Finding happiness by living a simple nature-based life

Hennie lives in the Dutch wetlands by herself. She eats, sleeps and enjoys life in nature, which makes her truly happy.

a simple life is a happy life

What do you need to be happy? Hennie knows it’s not that much. For her, a simple life in nature is the ultimate form of happiness.

simplicity and nature feeds the soul

Hennie lives in the Biesbosch; wetlands in the Netherlands. She has a small cottage here, but for her that’s merely a place to sleep. The entire wetlands are her home.

Sustenance she gets from nature as well. Plants, herbs and flowers make up the base of the diet, with an added wild pigeon here and there. Her days are filled with glorious nature: enjoying both the sunrise as well as the sunset.

‘Wake up… walk around… sleep…. clean my boat. That’s it.’

By living simple, Hennie has learned to live in and enjoy the moment. She enjoys every second to the fullest and doesn’t worry about the future nor the past.

‘Seize that one moment. And don’t hold on too long to sad things, that’s your choice to make. No matter how bad it is, don’t be stuck on it. Your life goes on. And the meaning of you life is: seize the fun, seize the beauty.’

a small amount of stuff and close to nature

Hennie is an example of a growing group of people who want to get out of the city, or want to get rid of their stuff or want to live closer to nature. 

Lauren Singer and Bea Johnson and her family live Zero Waste: they produce less than a jar of trash per year. They don’t buy anything new and everything that needs replacing, they get it secondhand from a thriftshop.

Marjolein lives in a tiny-house. With a small amount of stuff she lives in  a small simple house close to nature.

There are different ways to live a more simple life. It literally creates more space for you, and this creates space in your head.

Less stuff, less stress and relaxing are good for your body, mind and not entirely unimportant: you help the environment by buying less stuff!