Reflections on
"Simple Abundance"
July ~ Days 16 ~ 23
Month of July ~ Slow Down
"Lovely July...with the evocative murmur of honey bees on the wing and the smell of sun tan cream". (Cynthia Wickham)
"The pursuit of happiness becomes our personal priority this month, as the sweet strains of the fourth Simple Abundance principle ~ Harmoney ~ start to be heard in our hearts.
July 16 ~ A Seasonal Feast/The Joy of Anticipation
If you were to make a collage of foods to represent each season, what would you put in it? I think that those from the same country will find the same pictures on their pages. I will use the USA as an example, because that's what I'm familiar with. Those from the USA would find things like corn on the cob, watermelon, ice tea and grill-out meats for SUMMER. FALL would no doubt show off pumpkin pie, turkey and dressing. WINTER might show gingerbread men, ham, wardolf salad, hot cocoa, heavier foods to keep away the cold. For me, SPRING is the beginning of moving from heavy rich foods to lighter foods, as the earth turns from snow and prepares for flowers to appear.
You know....if we eat the foods that are in season, it is much kinder on our budget, and the reason for that is that we are flowing along with the natural course of nature. .....Could the way we live our lives be related to this idea? Just as the book of Ecclesiastes Chp 3, vrs 1-8 tells us "To everything there is a season" (how many remember the song from this, sang by the Byrds?) our lives also have seasons. We may experience good times, bad times, but we need to realize that they are seasons in our lives, and that one will give way to another. When your day is dark, look forward to the next season, because it will bring a welcome change. Do not expect that your life will go along the same path and never vary. If you think like that, when times become dark you will falter and lose hope. Keep faith and remember that life will produce different seasons, and our life will continue to grow and change.
Lyrics to the Byrds song from Ecclesiastes
July 17 ~ Loaves & Fishes, Part 1
In this reading Sarah shares the 2 miracles in the Bible where Jesus provided food for thousands of people with only a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. After the apostles had witnessed this on 2 separate occasions, they still feared being hungry. Why would they think like that STILL, after all they had seen? Maybe we need to ask ourselves that question? Why do certain things send me in a tailspin, falling into darkness....not different things, the SAME things, over and over and over? And yet I get over them and come out of them.. So why do I still fall, if I already know I can overcome them ....what is lacking in my nature that allows me to go thru the torture, hitting the bottom each time before I look up and crawl out by the skin of my teeth? When I see it happening again, shouldn't I recognize it and immediately start the battle upwards, instead of sliding a little each day, while I ignore the signs, waiting to be dashed into the rocks and crumble?
Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay put it like this, "Its not true that life is one d*mn thing after another - it's the SAME d*mn thing over and over." I think if we stop and ponder on this, what may at first appear to be somewhat humorous, will prove an incredible lite bulb moment!"
Could it be that we accept bad patterns in our lives because we don't feel like facing them yet, and when they have us completely crushed, only then do we fight to win ourselves back? I think, for myself it is true. I don't like this truth. I don't want to wait to be dashed into the rocks any more, just because I don't feel like resisting it today. I want to learn to recognize the same patterns as soon as they start, and stop them right there.
What are the destructive patterns in your life? Maybe they are people you really need to not be with. Everytime you are with them, they either lead you into trouble or they peck away at your self esteem and start you into days of depression or anxiety or guilt trips they lay on you for not doing what they want - both patterns are destructive. Maybe it is another type of bad habit that you know better before you start it, but you close your eyes and go ahead until you can't stop and suddenly you are at the bottom of the barrel looking up. It could be some food addiction, alcohol, reading to the point that your children don't have clean clothes or supper to eat. If it is something that keeps showing up in your life and causing turmoil, let's learn to recognize the pattern when we see it starting and not subject ourselves to it any longer, can we try? Can we open our eyes to the truth that the thing we possess to fight our way out with when we are at the bottom, we had it in the beginning also? That we've always had what we need, and only need to really see and understand that in order to use it.
