Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
Contents:
By using our website you agree to our use of cookies. Home Contact Us Help Free delivery worldwide. A Daybook of Comfort of Joy. Simple Abundance is a book of evocative essays - one for every day of the year - for women who wish to live by their own lights. A woman's spirituality is often separated from her lifestyle. Simple Abundance shows you how your daily life can be an expression of your authentic self When I initially read the description for "Simple Abundance" it really seemed like something I would love: Who wouldn't benefit from I didn't read even half of this book in total, I admit up front.
Who wouldn't benefit from such a mindset? It only took a few entries to see that the philosophy presented here was written from a very specific point of view and rarely made itself accessible to those outside its limited scope, such as myself. It seems that in order to really enjoy this book and take anything of substance from it, the reader must be: Although the author is female, I did not expect based on the title and subtitle that the book would be exclusively aimed at the author's fellow women.
That in itself wouldn't bother me but because the book's idea of what a woman is or strives to be is so narrow, I was swiftly excluded despite meeting one of the main enjoyment criteria.
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The next requirement, to be married, actually occurred for me in the middle of my course of reading, but like my status as female, it didn't really matter. The idea of married life in this book is just as limited as the idea of womanhood. Indeed, the rest of the enjoyment requirements stem from this limited view. So much of the advice is based on having kids and practicing either Christianity or, to a much lesser extent, Judaism.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
All of that is what brings in the final requirement of age. This book is something I could perhaps see my mother getting into but it fits even better with my grandmother; it's exactly the type of thing she would have lived her life by. In fact it wouldn't surprise me, based on what I read, if my grandmother really had known of and adhered to this book's principles.
But even when throwing away my own perspective and thinking of this book as something written for a baby boomer, a big issue remains: I really don't find "Simple Abundance" very simple at all. The overarching principles by which the reader is meant to live their life are so numerous and complex that it seems impossible for a person to actually remember them all even if they followed the book day-by-day.
At first, the plan actually seems pretty straightforward: I can agree with that, I would love to live my life based on a foundation of personal authenticity. The how-to is where is gets tricky. From the entry for December 24th, the following principles of Simple Abundance are italicized: They all sound lovely and are excellent things to strive for in one's life, but a philosophy based on so many ideas is too much for this reader to remember.
Even if I was someone who intended to follow this book not just every day for a year but every day for however many years it took to really live and breathe its philosophy, there's just no way "Simple Abundance" lives up to its name.
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It seems to take the course of a year not because it wants to use that time to show how its principles can be applied to different situations throughout the changing months but instead because it takes at least a year to really get through everything it has to say. The most unfortunate aspect of this book is that it actually did have some wonderful entries. Even considering I only read a few days throughout summer, a bit at the start of January, and all of December, I still managed to find a day here and there that actually spoke to me.
It was often when the author managed to share her daily topic in a way that was relatively inclusive. Even those instances, however, easily came across as someone talking to an in-group person about an out-group person whose lifestyle they find admirable and worthy of imitation. I found these little gold nuggets among the rocks, but I still felt like they weren't really meant for me, like it was a coincidence that I found value in them, and that's what's so unfortunate. Maybe if I had been born a few decades earlier, maybe if I found organized religion compelling, maybe if I had led a more stereo typical American life, maybe then would this book have been of value to me.
I do feel that even today it has an audience, only that the audience is shrinking and the scope grows ever narrower as the years go by. This is not a book for the ages but perhaps it is still one that helped shape the world as it is.
Perhaps the reason my life is so different and therefore incompatible with this book is partially thanks to the influence the book already had on the generations that came before me, the generations it was originally written for. Perhaps it came into my hands too late to be appreciated as it was originally meant to be. And so perhaps its growing obsolescence is not evidence of its weakness so much as proof of its work already having been generally completed.
Aug 01, Gia rated it really liked it. I loved this book when I first read it in I loved the ideas for appreciating each season, and how it encouraged you to live your authentic life. I did a lot of the exercises in it too, like creating a book with all pictures in it that you like to learn your true style. I had a little trouble with the "gratitude journal" though. I found it difficult to do on a nightly basis. But I loved everything else this book suggests.
My all-time favorite is the "Living Easter Basket" which is a basket I loved this book when I first read it in My all-time favorite is the "Living Easter Basket" which is a basket filled with live grass.
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The book has the directions, and I tried it back in the day, and got lots of compliments, but then didn't do it again until for my stepdaughter's Easter basket. Aug 10, Vanessa rated it really liked it. A gift from my mom - I've been reading this book off and on for a few years. I really have come to like it lately - it helps me keep my head on straight. The only "exercise" I've actually done from the book is a gratitude journal.
