Category: My Abundant Life

My Abundant Life 5-3-26

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May 3rd, 2026

A Welcome Retreat: Home as a Haven in a Hectic World

“Every spirit builds itself a house, and beyond its house a world, and beyond its world a heaven. Know then that world exists for you.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Essayist; May 25th, 1803 to April 27th, 1882)

“…heaven on earth…not only from injury, but from all terror, doubt and division.”

John Ruskin (English Polymath and Writer; December 10th, 1907 to November 8th, 1998)

“Home is where we start from.”

T. S. Eliot (Poet & Essayist; September 26th, 1888 to January 4th, 1965)

“Begin believing that the time, energy, and emotion you invest daily in the soulcraft of homecaring—carving out a haven for yourself and those dear to you—is a sacred endeavor.”

“I have always cherished the early morning hours when I get up and clean-up the kitchen from the previous nights activities. To set-up the coffee for my love and feel that my start to the day is complete. A clean and orderly home clears my mind of the unnecessary dialogue. Each day I live into my life with enthusiasm and energy knowing my home is my haven and I treat her with respect and keep maintained as my families sanctuary.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 144 to 145 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Abundant Life 5-2-26

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May 2nd, 2026

Living in the House of Spirit

“How to be happy when you are miserable. Plant Japanese poppies with cornflowers and mignonette, and bed out the petunias among the sweet-peas so that they shall scent each other. See the sweet-peas coming up. Drink very good tea out of a thin Worcester cup of a colour between apricot and pink…”

Rumer Godden (British Author; December 10th, 1907 to November 8th, 1998)

“It was the small things that helped, taken one by one and savored. Make yourself savour them.”

Rumer Godden (British Author; December 10th, 1907 to November 8th, 1998)

“The soulcraft of creating and sustaining safe havens, set apart from the world, in which to seek and savor small authentic joys.”

“…everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time, but unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.”

Indian proverb

“I spend time in each room everyday as that is living fully into every day and every moment.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 142 to 144 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Abundant Life 5-1-26

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May 1st, 2026

“Let all they joy be as the month of May.”

Frances Quarles (English Poet; May 8th, 1592 to September 9th, 1644)

“This month we turn our attention homeward, as we continue to weave simplicity into our daily round while reacquainting ourselves with the transformative power of the third Simple Abundance principle—Order.”

Everyday Epiphanies

“Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it.”

Anne de Lenclos (French Writer; November 10th, 1620 to October 17th, 1705)

“We should write an elegy for every day that has slipped through our lives unnoticed and unappreciated. Better still, we should write a song of thanksgiving for all the days that remain.”

“…we’re startled into consciousness by an unforeseen threat to something that we hold dear and have been taking for granted. I call these luminous moments ‘everyday epiphanies,’ because they jar us into a profound awareness of how much we have, and how much we have escaped, and how much there is to be grateful for.”

“Everyday epiphanies encourage us to cherish everything. Today a new sun has risen. Everything lives. Everything can speak to your soul passionately if you will be still enough to listen.”

“You have to count on living every single day in a way you believe will make you feel good about your life, so that if it were over tomorrow, you’d be content.”

Jane Seymour (British Actress; February 15th, 1951)

“Being present for every breath IS the juice of life. Using up all the day and living each day like it is the best party ever is the key! Neil and I have a party everyday…intimate connection, marvelous cocktail, scrumptious dinner and holding hands watching our favorite cooking shows together IS our life juice.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 141 to 142 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Abundant Life 4-30-26

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April 30th, 2026

When Did You Feel Most Beautiful?

“I don’t believe makeup and the right hairstyle alone can make a woman beautiful. The most radiant woman in the room is the one full of life and experience.”

Sharon Stone (American Actress; March 10th, 1958)

“…Love was the common denominator that transformed me, not the outer trappings: love for my husband, love four our child. love for my work. This is perhaps the most important beauty lesson any of us can ever learn. Love has the power to transcend our physical limitations.”

“The more I wonder, the more I love.”

Alice Walker (American Novelist & Short Story Writer; February 9th, 1944)

“When wonder and love become as indispensable to you as foundation and blush, you will become the most radiant woman in the world.”