July 18 ~ Loaves & Fishes II
"Hospitality is one form of worship" (The Talmud)
Do you enjoy entertaining? Perhaps you are a person who thrives on it and loves every detail as you set about preparing for it. On the other hand, maybe you are a person who pushes yourself past the point of enjoyment and the whole thing becomes a drudgery???
Would you really like to enjoy the company of your friends more often but are so overwhelmed by the thought of all it would involve that you don't see your friends often? Maybe it's time to rethink what hospitality really is about. It isn't about how much money you spent, nor how hard you worked ....but about making those dear friends feel welcome and spending time with them. Sometimes we get on a merry go round because we only see others when they have nearly killed themselves to look perfect. Sally kills herself shopping and cleaning to make a perfect lunch for Jane. Then Jane reciprocates by inviting Sally to her house. Having seen Sally's house, she knows that she must present perfection just like Sally did, and spends too much money and nearly throws her back out cleaning. When Sally see's Jane's house, she tells herself "it's a good thing I nearly killed myself preparing for lunch, look at Jane's perfect house, she would have thought me a slob". On and on it goes. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't make an effort to clean or cook nicely, but it has come to the point of everyone trying so hard, it is TOO hard.
I have had a friend stop by when my living room was a mess, I first thought to just chat at the door and not invite her in. Then I thought, "if I do that, she will only see me when I'm perfect, and in turn, she will only allow me in when she feels perfect." I quickly opened the door and showed her to the couch. We often spent pleasant mornings for a quick cup of coffee before we started our day, in our mussy homes. Our guards were down, we knew we didn't have to be perfect, and we shared our lives.
Enjoy your entertaining, and if you are up to it, pull all the plugs and go for it! But, if not, do what you are up to and if you have friends to share a cup of coffee with, drink it with thankfulness to share your time with someone close to you!
July 19 ~ Time for Personal Pursuits/Contentment
It is the soul's duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itslef to its master passion."
There is not one of us that doesn't have a 'full plate' with many things waiting for us to get to them, many people all expecting this or that....each one believing what they need is more important than anything else you have to do. And we do our best, sometimes we try TOO hard, and give ourselves away minute by minute, day by day ...always keeping in the back of our mind that time we plan to spend 20 minutes doing something for our own pleasure ...or sanity.
But if you've been anything like me ....you may have lived years of your life before you realized you never had a moments peace and were continually being taken to task for not doing MORE. I'm not saying we should never doing anything for others! That would make me a bit of a hypocrite I fear. But ladies! Your mind and spirit are just like your body. You would not drive your body nonstop without food and fluid and sleep ....well, if you did you know where it got you! And the same is true of your inner self. Unless you give your inner self the respect of time to repair itself from the affects of life -time to open up and feel it's own feelings and think it's own thoughts, you will be on the verge of collapse.
I've heard quilters who were showing their recently finished quilt tell others, "there's a lot of tears in that quilt". Not tears from pricking your finger, but the other kind. Their heads all knod as they knowingly look at each other and say, "it is a kind of therapy..when I sit and quilt". As a woman works on creating something with the physical side of her, it is our nature that we also begin to create something with our spiritual side also. Our mind begins to flow and our emotions and dreams begin to emerge in our finished product. I believe it is the same whether sewing, gardening, painting, writing, cooking...or any of the many other things that our creative nature seeks out.
By allowing your creative self to express itself, you will be creating a better you for yourself and everyone concerned.
July 20 ~ True North
"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end." (Ursula K. Leguin)
We all know the importance of some distant goal we have....go to school, get a better job, buy a house, or the big ultimate eternal goal ...but you know, sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. If you were right in the middle of the forest walking along and passing a tree, then another, and were not real keen on the meaning of 'forest' you might believe you were walking TOWARD the forest, and this was just the path. Might it be that way with our lives also? Do we spend so much time working to get somewhere that we don't spend any time with our authentic selves, and missing that we are already in the middle of our lives, not on some holding pattern until a future year? The real tragedy here is that over time, we change and mature and if we don't spend time alone with ourselves, we may lose years of our lives 'off course', never getting the opportunity to realize our choices may be much better today then what we first started out with years ago.