It's amazing how much it helps to write down three things I'm grateful for before I go to bed, especially on those horrible, terrible, no-good days. Dec 31, Loraine rated it did not like it Shelves: This book looked and sounded like a good devotional. Unfortunately, after 3 days of reading it, I decided not to. The author is Catholic and rather than referring to God she keeps using the word Spirit and not in reference to the Holy Spirit.
I almost felt like it was written from a New Age viewpoint. Jul 06, Helynne rated it it was amazing. This book was already a best-seller when my dad gave me a copy back in , but I had never heard of it then, and didn't know what to expect. I plunged in, was immediately impressed, and now I give the book five stars because it made such a difference in my outlook on life at the time. These little essays are just plain feel-good stuff and inspirations for every occasion I can think of. Furthermore, these various missives I have several favorites continue to give me a little emotional boost This book was already a best-seller when my dad gave me a copy back in , but I had never heard of it then, and didn't know what to expect.
Furthermore, these various missives I have several favorites continue to give me a little emotional boost whenever I need it. Sarah Ban Breathnach has written short essays--one for each day of the year, not forgetting Feb. Basically, her theme is that every woman can become "the woman she was meant to be," and suggests various ways in which a person can "find her authentic self" on a path she describes in a six-part journey beginning with gratitude, then progressing through awareness and practices of simplicity, order, harmony, beauty and joy.
Breathnach stresses the need for a daily gratitude journal in which one must write down each day at least five things in her life for which she is grateful. Once this becomes a habit, Breathnach urges women to experience "spiritual awakening" through such habits as meditation, "creating a personal sacred space," and "outfitting a comfort drawer. Another of my favorites is "Meditation for Bad Girls" Nov. She describes typical "bad girls" as having "blond, raven, or flaming tresses, red mouths and nails. Bad girls wear capri pants, mules, cashmere or mohair twinsets, silk scares covering their pin curls.
Bad girls are passionate while the rest of the world is cool.
Simple Abundance : A Daybook of Comfort of Joy
Bad girls don't just want to have fun, they make sure they do. Bad girls know that it's not the cards you're dealt but how well you play your hand..
Bad girls realize this isn't a dress rehearsal. Real life is what you make of it. You just sure as hell better be authentic.
I won't tell you what she says, but it's really interesting. I can't recommend this fun, inspirational book highly enough! Sep 23, Janet rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: When I was finally ready to read this book, I had to dig deep down into my pile of unread books to find it. I had gotten it years earlier after seeing Sarah on Oprah. I knew then that what she was teaching - to fully reside in the present and see the spiritual in the seemingly mundane - was exactly what I needed to grasp.
It reinforced the feeling I had that being organized on the outside helped me to achieve greater clarity on matters of the spirit. The details, the mundane, the seemingly unimportant are just as significant as the significant moments that are scattered throughout our lives Simple Abundance was a great starting point for my adventure into the spiritual wilderness.
It changed my outlook on my life. After a few months, I found myself faltering a bit I may start reading it again Excavating Your Authentic Self. Mar 10, Jeanne rated it it was ok Shelves: I have started this book three times and never made it past March. I don't know if it's because I get distracted or if it's because Sarah Ban Breathnach is always talking about her family and the kids and all of the responsibilities of a mom and wife -- and I can't relate. Or maybe I just get bored. I have learned some important tips that I've found helpful my fav is what I call my "happy drawer" where I keep stuff that makes me happy so it's there when I need it.
Maybe I'm just stubborn -- th I have started this book three times and never made it past March.
Maybe I'm just stubborn -- those glowing five star reviews should tell you that I am the exception and not the norm with this one. Martha Stewart, the Joneses, second cars, consumerism, credit cards, and television are exposed as vapid tricksters that wreak havoc on budgets and self- esteem.
This is the thrust of guides from Simple Abundance to The Joy of Not Working , differentiated only by authorial tone and organizational structure. A Daybook of Comfort and Joy — sets the high-water mark. Even the most hard-nosed, cynical types might find themselves occasionally drawn in by some of her principles.
Despite the varied contributors, however, Simple Pleasures is not as culturally inclusive as Simple Abundance and its main appeal will be to WASP readers. Simple Pleasures to Enhance Your Life and Comfort Your Soul is drop-dead practical, written with a quietly dignified air of desperation. Author Tracey McBride is the publisher of the newsletter Frugal Times , launched when her husband was laid off. Because she is working from a position of enforced frugality, rather than chosen simplicity, McBride is less poetic about second-hand shopping and other tricks of living well on slender means.
There is an underlying sense that to do it well is a matter of pride, but that homemade or second-hand is sometimes second best. Learning to Live the Conserver Lifestyle last year to take new trends into account. Long is more concerned with economic theory than birthday parties, and his luxury of choice is a glass of homemade wine in a hammock rather than a candlelit bubble bath. Long may seem a bit wacky to some, but he makes a lot of sense and writes with an appealing post-hippie charm.