live in an area that is blessed with many local farms, a fair trade warehouse & head office, and a town that is laid out in a way that we were lucky enough to find a house within walking distance to a grocery store. Also - we are extremely fortunate to have been able to buy an incredible stroller which allows me to cart home all my groceries and my daughter without having to carry bags.

The price of convenience is costing us all. We are losing our life skills, for example, there are new houses being built with the option of not having a kitchen! Sewing and knitting are considered hobbies instead of essential. Our environment is suffering, our health is suffering and our minds are suffering.

We need to take back the simple life. We need to embrace it and find comfort in it. There is room in life for convenience and luxury. We all like to watch a good movie, surf the internet, buy a bottle of juice, and dried pasta. But we should all know how to entertain ourselves instead of relying on technology, how to make juice, and that pasta is simply eggs and flour.