Our goals exist in the future, and goals are good to have....but our journey is happening now, it is real life. We need to be aware of our need to seek our 'true north' and that can only come from time spent reflecting and re-evaluating. Time we give ourselves, that is part of the 'soul-craft' of caring for our authentic selves. Rupert Brooke so eloquently says, "store up reservoirs of calm and content...and draw on them at later moments when the source isn't there but the need is very great."
July 21 ~ 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)
From today's reading: "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. Could it be that by shortchanging ourselves, the only thing impoverished is our inner life? And after all, if the lack doesn't show on the surface, if we can pull it off one more time with smoke and mirrors, why, then, of course, it doesn't count. Or does it?"
Is it the heat of July that talks us into, at last, allowing ourselves to sit down and rest? Why do we continue with thickheaded thinking? ...day after day refusing to allow ourselves the time we need to stay centered, and then wonder why we feel so much anxiety and panic?
Other cultures know the magic in 'preparing yourself' to accomplish and stay sane. Think of how those in Mexico take the mid-afternoon siesta. Those in England often think that only the brutish skip tea! And I'm not talking about a quick cup, it is an actual time slot for them!
When we were in Mexico we went to an outdoor restaurant along the beach. We ate our food and were done and ready to go. Imagine our surprise when one of our friends plopped into a hammock (which were strung up all over the place), after she got out, her husband, then after him, their child! We weren't sure what to do, as Americans are so used to running here and there, and felt ansy thinking it was time to go when the last bite went down! It took us a little while to accustom ourselves to the notion that we were not just 'here to eat'. It is more than the food. We are spending time and enjoying the relationship. That is the thing our society misses more than anything. We seem to have a great long list and busily check off one thing after the other....and NEVER get to the point where it's time to stop and enjoy.
I suggest to you that STOPPING be on the list! Lists are grand and help us keep focus unless, like over-achievers, we fill them to the extent that we can never finish and never get to the stopping time.
July 22 ~ Neglect Not the Gifts Within You
Sarah tries to teach us that in order to maintain inner harmony it is vital to have time that is ours alone, with the only obligation being toward our inner self and being in tune with what is happening inside us. She also tells us that deliberately seeking solitude will refresh us with new life, creating a richer, fuller, deeper world than before.
The moments of peace we schedule for ourselves will make us better able to cope with all that is going on around us. Sometimes life IS just hard, and it is going to leave us reeling ....but, other times, I've had to stop and ask myself if the amount of stress I feel is directly related to me being willing to minister to everyone else, stopping short of myself. If you have followed a pattern like this, it is not an easy thing to make a change, and decide you will take the time for your own peace of mind. Others may ridicule you and try to make you feel childish for thinking of yourself. If you stop and think about it, those people are usually the same ones you are turning yourself inside out for continually. They already have managed to find the key to having time to themselves - CALL YOU!
Seriously, do what seems right, do what would sound right if you heard someone else relating it - we often have blinders on when the work is on us, but quickly see it is too much to expect if someone else tells us they are doing it. Accepting obligations that you knew would cause turmoil, because you didn't want anyone to think you were bad - is trying to trade your sanity for popularity. I will let you in on a little secret I learned. The only thing it made me popular on was the call up list.
I've been room mother, I've been scout leader, I've got a list of things that would bore you all, ha, ha - and I don't regret most of the things I've given my time for. Point is, we all do things and that is how society works. Determine what you want to do, what is too much, and be prepared to follow your own schedule. Different times of our lives leave us with more energy, more time, more ability than other times. Don't try to be all things to all people all the time. Learn to pace yourself, make out your 'to do promise list' as if you were assigning these things to your best friend, and I think you will see a difference in the obligations you expect her to be able to do!
May we all 'gift' ourselves with moments of solitude and peaceful reflection that sustain us, and carry us thru our day.
Peace, Be Still
by Charles Bowman Huchins
All of nature seems to whisper, "Peace, be still."
