By E.B. Boyd

Todra Payne isn’t crazy about the fact that she has to drive two hours to the big city to get her fashion fix. She could also do without the soggy carrots covered in cheese that some friends in her hometown of Harrisburg, PA, equate with vegetarian cuisine. And it gets tedious having to explain to neighbors why 980 square feet is more than enough house for her and her husband.

Still, she wouldn’t go back to her old life for the world.

Payne, 40, left New York City with her husband six years ago, seeking a more reasonably-paced life. While in her 20s, Payne had bombed through the Big Apple as a celebrity makeup artist, trotting the globe on photo shoots and living the high life of Manhattan high fashion.

Then Payne went on a volunteer trip with her church and spent two weeks working in an orphanage in the Philippines. After witnessing the poverty and destitution there, she found the opulence of the New York fashion world nearly impossible to stomach. Then came 9/11, solidifying Payne and her husband’s commitment to escape the big city lifestyle. The couple settled on Harrisburg, a rural glen in the heart of Amish country.

Payne is one of thousands of mainstream Americans seeking creative ways to escape the go-go pace of modern living. Whether driven by concerns over the impact of their consumption on the planet, or simply looking to better their quality of life, these simplicity-seekers are deflecting from the rat race in increasing numbers, consciously ignoring the cultural pressure to earn and acquire ever more. Twenty of their stories can be found in the new book Get Satisfied, a collection of essays from people who, according to the book’s subtitle, have “found the satisfaction of enough.”

The book was published last month by the nonprofit organization Simple Living America. SLA codirector Carol Holst said the organization hopes the book will speak to the tens of thousands of Americans who, research shows, are sick of trying to keep up with the Joneses.

“The days of completely materialistic culture are rapidly coming to an end,” Holst says. “Americans are seeing beyond the messages that we’re not good enough if we don’t have the next piece of bling. They’re very interested in fulfillment and sufficiency.”

Simple living movements have ebbed and flowed throughout American history — from the Shakers, to Henry David Thoreau, to the communes of the Sixties. The most recent incarnation started about 25 years ago and has been reflected in bestsellers like Voluntary Simplicity and Your Money or Your Life, as well as the PBS documentary Affluenza.

Still, the movement has largely remained on the fringes. While the average American understands intellectually that money doesn’t buy happiness, few of us seem to be able to resist vying for ever-larger salaries and more stuff-stuffed lives. Simple living is still considered a drag, a choice requiring discipline, deprivation and sacrifice, much like going on a diet. Holst and Simple Living America hope Get Satisfied will help show the masses how much you gain when you give up the pressure of endless acquisition.