Tag: American Writer

My Abundant Life 8-1-26

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August 1st, 2026

“Summer’s lease hat all too short a date.”

William Shakespeare (English Playwright & Poet; April 1564 to April 23rd, 1616)

The Harmonic Convergence of an Authentic Life

“But if you have nothing at all to create, then perhaps you create yourself.”

Carl Jung (Swiss Psychiatrist & Psychotherapist; July 26th, 1875 to June 6th, 1961)

“In undertaking a spiritual life, what matters is simple. …We must make certain that our path is connected with our heart… When we ask, ‘Am I following a path with heart?’ we discover that no one can define for us exactly what our path should be. Instead, we must allow the mystery and beauty of this question to resonate within our being. Then somewhere within us an answer will come and understanding will arise. If we are still and listen deeply, even for a moment, we will know if we are following a path with heart.”

Jack Kornfield (American Psychologist & Writer; July 16th, 1945)

“For me, bearing witness to my authentic self is the most joyous and fulfilling spiritual path I have ever followed. It is truly ‘a path with heart,’ It began when I acknowledged that creativity is holy.”

“It’s never too late to reclaim your individual gifts, resuscitated a dream, create an authentic life. Consider this: what if ‘original sin’ is denying instead of celebrating your originality?”

“Each of us possesses an exquisite, extraordinary gift: The opportunity to give expression to Divinity on earth through our everyday lives. When we choose to honor this priceless gift, we participate in the re-creation of the world.”

“Our own life is the instrument with which we experiment with truth.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese Monk & Peace Activist; 1910 to March 13th, 2002)

“I have been reclaiming my love for self. To recognize I am a gift and deserving to add to the world and my life has been the most important exploration I have ever embarked upon.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 281 to 283 of 501.

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

My Abundant Life 7-23-26

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July 23rd, 2026

Snatch Stolen Moments of Solitude

“She was not accustomed to taste the joys of solitude except in company.”

Edith Wharton (American Writer & Designer, August 20th, 1938 to November 30th, 2022)

“I have learned to carve out quiet–alone–uninterrupted time and my husband knows to honor it!”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 268 to 270 of 501.

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

My Abundant Life 7-22-26

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July 22nd, 2026

Neglect Not The Gifts Within You

“She endured. And survived. Marginally, perhaps, but it is not required of us that we live well.”

Anne Cameron (Canadian Novelist & Poet, August 20th, 1938 to November 30th, 2022)

“Oh, yes it is! We may come back to enjoy another life–and I’m open to that possibility–but until I know for sure, I don’t want to waste the one I’m living right now. I’ve endured. And survived. And I’ve lived marginally, but living well is all it’s cracked up to be.”

“…open time, with no obligations except toward the inner world and what is going on there.”

May Sarton (Belgian-American Novelist & Poet; May 3rd, 1912 to July 16th, 1995)

“Deliberately seeking solitude–quality time spent away from family and friends–may seem selfish. It is not. Solitude is as necessary for our creative spirits to develop and flourish as are sleep and food for our bodies to survive.”

“It is a difficult lesson to learn today–to leave one’s friends and family and deliberately practice the art of solitude for an hour or a day or a week… And yet, once it is done, I find there is a quality to being alone that is incredibly precious. Life rushes back into the void, richer, more vivid, fuller than before.”

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (American Writer & Aviator, June 22nd, 1906 to February 7th, 2001)

“I have always yearned for solitude to quiet the bustle of life so I could consider the inner voice inside me. Quiet contemplation has always been an attractive vice.

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 267 to 268 of 501.

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

My Abundant Life 7-21-26

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July 21st, 2026

The Importance of Solitude

“If women were convinced that a day off or an hour of solitude was a reasonable ambition, they would find a way of attaining it. As it is, they feel so unjustified in their demand that they rarely make the attempt.”

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (American Writer & Aviator, June 22nd, 1906 to February 7th, 2001)

“I want to be left alone.”

Greta Garbo (Swedish-American Film Actress; September 18th, 1905 to April 15th, 1990)

“I believe that it’s essential for busy women, by which I mean all of us, to pause a moment–this moment–to reconsider the entire subject of solitude. Too many of us approach time alone as if it were a frivolous, expendable luxury rather than a creative necessity.”

“Certain springs are tapped only when we are alone. The artist knows he must be alone to create; the writer, to work out his thoughts; the musician to compose; the saint, to pray. But women need solitude in order to find again te true essence of themselves… The problem is not entirely in finding the room of one’s own, the time alone, difficult and necessary as this is. The problem is more how to still the soul in the midst of its activities. In fact the problem is how to feed the soul.”