I can hear it in the vale and on the hill;
I can hear it in the gently blowing breeze;
'Tis the secret murmured by the whispering trees.
"Peace, be still...."
July 23 ~ Snatch Stolen Moments of Solitude
So now that we know that having time to ourselves is vital ...how will you spend it? Some already have established certain rituals that they look forward to, but for others, this may be a completely new mode of thinking!
For me, the time I spend reflecting on the messages in Susan's book is my number one source of renewing myself and staying centered. It is a sacred time for me and the lessons can only be absorbed and applied when I give them my full attention. Other times that I have found to myself that fascinate me are home decorating shows on tv, quilting, knitting, any art work. For some it is reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee undisturbed - although I would caution about using this technique while sharing the actual meal with others, as that would be overlooking the 'big picture'. But, there's nothing wrong with sharing the meal, then kicking back and taking your coffee with the paper! I love taking the time to be at one with nature and find even a small flower type weed to be something awesome when you bother to really look at it. I'm lured to gaze into the sky at any period of a day or night. Sunsets/sunrises, starry nights are times I melt into and become one with, losing the days cares in the magic in the air. The lushness of summer breezes, low black autumn clouds on crisp days, moonlit 'blue snow' winter nights and spring rain tapping on my window renew me as I revel in the sensations they flood me with throughout the year.
The important thing is to have time to yourself to ponder, and time that brings you some form of comfort or joy. These may or may not be the same activity. For instance, you can ponder over your own heart's thoughts while quilting or star gazing. Or you may be so involved in a creative endeavor that you lose yourself in it as you create it, which is wonderfully envigorating, but not really ponder time.
Pamper time is always a special way to lavish yourself with physical and emotional care. Bubblebaths, lathering on your favorite lotion afterward, facials, pedicures, manicures - are times to reinforce that you are 'worth it' and deserve the time!
Look for simple ways to experience larger joys that may seem out of your reach. I don't have a fire place or a place to build a bonfire, but I have been known to light a candle and burn my marshmallow anyway! Travel shows, travel books, travel videos can open the door to many places that most of us will never get to - and they are at your finger tips at your local library and many available on your tv now!
Many find self discovery and know the value of using their quiet time to write in their journal. Your journal can be as detailed or to the point as you desire. Some like to keep track of their entire day, the things they accomplished, their food intake and exercise journal, family doings, something funny or cute a family member did (priceless as part of your heritage), etc. Others may only write down thoughts they have during the day, still others may jot down just their gratitudes, which are in themselves a window of what that day held. I find alot of comfort re-reading my gratitudes, because I know exactly what I meant when I wrote them and it is little memories collected for me.
Make special times for yourself, and you will find the burdon you lifted today was your own.
Read July 24~31
*In order to understand the full context of these reflections, you will enjoy your own copy of the Sarah Ban Breathnach book:
"Simple Abundance ~ A Daybook of Comfort and joy"
Sarah's Website ~ ENJOY!: www.simpleabundance.com
Uploaded July 2001
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED-COPYRIGHT 2001
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Month of July ~ Slow Down
"Lovely July...with the evocative murmur of honey bees on the wing and the smell of sun tan cream". (Cynthia Wickham)
"The pursuit of happiness becomes our personal priority this month, as the sweet strains of the fourth Simple Abundance principle ~ Harmoney ~ start to be heard in our hearts.
July 16 ~ A Seasonal Feast/The Joy of Anticipation
If you were to make a collage of foods to represent each season, what would you put in it? I think that those from the same country will find the same pictures on their pages. I will use the USA as an example, because that's what I'm familiar with. Those from the USA would find things like corn on the cob, watermelon, ice tea and grill-out meats for SUMMER. FALL would no doubt show off pumpkin pie, turkey and dressing. WINTER might show gingerbread men, ham, wardolf salad, hot cocoa, heavier foods to keep away the cold. For me, SPRING is the beginning of moving from heavy rich foods to lighter foods, as the earth turns from snow and prepares for flowers to appear.
