SANTA CLARA - If the Bay Area is the good life, why does everything seem so complicated?

Relax, Boomers. The land of dot-coms, starter mansions, Porsche Boxsters and world-class traffic is getting a visit from envoys of simplicity.

As in voluntary simplicity -- the movement that is still gaining converts drawn to what supporters call a ``deliberate, contemplative way of living.'' It offers the tantalizing hope of finding a balance for those trying to keep up with the relentless pace of cutting-edge technology.

Hundreds of Silicon Valley toilers will convene Saturday at the Santa Clara Convention Center to look for ways to escape consumerism and accumulate more quality time. Although voluntary simplicity has been around for awhile, this event is billed as the first of its kind in Northern California.

``Silicon Valley is so ripe for something like this,'' said Barney Burke, one of the organizers. ``There is so much attention being given to all the money being made now that I think a lot of people are thinking, `Hey, what else is important in my life?' ''

As most know by now, voluntary simplicity is about discovering what is enough in your life and discarding -- or better yet, recycling -- the rest. It is not, its adherents insist, about poverty, deprivation or living like Mother Teresa, although she is not a bad role model.

The conference will feature a number of authors considered leaders in the voluntary simplicity movement, including Vicki Robin, co- author of the best-selling book ``Your Money or Your Life.'' Some of the ideas developed by Robin and the late Joe Dominguez urge Americans disillusioned with owning too much ``stuff'' to escape the syndrome of constant working and consuming so that they can pursue life on their own terms.

``I think it's perennial wisdom,'' said Robin, 54, who lives in Seattle and is proud to say she has no ``regular'' job.

``It is about something everyone knows. Living within your means. That the best things in life are free. That it is better to give than receive. That the privilege of existence is not consumption but self-expression and contribution.''

But adopting simplicity can apparently be complicated enough to warrant a big get-together.

``It will be a participatory conference -- an opportunity to talk with kindred spirits about things that matter,'' said Stan King, another conference organizer. ``It'll be a forum to help you develop your personal plan of action about making a difference and living with more joy. We'll discuss how we can reclaim our lives, relationships, communities

and the planet.

``Voluntary simplicity is not about not buying things; it is about buying things you really need and enjoy and appreciate, like eating a piece of delicious fresh fruit,'' said King, 45, who works for MCI WorldCom as director of technical support. ``It is a reaction against the clutter problem -- look at all the storage lockers proliferating like weeds around Silicon Valley.''

Other conference speakers include Cecile Andrews, author of ``The Circle of Simplicity,'' Duane Elgin, author of ``Voluntary Simplicity,'' and Ernest Callenbach, who wrote ``Living Cheaply With Style.''

None of the speakers will be paid a fee, and all of them will pay their own way to Silicon Valley, the organizers said, because paid speakers would be somewhat contradictory to the whole spirit of the conference. Most of them will be staying at friends' houses or apartments.

``Silicon Valley and the Bay Area is a wonderful entrepreneurial place to live, very exciting,'' said Burke, 44, who works for the city of Mountain View helping -- ironically, he acknowledges -- to improve the town's economic development. ``But a lot of people are spending an hour and a half to drive to work. If you can't see your house in the daytime or see your children grow up, what is the point?''

Those with a house full of kids, however, or those who are in jobs they need for complicated reasons, may find voluntary simplicity can be tough to achieve. Those struggling to make ends meet may well think the idea is simply goofy: Give up your car? Move to a smaller house? Work part time or even quit the regular job totally and just volunteer, as many in the movement suggest?

Some believe that voluntary simplicity, while noble in its Thoreau- like goals, is simply out of sync with the times. Boom times.

``This is a movement that gained strength after the stock market crash of 1987, but ever since the stock market began skyrocketing in 1996, it really has just been floating around,'' said Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute.

``The American psychology has again shifted to `shop until you drop,' '' he said. ``God bless the organizers of this convention, and I wish them luck, but the big emotional drive in America today is to climb the ladder of financial success, build trophy houses and drive modern- day stage coaches.''

Yet the simplicity people are quietly confident that the backlash is already well along. Simplicity books are selling better than ever, some translated into more than a half-dozen languages. A recent free conference in Los Angeles was set up for 300; more than a thousand people showed up, organizers said. For Saturday's event, where tickets are $10 or $5 for self-described ``low-income'' participants, fewer than 100 seats remained at press time out of a total of 450.

``I think people are beginning to feel so overwhelmed that they don't have time to enjoy themselves,'' said Andrews, who, besides writing a book on voluntary simplicity also writes a column for the Seattle Times on the subject.

``Vacations or weekends just become times to either catch up or escape. It is not really enjoying the moment.''

To show neophytes the way, Andrews and others organize what they call simplicity circles, small informal meetings in neighborhood houses where friends can discuss ways to simplify lives. There is no judging or criticizing, she said, just an exchange of ideas while immersing oneself in the community.

``We need a return to a cafe society where we can all just hang out,'' she said. ``Nobody hangs out anymore.''

MEETING SIMPLY