Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
by Sarah Ban Breathnach
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Book Summary Information
Author: Sarah Ban BreathnachEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1995-11-15
ISBN: 0446519138
Number of pages: 528
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Product features:
- Book of 366 evocative essays one for every day of your year
- Written for women who wish to live by their own lights
- Shows you how your daily life can be an expression of your authentic self
- Airborne Effervescent Health Formula, Original Orange, 10 Tablets (Pack of 3)
- RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device
Book Reviews of Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
Book Review: "The Authentic Self Is The Soul Made Visible"
Summary: 5 Stars
"Chill something bubbly. Honor the Old Year with a farewell toast, welcome the New Year within. Offer thanks. Celebrate how far you've come, how much you've learned, and the glorious woman you Really are. Happy New Year." ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach ~
"Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy" is one of my favorite reading materials of all-time and it's a must-read on a daily basis, 365 days. It's the number One New York Times bestseller. The author was in desperate need of "Simple Abundance" and has written a great book that gave her the "transcendent awareness that an authentic life is the most personal form of worship." This book is organized as a walk through the year. One page is allocated for the description of each month, and every day of each month in succession. There are suggestions on what to do for each month, which the author calls the "Joyful Simplicities." The author includes interesting quotes from famous people with her equally interesting articles, anecdotes, essays, stories as well as lessons in life that are so practical for women "who wish to live by their own lights."
January is the month of new beginnings and cherished memories, beckons. It's the month to dream, to look forward to the year ahead and the journey within.
February is the month of giving thanks for our simple abundant lives and asking for the gift of one thing more: grateful hearts.
March is the month of planting the seeds of the second Simple Abundance principle, which is simplicity - in the fertile soil of our souls.
April according to Vita Sackville-West is the "angel of the months." The author believes that it's the month when our "spirits start to soar and we continue to grow gracefully, creatively and joyously into our authentic selves, awakening to our own beauty."
May is synonymous with the third principle of Simple Abundance, which is Order. The author wants us to have "fresh eyes and a loving, appreciative hearts, we reconsider our daily rounds. As we learn to savor everyday epiphanies, we encounter the Sacred in the ordinary."
June is the month when "our hearts open, our smiles deepen and our laughter increases."
July is about the fourth principle of Simple Abundance - Harmony. Ms. Ban Breathnach wants us to slow down on this month and she believes that "summer is not so much a season as a melody, that tune of contentment we hum as the days begin to beautifully blur." It's summertime and we tend to be busier than ever. It's where there's a rush of footsteps going nowhere and reaching everywhere. We should learn how to slow down and smell the roses, and harmonize our endeavors.
August maybe the hottest month but it's my other favorite month of the year. It's the source of our creative energies. It's that time to discover and rediscover the creative self within us. Music, poetry, and art are three of my passions that are highlighted this month. This month we "commit to discovering, acknowledging, appreciating, owning, and honoring our authentic gifts, transforming not only our own lives, but the lives of those we love."
September - the fifth Simple Abundance principle is Beauty. The past months had we cultivated the "seeds of gratitude, simplicity, order and harmony into our lives and the authentic harvest of contentment waits to be gathered in."
October - "finally the heat is passing and the Indian summer arrives, a change of season that's more a sense memory than a date on the calendar." Some of the joyful simplicities that the author mentioned for this month - plant crocus, daffodils and tulips, pack a picnic and take a Sunday drive to the country and enjoy Mother Nature's beauty.
November "silently sneaks up on us, catching our senses by surprise." It's the Thanksgiving month. The author advises that we don't have to rush out the day after Thanksgiving to the malls to do our holiday shopping with the rest of the world. We all know that it has been a tradition that most of us are already in the malls as early as 6 o'clock in the morning the day after to take advantage of the biggest sale of the year. But Ms. Breathnach wants us to "make a pot of homemade turkey veggie soup, create a Christmas wreath, or start listening to Christmas music" for more exciting joyful simplicities in life.
December - the sixth principle of Simple Abundance is Joy. It's the joyous month and the most wonderful time of the year. "December's gifts custom, ceremony, celebration, consecration come to us wrapped up, not in tissue and ribbons, but in cherished memories."
One of the most interesting features the author touched on is "Midsummer Night's Dreams." Like her I love Midsummer's Day, too and I have some cherished memories to go with it. She quoted Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery who wrote the novel "Anne of Green Gables." Last summer while I was in Prince Edward Island with my sister's family for a yearly summer get-away, we visited the famous national historic site and tourist attraction "Green Gables," the house where Montgomery grew up and used as a setting for the novel. It's an absolutely charming place with its sprawling gardens and its "Librairie." I'm just in awe how it was preserved beautifully. Montgomery had written in her book, "When Midsummer arrives, it's a time to look ahead and dream. The days ahead will unfold as a never-to-be-forgotten summer - one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going - one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends, and delightful doings, come as near to perfection as anything can come in the world."
I like Ms. Breathnach's style of exemplary writing. She's truly a consummate writer. This is one good book to read and likewise a wonderful gift for "women who wish to live by their own lights, and seek a happier, more fulfilling and contented way of life - the state of grace known as Simple Abundance."
With my heartfelt recommendation for your daily-read the whole year through. It will nourish your soul.
P.S. You'll also enjoy Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self. Please check it out.
Summary of Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
With the grace of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea and the wisdom of M. Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled, Simple Abundance is a book of 366 evocative essays-one for every day of your year-written for women who wish to live by their own lights. In the past a woman's spirituality has been separated from her lifestyle. Simple Abundance shows you how your daily life can be an expression of your authentic self ... as you choose the tastiest vegetables from your garden, search for treasures at flea markets, establish a sacred space in your home for meditation, and follow the rhythm of the seasons and the year. Here, for the first time, the mystical alchemy of style and Spirit is celebrated. Every day, your own true path leads you to a happier, more fulfilling and contented way of life-the state of grace known as... Embrace its gentle lessons, savor its sublime common sense, dare to live its passionate truth, and share its extraordinary and exhilarating gift with every woman you encounter: the authentic self is the Soul made visible.This book features 366 essays penned from a woman's perspective. Sample topics include gratitude, harmony, self-nurturing, positive body image, the importance of scented linen closets, and many others. Each essay sports a pithy quote from (surprise!) the likes of Kahlil Gibran. Viewed uncritically, it's hard to argue with Simple Abundance's earnest admonitions to appreciate life, in all its messy imperfect excellence. And the fact that serenity and happiness are each in dreadfully short supply can excuse some of the treacly writing. But Breathnach sometimes lapses into what can only be described as her "Martha Stewart on Prozac" voice, and the results are aggravating to the extreme: "If you've been hesitant to strike up a reciprocal relationship with your guardian angel, don't be." Fans of guardian angels will greet these feel-good essays every morning with the rising sun, a cup of mint tea, and a bluebird chirping on the windowsill, and be happy. Skeptics will prefer their coffee very black.
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