You know....if we eat the foods that are in season, it is much kinder on our budget, and the reason for that is that we are flowing along with the natural course of nature. .....Could the way we live our lives be related to this idea? Just as the book of Ecclesiastes Chp 3, vrs 1-8 tells us "To everything there is a season" (how many remember the song from this, sang by the Byrds?) our lives also have seasons. We may experience good times, bad times, but we need to realize that they are seasons in our lives, and that one will give way to another. When your day is dark, look forward to the next season, because it will bring a welcome change. Do not expect that your life will go along the same path and never vary. If you think like that, when times become dark you will falter and lose hope. Keep faith and remember that life will produce different seasons, and our life will continue to grow and change.
Lyrics to the Byrds song from Ecclesiastes
July 17 ~ Loaves & Fishes, Part 1
In this reading Sarah shares the 2 miracles in the Bible where Jesus provided food for thousands of people with only a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. After the apostles had witnessed this on 2 separate occasions, they still feared being hungry. Why would they think like that STILL, after all they had seen? Maybe we need to ask ourselves that question? Why do certain things send me in a tailspin, falling into darkness....not different things, the SAME things, over and over and over? And yet I get over them and come out of them.. So why do I still fall, if I already know I can overcome them ....what is lacking in my nature that allows me to go thru the torture, hitting the bottom each time before I look up and crawl out by the skin of my teeth? When I see it happening again, shouldn't I recognize it and immediately start the battle upwards, instead of sliding a little each day, while I ignore the signs, waiting to be dashed into the rocks and crumble?
Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay put it like this, "Its not true that life is one d*mn thing after another - it's the SAME d*mn thing over and over." I think if we stop and ponder on this, what may at first appear to be somewhat humorous, will prove an incredible lite bulb moment!"
Could it be that we accept bad patterns in our lives because we don't feel like facing them yet, and when they have us completely crushed, only then do we fight to win ourselves back? I think, for myself it is true. I don't like this truth. I don't want to wait to be dashed into the rocks any more, just because I don't feel like resisting it today. I want to learn to recognize the same patterns as soon as they start, and stop them right there.
What are the destructive patterns in your life? Maybe they are people you really need to not be with. Everytime you are with them, they either lead you into trouble or they peck away at your self esteem and start you into days of depression or anxiety or guilt trips they lay on you for not doing what they want - both patterns are destructive. Maybe it is another type of bad habit that you know better before you start it, but you close your eyes and go ahead until you can't stop and suddenly you are at the bottom of the barrel looking up. It could be some food addiction, alcohol, reading to the point that your children don't have clean clothes or supper to eat. If it is something that keeps showing up in your life and causing turmoil, let's learn to recognize the pattern when we see it starting and not subject ourselves to it any longer, can we try? Can we open our eyes to the truth that the thing we possess to fight our way out with when we are at the bottom, we had it in the beginning also? That we've always had what we need, and only need to really see and understand that in order to use it.
July 18 ~ Loaves & Fishes II
"Hospitality is one form of worship" (The Talmud)
Do you enjoy entertaining? Perhaps you are a person who thrives on it and loves every detail as you set about preparing for it. On the other hand, maybe you are a person who pushes yourself past the point of enjoyment and the whole thing becomes a drudgery???
Would you really like to enjoy the company of your friends more often but are so overwhelmed by the thought of all it would involve that you don't see your friends often? Maybe it's time to rethink what hospitality really is about. It isn't about how much money you spent, nor how hard you worked ....but about making those dear friends feel welcome and spending time with them. Sometimes we get on a merry go round because we only see others when they have nearly killed themselves to look perfect. Sally kills herself shopping and cleaning to make a perfect lunch for Jane. Then Jane reciprocates by inviting Sally to her house. Having seen Sally's house, she knows that she must present perfection just like Sally did, and spends too much money and nearly throws her back out cleaning. When Sally see's Jane's house, she tells herself "it's a good thing I nearly killed myself preparing for lunch, look at Jane's perfect house, she would have thought me a slob". On and on it goes. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't make an effort to clean or cook nicely, but it has come to the point of everyone trying so hard, it is TOO hard.