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (American Writer & Aviator, June 22nd, 1906 to February 7th, 2001)

“In the past I was horrible at this and always placed myself last on the list. I am gradually putting myself first. I am not willing to say I am being selfish because I do so. Instead, I am worthy and deserve to put myself first and find the time to be creative and fully self-expressed.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 266 to 267 of 501.

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

My Abundant Life 7-5-26

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July 5th, 2026

Cooking Companions

“No one who cooks cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”

Laurie Colwin (American Writer; June 14th, 1944 to October 24th, 1992)

“I know that young children will wander away from the table, and that family life will never smooth, and that life itself is full…not only of charm and warmth and comfort but of sorrow and tears. But whether we are happy or sad, we must be fed.”

Laurie Colwin (American Writer; June 14th, 1944 to October 24th, 1992)

“Convincing my husband he is a chef has transformed his cooking to epic levels!

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 243 to 245 of 501.

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

My Abundant Life 6-23-26

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June 23rd, 2026

Midsummer Night’s Dreams

“Now is the high-tide of year,

And whatever of life hath ebbed away

Comes flooding back with ripply cheer

Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it,

We are happy now, because God wills it.”

James Russell Lowell (Poet & Former United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom; February 22nd, 1819 to August 12th, 1891)

“Life is to be enjoyed, not saddled with…”

Tasha Tudor (American Illustrator & Writer; August 28th, 1915 to June 18th, 2008)

“‘Take joy’ from each day. This is a catechism we should all embrace to experience Heaven on earth.”

1st Commandment of the Stillwater religion

“I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”

Lucy Maud Montgomery (Canadian Author; November 30th, 1874 to April 24th, 1942)

“Learning to BE present has afforded me the capacity to be enlivened by the smallest of pleasures to the same magnitude as something splendid. To BE alive is the magic.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 222 to 224 of 501.

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

My Abundant Life 6-22-26

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June 22nd, 2026

The Gourmet Victory Garden

“It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a home-grown tomato.”

Lewis Grizzard (American Writer; October 20th, 1946 to March 20th, 1994)

“In the 1940s, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered ‘victory gardens’ as part of the war effort. Domestic propaganda exhorted women to remember that ‘waste during war is sabotage,’ and American women answered the patriotic call by growing more than a million tons of vegetables a year—half of what the home front annually consumed—backyard plots.”

“And this emotion of wonder filled me for each vegetable as it was gathered every year. There is nothing that is comparable to it, as satisfactory or as thrilling, as gathering the vegetables one has grown.”

Alice B. Toklas (American Writer; April 30th, 1877 to March 7th, 1967)

“I am so thankful my parents taught me to garden. We grew up poor and our garden is where we felt richest with delicious and nutritious food.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 221 to 222 of 501.

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

My Abundant Life 6-6-26

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June 6th, 2026

The Bath: Secret Heaven of Self-Absorption

“If I were a psychiatrist, I think I would like to inspect my patients’ bathrooms before investigating any other area of their lives.”

Mark Hampton (American Interior Designer, Writer & Illustrator; June 1st, 1940 to July 23rd, 1998)

“…provide a place for private pampering for a sybaritic mood that might otherwise be frowned on. Hidden from the scrutiny of others, these rooms are secret havens of self-absorption.”

“My bathroom is a temple of renewal and meditation.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 196 to 198 of 501.

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

My Abundant Life 6-2-26

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June 2nd, 2026

In Praise of Modesty

“Style is to see beauty in modesty.”

Andrée Putman (French Production Designer; December 23rd, 1925 to January 19th, 2013)

“Meditate on modesty for a moment. What if she isn’t the self-effacing, shy, retiring, nerdy virtue we’ve thought she is? What if Modesty is really passion restrained? What if modesty is a virtue so full of her own smoldering sense of self that she isn’t distracted by the glitz?”

“…the gentle art of enhancing your charm by pretending not to be aware of it.”

Oliver Herford (American Writer & Illustrator; December 2nd, 1860 to July 5th, 1935)

“People with an authentic style know what they are, but even more important, they know what they are not. They don’t care about labels. They care about personal expression.”

“I definitely know who I am not. However, this still leaves me a bit a loss to my style.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 191 to 192 of 501.

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

My Abundant Life 5-31-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Abundant LifeLeave a comment

May 31st, 2026

Child’s Play: Introducing a Touch of Whimsey and Wit to Your Surroundings

“Oh, the fun of arriving at a house and feeling the spark that tells you that you are going to have a good time.”

Mark Hampton (American Interior Designer, Writer & Illustrator)

“May has been a fun month to rediscover my authentic style in all veins of my life.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 184 to 188 of 501.

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