Day 100/366 days Towards Self-Mastery. Mood: excited! 100 days of daily blogs feels like a great milestone!
Simple Abundance is about living frugally, and living well. Accomplishing both simultaneously.
Right now is the perfect time to be considering simplifying your life. For some it will be a necessity. But don't think for a moment that living simply means you will miss out.
One of my greatest accomplishments is realising that living simply could mean that I enjoyed the luxury of simple pleasures that I never delighted in when I was worrying about what I was missing out on.
Think about the personal luxuries you can add to your lifestyle while nurturing your personal style of living simply.
What simple pleasures would make you feel deliciously abundant?
As I first journeyed into this inspirational book 20 years ago, I recall cosy winter evenings beside a warming log fire with my hands wrapped around a mug of delicious hot chocolate home-made with real chunks of dark chocolate and real cream.
Bunches of pink roses in my living room and on my office desk purchased for a mere $5 in my local village shopping centre.
Meals crafted with fresh produce from my local organic market, with an occasional treat of a good bottle of wine.
As I write this post, a tall candle lights my dressing table, beautiful aromatherapy scents adorn my bedside with pieces of pottery I collected on my travels in Europe some decades ago. I'm cosy in rich cotton pyjamas after luxuriating in a deep bath of rose-scented bubbles and magnesium salts.
I wake to the dawn chorus having relinquished my bedside alarm clock decades ago, starting my day with fresh lime and lemongrass from my garden steeped in filtered, mineral rich hot water and sweetened with honey from the nearby Mary Valley. My enjoyment of this delicious morning tonic is enhanced by the sound of running water as I meditate upon the view from my bedroom windows of native trees and wildflowers that mark the banks of the creek.
My childhood was spent on a sugar-cane farm of many acres, with a large vegetable garden separating our citrus orchard and house from the fields. With poultry and fresh fruit and veg we lived like royalty, never wanting for anything except perhaps some finesse in the preparation of our wholesome meals. Whilst we were never wealthy, and from time to time my parents struggled financially, I never felt that I was experiencing poverty.
Jeong Kwan, the famous Korean monk who perfected simple temple food and stole the hearts of Chef's Table audiences worldwide has always been an inspiration. By simply, not so simple, being fully present to her ordinary ingredients, and with deep attention to her Buddhist philosophy, her dishes are crafted to perfection. So much so that my mouth is watering as I write, and I've never tasted her delights.
We can become present to the ingredients of our simple life to craft a masterpiece full of the richness of our attention to the simple abundance that is all around us
Living simply does not mean living with lack. It is such a personal accomplishment to realise how well you can live when you stop focussing on what you don't have and become present to what you do have.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.