I have had a friend stop by when my living room was a mess, I first thought to just chat at the door and not invite her in. Then I thought, "if I do that, she will only see me when I'm perfect, and in turn, she will only allow me in when she feels perfect." I quickly opened the door and showed her to the couch. We often spent pleasant mornings for a quick cup of coffee before we started our day, in our mussy homes. Our guards were down, we knew we didn't have to be perfect, and we shared our lives.
Enjoy your entertaining, and if you are up to it, pull all the plugs and go for it! But, if not, do what you are up to and if you have friends to share a cup of coffee with, drink it with thankfulness to share your time with someone close to you!
July 19 ~ Time for Personal Pursuits/Contentment
It is the soul's duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itslef to its master passion."
There is not one of us that doesn't have a 'full plate' with many things waiting for us to get to them, many people all expecting this or that....each one believing what they need is more important than anything else you have to do. And we do our best, sometimes we try TOO hard, and give ourselves away minute by minute, day by day ...always keeping in the back of our mind that time we plan to spend 20 minutes doing something for our own pleasure ...or sanity.
But if you've been anything like me ....you may have lived years of your life before you realized you never had a moments peace and were continually being taken to task for not doing MORE. I'm not saying we should never doing anything for others! That would make me a bit of a hypocrite I fear. But ladies! Your mind and spirit are just like your body. You would not drive your body nonstop without food and fluid and sleep ....well, if you did you know where it got you! And the same is true of your inner self. Unless you give your inner self the respect of time to repair itself from the affects of life -time to open up and feel it's own feelings and think it's own thoughts, you will be on the verge of collapse.
I've heard quilters who were showing their recently finished quilt tell others, "there's a lot of tears in that quilt". Not tears from pricking your finger, but the other kind. Their heads all knod as they knowingly look at each other and say, "it is a kind of therapy..when I sit and quilt". As a woman works on creating something with the physical side of her, it is our nature that we also begin to create something with our spiritual side also. Our mind begins to flow and our emotions and dreams begin to emerge in our finished product. I believe it is the same whether sewing, gardening, painting, writing, cooking...or any of the many other things that our creative nature seeks out.
By allowing your creative self to express itself, you will be creating a better you for yourself and everyone concerned.
July 20 ~ True North
"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end." (Ursula K. Leguin)
We all know the importance of some distant goal we have....go to school, get a better job, buy a house, or the big ultimate eternal goal ...but you know, sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. If you were right in the middle of the forest walking along and passing a tree, then another, and were not real keen on the meaning of 'forest' you might believe you were walking TOWARD the forest, and this was just the path. Might it be that way with our lives also? Do we spend so much time working to get somewhere that we don't spend any time with our authentic selves, and missing that we are already in the middle of our lives, not on some holding pattern until a future year? The real tragedy here is that over time, we change and mature and if we don't spend time alone with ourselves, we may lose years of our lives 'off course', never getting the opportunity to realize our choices may be much better today then what we first started out with years ago.
Our goals exist in the future, and goals are good to have....but our journey is happening now, it is real life. We need to be aware of our need to seek our 'true north' and that can only come from time spent reflecting and re-evaluating. Time we give ourselves, that is part of the 'soul-craft' of caring for our authentic selves. Rupert Brooke so eloquently says, "store up reservoirs of calm and content...and draw on them at later moments when the source isn't there but the need is very great."
July 21 ~ 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)
From today's reading: "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. Could it be that by shortchanging ourselves, the only thing impoverished is our inner life? And after all, if the lack doesn't show on the surface, if we can pull it off one more time with smoke and mirrors, why, then, of course, it doesn't count. Or does it?"
Is it the heat of July that talks us into, at last, allowing ourselves to sit down and rest? Why do we continue with thickheaded thinking? ...day after day refusing to allow ourselves the time we need to stay centered, and then wonder why we feel so much anxiety and panic?
Other cultures know the magic in 'preparing yourself' to accomplish and stay sane. Think of how those in Mexico take the mid-afternoon siesta. Those in England often think that only the brutish skip tea! And I'm not talking about a quick cup, it is an actual time slot for them!