“I know for a fact that love recreates you. I have felt more beautiful with each passing year and seem to have found a ‘Fountain of Youth’ of sorts as I look and feel better now than I ever have. Each passing year is better than any before it. My husband Neil is my love elixir.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 138 to 139 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Abundant Life 4-29-26

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April 29th, 2026

Allure: The Feminine Mystique

“Taking joy in life is a woman’s best cosmetic.”

Rosalind Russell (American Actress & Model; June 4th, 1907 to November 28th, 1976)

“It is allure, the, mesmerizing power to entice or attract through personal charm and mystery.”

“Where there is a woman there is magic.”

Ntozake Shange (American Playwright & Poet; September 11th, 1885 to March 2nd, 1930)

“You choose to take joy in real life as it unfolds day by day, hour by hour, a heartbeat at a time.”

“To live is so startling, it leaves little time for anything else.”

Emily Dickinson (American Poet; December 19th, 1830 to May 15th, 1886)

“I believe our life IS the gift! I live newly into each moment…each breath. To know I get to love my husband completely in each moment with a fire hose of love IS the juice of life!“

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 136 to 138 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Abundant Life 4-28-26

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April 28th, 2026

The Intuitive Sense

“Intuition is a spiritual faculty, and does not explain, but simply points the way.”

Florence Scovel Shinn (American Artist & Book Illustrator; September 24th, 1871 to October 17th, 1940)

“Intuition has been called our ‘sixth sense’ and is often an ability ascribed to women.”

…believed that the intelligence that “arises out of sex and beauty is intuition.”

D. H. Lawrence (English Novelist & Short Story Writer; September 11th, 1885 to March 2nd, 1930)

…feminine intuition was a result of our “age-long training in human relations.”

Margaret Mead (American Cultural Anthropologist and Author; December 16th, 1901 to November 15th, 1978)

“Intuition is the subliminal sense Spirit endowed us with to maneuver safely through the maze that is real life. Wild animals rely on their intuition to stay alive; we should reply on ours to thrive.”

“It is only by following your deepest instinct that you can lead a rich life and if you let your fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct then your life will be safe, expedient and thin.”

Katharine Butler Hathaway (American Writer; 1890 to 1942)

“One such intuitive signal is the emotional trembling that accompanies creative discovery or warns us not to take an action. Another intuitive message breaks through when we suddenly grasp that to try something new might be delightful; we do so and are surprised by joy. A third intuitive nudge occurs through revelational the inner knowing that helps us arrive at the right place at the right time so that we can be swept away by the benevolent flow of synchronicity that gets us where we’re meant to be as easily as the Universe can arrange it.”

“…one in whom persuasion and belief/Had ripened into faith, and faith become/A passionate intuition.”

William Wordsworth (English Poet; April 7th 1770 to April 23rd, 1850)

“I have always had a strong intuitive sense of my experience of the world. It has served me well and I trust it. Combined with my synesthesia, I feel bolstered by my intuition in understanding and navigating my world.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 135 to 136 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Abundant Life 4-27-26

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April 27th, 2026

Reach Out and Touch Someone

“O world invisible, we view thee,

O world intangible, we touch thee,

O world unknowable, we know thee.”

Francis Thompson (English Poet; December 16th, 1859 to November 13th, 1907)

“Touch is the first physical sense we experience as strange hands pull us from the dark realm of the soul into the cold, harsh light of earth. After the security and warmth of the womb, frigid air assaults our fragile, naked bodies until we find comfort in our mother’s arms with the sense of touch guiding our first few conscious moments. For many people touch is also the last sense we experience as we depart the world—the squeeze of a loved one’s hand. Sight, smell hearing, and taste have gone before us.”

“The first sense to ignite, touch is often the last to burn out, long after our eyes betray us, our hands remain faithful to the world.”

Frederich Sachs

“We describe our mood swings as ‘feelings’ and when something strikes a deep, sentimental chord in us we say we were ‘touched.’ When we feel alienated, fragmented, and adrift, we often refer to this estrangement as ‘losing touch with reality.'”

