Marie A. Laverriere
My Background
I am fully retired. I turned 70 in August of 2026. I had a career as a licensed clinical social worker for almost 25 years. I also worked as an Interfaith Chaplain for about three years in a county jail while I lived in New Mexico for 7 years. I started my career later in life, I was 30 when I first attended college and finally decided to stop at 50 years of age. I did work throughout my undergraduate and graduate school years. I truly enjoyed attending college and accumulated four academic degrees BSW, MSW, MA in Pastoral Ministry and Doctorate in Ministry. In my two ministry degrees my concentration was in spirituality. In addition to my formal education I’m trained as a spiritual director with the Shalem Institute and also trained as a Reiki Master.
My Journey
In 2019 I moved into a tiny cottage across the street from the ocean/beach in coastal southern Maine with my dog. This is when I started to simplify my life. I had to purge my possessions and get rid of about 95% of my stuff. I kept only what I needed and some things that I enjoyed having. It all had to fit neatly and easily in my small space (293 square feet). I then started to feel the need to simplify my finances, my thoughts and my use of time. In doing all this I started to feel that I had created the space to see things from a different perspective. I can honestly say that simplifying my life was the beginning of my spiritual practice. The experience was very powerful for me and so I wrote and published two books “Minimalism for Wellbeing: A Guide to Simplifying All Facets of Your Life” and “A Journey to Authenticity: Finding Freedom, Peace & Joy”. Both of these books captured what I can best describe as a new beginning for me. Living with simplicity became a wonderful experience and in May of 2025, I decided to write and publish my third book “Living With Simplicity & Discovering What Matters”.
There is power in knowing that we have choices that we can make in every moment of our lives. I can choose not to be fearful and to feel joy, we always have choices even when life is not easy. As I age, I feel the need to create my life to fit the person that I am as well as tend to my needs in a kinder way than I did when I was younger and full of energy.
I offer a Sharing below on the Sacred & Mystical experiences available to us when we live simply, slow down our pace of life and live in the moment.
MONTHLY SHARING: November 2026
Living With Simplicity
an excerpt from my book Living With Simplicity & Discovering What Matters, 2025 (pages 13-16)
"What Do I Value in My Life?
To acknowledge what we value in our lives and include this
knowledge in our daily life is to have an understanding of what we
are grateful for in our everyday living. (ML)
What I Value in My Life
Creating a list of every thing, person, and event that I value in my life
begins the process of knowing myself.
To know what I value allows me to begin to understand what is
important to me.
It is consequential that I incorporate all the items on my list into my
life.
In doing so, I honor myself and tend to my dearest desires of what I
truly value. (ML)
Before we define who we are and reflect on being true to
ourselves, it is important to know what and who we value in our lives.
This activity gives us hints and a clearer picture in helping us know who
we are and what possessions we want to keep before we start to simplify
and/or declutter our space(s) and the other areas in our lives that need
change. It is important to examine what we value in our everyday living.
I’m not referring to our values but rather what we value.
In my many years of working with people, I have realized that
numerous individuals have lost touch with themselves and with knowing
what they value in their lives―what gives them joy and happiness
or allows their passion to flow and their hearts to sing. One of my
discoveries is that when individuals are caregivers for many years, they
13sometimes give it their all and have nothing left for themselves, so they
lose touch with who they are and what they value in their lives. Others
never knew that they had choices in finding what they valued, so they
never reflected on it. The bottom line is that we all have the responsibility
to reflect upon, think about, and come to know what we value in our lives
so that we can create opportunities to include them on a daily basis. It’s
a roadmap to creating the life we desire as well as knowing ourselves
better, which in turn allows us the ability to live with simplicity.
I offer a tool to help us seriously examine what we value in
our lives in the areas of things (including emotions), people (only the
ones who love and support us―and are not afraid to call us out [from a
place of love] and accept us just the way we are), and events/activities.
These three areas can be described in three lists. Let me give you a few
examples from my own lists so that you will understand the very simple
things you may value as well as the more complex ones. I value a comfortable mattress and pillow and my duvet; a daily shower with strong water pressure and lots of hot water; and the ability to follow a very slow pace in my morning routine.
