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More and more of us in the West are feeling uneasy about the frantic race of everyday life, over-consumption, ecological crises without really knowing where to start in order to try to change this direction. The task is immense. How can we act? How can we take easy-to-implement actions that are part of the solution? How can we regain a sense of autonomy in a world of constraints by simply using our freedom as consumers and citizens? Sobriety sometimes called sufficiency is in my opinion an excellent approach to get started on the path each and everyone in their own way.
Sobriety is prolonging the life of an object rather than replacing it. It is cooking simple, local, seasonal products. It means choosing the bicycle rather than the car. But it’s not just a question of CO2 or plastic. It is also a lucid look at the world as it is. Its field of application is immense. It questions the place we give to happiness, nuance, critical thinking, freedom, living together.
Sobriety is not a rigid model to follow or a moral lesson. It is a proposal, a compass, another way of looking at the world. It is an invitation to ask ourselves simple questions: what do I really need? What brings me joy, connection, calm?
What if, instead of suffering, we chose? Not as an effort, but as an opportunity to gradually regain control of our lives? Because living soberly also means wanting a fairer, more united and more sustainable world.
It is not a question of going to live as a hermit in a cave, cut off from the world, but of setting out at one’s own pace towards more reasoned choices.
It is not about rejecting technology but about keeping control over the use we make of it.
It is also about sorting out your relationships, your screens, your desires.
To live soberly is to free oneself from the overflow that clutters, which we believe to be necessary, but which is not. It is to rediscover the taste for simple things, for silence, for sharing.
It is to get used to tolerating inaction and the frustration it induces when everything in our societies is unfailingly taking care to fill the void.
Often perceived as a deprivation, sobriety can actually be a calm, conscious lifestyle choice, in line with our true values. It’s not a punishment, but a refocusing, a way of living better, with less. It is another way: that of sufficiency, of justice, of balance.
What if, sobriety offered us the luxury of going back to basics?
Sommarøy on May 7, 2025
Yours truly,
Learn more : The World Sufficiency Lab.
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