“…we all need to be hugged and touched, not just to thrive but to survive.”

“‘sensuist’ (someone who delights in sensory experiences, as opposed to a ‘sensualist,’ someone who is excessively concerned with physical gratification).”

“She seemed a thing that could not feel/The touch of earthly years.”

William Wordsworth (English Poet; April 7th 1770 to April 23rd, 1850)

“Let us become women who embrace our portion of earthly years with a passion by delighting in our sense of touch.”

“I am very aware how much touch is a huge part of my aliveness. I need it to remain balanced centered and well. For huge portions of my life I went without touch. Being a mother afforded me more regular dosing, However, choosing my lover and life partner was the pivot into a chronic blissful state that has been unmatched…ever. When a child, I was disconnected from touch as it was not a regular occurrence by my mother. Often perfunctory in nature and performative. My thought is that she experienced less touch as a child too. My dad was much more affectionate, but also metered. I think he knew instinctively he needed touch to remain balanced. Sometimes he would just reach out to hold my hand and at the time, I needed that too. This brings tears to my eyes as I write this…’I miss you dad.'”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 134 to 135 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Abundant Life 4-26-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Abundant LifeLeave a comment

April 26th, 2026

Major and Minor Chords of Pleasure

“With stammering lips and insufficient sounds, I strive and struggle to deliver right the music of my nature.”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (English Poet; March 6th, 1806 to June 29th, 1861)

“Psychologists say that deafness, or a severe hearing loss, acquired after a human being has known hearing, can be te single greatest trauma a person can experience.”

Hannah Merker (Writer)

“I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of the earth…”

Kate Chopin (American Author; February 8th, 1850 to August 22nd, 1904)

“I love my ability to hear. I have been having so much fun listening to decades of music and film. I delight in waking up to the birds chirping outside our bedroom window.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 132 to 134 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Abundant Life 4-25-26

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April 25th, 2026

On a Clear Day You can See Forever

“The greatest thing a human being ever does in this world is to see something. …To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion, all in one.”

John Ruskin (English Polymath and Writer; February 8th, 1819 to January 20th, 1900)

“If only we could pull out our brains and use only our eyes.”

Pablo Picasso (Spanish Painter and Sculptor; October 25th, 1881 to April 8th, 1973)

“One eye sees, the other feels.”

Paul Klee (Swiss-German Artist; December 18th, 1879 to June 29th, 1940)

“In a way nobody sees a flower really, it is so small, we haven’t the time–and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.”

Georgia O’Keeffe (American Painter; November 15th, 1887 to March 6th, 1986)

“To see takes time. We haven’t the time. Here is the unrelenting truth and it’s chilling to the soul. Most of us have been given a miraculous gift–the ability to see–but we don’t take the time to do more than glance around. We take our sense of sight for granted.”

“I love my ability to see, just look at all the eagle sightings I post. I have a bit of an eagle eye.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 131 to 132 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Abundant Life 4-24-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Abundant LifeLeave a comment

April 24th, 2026

A Taste for Living

“I wish you all manner of Prosperity with a little more taste.”

Alain-Rene’ Le Sage (French Novelist and Playwright; May 8th, 1668 to November 17th, 1747)

“…a child has more taste buds than adults in the mouth, primarily on the tongue but also on the palate, pharynx, and tonsils), Amazingly, our taste buds wear out and regenerate every ten days, although, when we enter middle age, they don’t regenerate as frequently as we might wish.”

“The word taste, from the old English word tasten, meaning to touch and test, has always had a double meaning.”

“The primary definition of ‘taste’ describes the sensory faculty that enables us to distinguish substances dissolved in the mouth as sweet, sour, bitter, or salty. But the other definition of ‘taste’ describes the mental faculty by which we discern or appreciate things for the joy they bring us.”

“Early last week I exclaimed as I was enjoying one of my husband’s samosas that this particular Vindaloo Chicken Curry would be good with a mango chutney. We indeed got a jar for the Samosas he made this week with the same filling and they were BRILLIANT! My husband has been the most influential in my taste journey. This is why I am now a cap sasin whore and proud of it!”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 129 to 131 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.