When we were in Mexico we went to an outdoor restaurant along the beach. We ate our food and were done and ready to go. Imagine our surprise when one of our friends plopped into a hammock (which were strung up all over the place), after she got out, her husband, then after him, their child! We weren't sure what to do, as Americans are so used to running here and there, and felt ansy thinking it was time to go when the last bite went down! It took us a little while to accustom ourselves to the notion that we were not just 'here to eat'. It is more than the food. We are spending time and enjoying the relationship. That is the thing our society misses more than anything. We seem to have a great long list and busily check off one thing after the other....and NEVER get to the point where it's time to stop and enjoy.
I suggest to you that STOPPING be on the list! Lists are grand and help us keep focus unless, like over-achievers, we fill them to the extent that we can never finish and never get to the stopping time.
July 22 ~ Neglect Not the Gifts Within You
Sarah tries to teach us that in order to maintain inner harmony it is vital to have time that is ours alone, with the only obligation being toward our inner self and being in tune with what is happening inside us. She also tells us that deliberately seeking solitude will refresh us with new life, creating a richer, fuller, deeper world than before.
The moments of peace we schedule for ourselves will make us better able to cope with all that is going on around us. Sometimes life IS just hard, and it is going to leave us reeling ....but, other times, I've had to stop and ask myself if the amount of stress I feel is directly related to me being willing to minister to everyone else, stopping short of myself. If you have followed a pattern like this, it is not an easy thing to make a change, and decide you will take the time for your own peace of mind. Others may ridicule you and try to make you feel childish for thinking of yourself. If you stop and think about it, those people are usually the same ones you are turning yourself inside out for continually. They already have managed to find the key to having time to themselves - CALL YOU!
Seriously, do what seems right, do what would sound right if you heard someone else relating it - we often have blinders on when the work is on us, but quickly see it is too much to expect if someone else tells us they are doing it. Accepting obligations that you knew would cause turmoil, because you didn't want anyone to think you were bad - is trying to trade your sanity for popularity. I will let you in on a little secret I learned. The only thing it made me popular on was the call up list.
I've been room mother, I've been scout leader, I've got a list of things that would bore you all, ha, ha - and I don't regret most of the things I've given my time for. Point is, we all do things and that is how society works. Determine what you want to do, what is too much, and be prepared to follow your own schedule. Different times of our lives leave us with more energy, more time, more ability than other times. Don't try to be all things to all people all the time. Learn to pace yourself, make out your 'to do promise list' as if you were assigning these things to your best friend, and I think you will see a difference in the obligations you expect her to be able to do!
May we all 'gift' ourselves with moments of solitude and peaceful reflection that sustain us, and carry us thru our day.
Peace, Be Still
by Charles Bowman Huchins
All of nature seems to whisper, "Peace, be still."
I can hear it in the vale and on the hill;
I can hear it in the gently blowing breeze;
'Tis the secret murmured by the whispering trees.
"Peace, be still...."
July 23 ~ Snatch Stolen Moments of Solitude
So now that we know that having time to ourselves is vital ...how will you spend it? Some already have established certain rituals that they look forward to, but for others, this may be a completely new mode of thinking!
For me, the time I spend reflecting on the messages in Susan's book is my number one source of renewing myself and staying centered. It is a sacred time for me and the lessons can only be absorbed and applied when I give them my full attention. Other times that I have found to myself that fascinate me are home decorating shows on tv, quilting, knitting, any art work. For some it is reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee undisturbed - although I would caution about using this technique while sharing the actual meal with others, as that would be overlooking the 'big picture'. But, there's nothing wrong with sharing the meal, then kicking back and taking your coffee with the paper! I love taking the time to be at one with nature and find even a small flower type weed to be something awesome when you bother to really look at it. I'm lured to gaze into the sky at any period of a day or night. Sunsets/sunrises, starry nights are times I melt into and become one with, losing the days cares in the magic in the air. The lushness of summer breezes, low black autumn clouds on crisp days, moonlit 'blue snow' winter nights and spring rain tapping on my window renew me as I revel in the sensations they flood me with throughout the year.