I also value my dog and his wonderful calm and quiet presence in the
morning.
These are a few ideas of what one might put on their list of
things they value―the simple stuff. We can also add bigger things: For
example, I enjoy living in a tiny cottage by the ocean so I can take walks
on the beach every day. I enjoy having a hybrid car because I use less
gasoline. In this category, I also encourage you to name the emotions
that you value in your life. For instance, I value the feelings of peace and
calm, and I try really hard to avoid anything or anyone who threatens my
experience of these emotions. I share these ideas with you to help you
come up with your own. Sometimes when we start thinking of things we
value, we get stuck in the big things, so sharing my simple ones is my
way of suggesting that you really think about what makes you happy in
the simpleness of life.
The second list consists of all the people that we value in our
lives. Please try not to put everyone you know or are related to on
this list. Do not feel guilty for choosing only the ones you truly value;
no one else needs to see your list. Put only the people who love you
unconditionally and support you and accept you as you are. These are
the people you love spending time with. Make sure that you do make the
time to meet with these people regularly. This list is a bit difficult at times
because there may be people whom you want on your list, but they don’t
want to be in a relationship with you, so in these cases, you need to avoid
placing them on your list. We have no control over other people; we only
have control over our own decisions and actions. My people list currently
has four individuals. These lists change over time. We are always
assessing what and who we value, and life is not stagnant―it is forever
changing. Therefore, our lists will most probably change over time, and
that is to be expected.
The third list consists of events and activities that we value in
our lives. Events and activities both have a participation component, but
sometimes activities allows us to be more involved than events. What I
mean is that an event can be a concert or a movie where we sit and watch.
Other examples are going to a restaurant, attending a class, or gathering
with friends. Activities are more participatory, like a walk, playing a
game, cooking dinner, practicing yoga, meditating, dancing, taking
photographs, or creating art. Sometimes it’s difficult to define something
as either an activity or an event because they are closely related and some
can fall into either category. It does not matter; just list all the things you
enjoy doing and that you value as part of your life. In the activity section
I include being creative. I have devoted an entire chapter to the definition,
description, and very important aspects of creative expressions that one
can engage in. The creative activities that we value doing in our lives are
very important to include on this list.
An important point to remember when creating your lists is that
they don’t have to be in order of importance. Just brainstorm the ideas in
whatever order they come to you. Ponder seriously what you truly value
in your life and put them in your three lists. Since they are all important,
you need to find ways to incorporate each of them in your life regularly,
and if they are new, add them to your life as soon as you can.
We are the creators of our lives. And yes, sometimes things
happen that we did not plan or want, but we must move through those
moments as best we can, often with help from people we trust, and then
return to experiencing the things, people, and events we value in our
lives. An example for me is that several months after my first book was
published, my six-and-a-half-year-old dog, Rumi, who is pictured on the
back cover of the book, died of cancer. He was fine one day, and the next
day we were told that he was full of cancer. We tried different therapies
without success, and he died eighteen days later. My friend was so
supportive to both my dog and me, I’m not sure how I could have made it
through without his support. I continued taking daily walks on the beach
with my friend as we both grieved the loss of Rumi.
I want to add a short reflection on “being happy” as part of what
we value in our lives. The question is: “Are you happy?” I truly believe
that we are supposed to be happy in this lifetime. There are moments
when we have difficult things happen, and I am not denying that life
brings about challenges. Being happy, however, is part of being alive
and experiencing the flow of our passion as we allow ourselves to be
real. When I was young and immersed in religious teachings, I was led
to believe that suffering was our plight, but I later discovered that being
happy was our true birthright, and that realization changed my entire
approach to life. When we choose to work in areas that we have passion
for and/or have creative expressions that bring us joy, then we experience
purpose and meaning, and this can make us happy. Furthermore, simply
valuing the relationship we have with ourselves is cause for feeling
happy because the most important relationship you will ever have is with yourself."
I hope you make the time to create your three lists and make the time to incorporate everything that makes you happy in your everyday life.
I have a YouTube channel that I started in 2022 on a variety of ideas in living a simple life and other practical things. I also share information on my spiritual journey. You can view it at: YouTube.com/@livingasimplelife.
Meet my dog Henry as he sits in his pose.