The important thing is to have time to yourself to ponder, and time that brings you some form of comfort or joy. These may or may not be the same activity. For instance, you can ponder over your own heart's thoughts while quilting or star gazing. Or you may be so involved in a creative endeavor that you lose yourself in it as you create it, which is wonderfully envigorating, but not really ponder time.
Pamper time is always a special way to lavish yourself with physical and emotional care. Bubblebaths, lathering on your favorite lotion afterward, facials, pedicures, manicures - are times to reinforce that you are 'worth it' and deserve the time!
Look for simple ways to experience larger joys that may seem out of your reach. I don't have a fire place or a place to build a bonfire, but I have been known to light a candle and burn my marshmallow anyway! Travel shows, travel books, travel videos can open the door to many places that most of us will never get to - and they are at your finger tips at your local library and many available on your tv now!
Many find self discovery and know the value of using their quiet time to write in their journal. Your journal can be as detailed or to the point as you desire. Some like to keep track of their entire day, the things they accomplished, their food intake and exercise journal, family doings, something funny or cute a family member did (priceless as part of your heritage), etc. Others may only write down thoughts they have during the day, still others may jot down just their gratitudes, which are in themselves a window of what that day held. I find alot of comfort re-reading my gratitudes, because I know exactly what I meant when I wrote them and it is little memories collected for me.
Make special times for yourself, and you will find the burdon you lifted today was your own.
Read July 24~31
*In order to understand the full context of these reflections, you will enjoy your own copy of the Sarah Ban Breathnach book:
"Simple Abundance ~ A Daybook of Comfort and joy"
Sarah's Website ~ ENJOY!: www.simpleabundance.com
Uploaded July 2001
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED-COPYRIGHT 2001
This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page
"Lovely July...with the evocative murmur of honey bees on the wing and the smell of sun tan cream". (Cynthia Wickham)
"The pursuit of happiness becomes our personal priority this month, as the sweet strains of the fourth Simple Abundance principle ~ Harmoney ~ start to be heard in our hearts.
July 16 ~ A Seasonal Feast/The Joy of Anticipation
If you were to make a collage of foods to represent each season, what would you put in it? I think that those from the same country will find the same pictures on their pages. I will use the USA as an example, because that's what I'm familiar with. Those from the USA would find things like corn on the cob, watermelon, ice tea and grill-out meats for SUMMER. FALL would no doubt show off pumpkin pie, turkey and dressing. WINTER might show gingerbread men, ham, wardolf salad, hot cocoa, heavier foods to keep away the cold. For me, SPRING is the beginning of moving from heavy rich foods to lighter foods, as the earth turns from snow and prepares for flowers to appear.
You know....if we eat the foods that are in season, it is much kinder on our budget, and the reason for that is that we are flowing along with the natural course of nature. .....Could the way we live our lives be related to this idea? Just as the book of Ecclesiastes Chp 3, vrs 1-8 tells us "To everything there is a season" (how many remember the song from this, sang by the Byrds?) our lives also have seasons. We may experience good times, bad times, but we need to realize that they are seasons in our lives, and that one will give way to another. When your day is dark, look forward to the next season, because it will bring a welcome change. Do not expect that your life will go along the same path and never vary. If you think like that, when times become dark you will falter and lose hope. Keep faith and remember that life will produce different seasons, and our life will continue to grow and change.
Lyrics to the Byrds song from Ecclesiastes
July 17 ~ Loaves & Fishes, Part 1
In this reading Sarah shares the 2 miracles in the Bible where Jesus provided food for thousands of people with only a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. After the apostles had witnessed this on 2 separate occasions, they still feared being hungry. Why would they think like that STILL, after all they had seen? Maybe we need to ask ourselves that question? Why do certain things send me in a tailspin, falling into darkness....not different things, the SAME things, over and over and over? And yet I get over them and come out of them.. So why do I still fall, if I already know I can overcome them ....what is lacking in my nature that allows me to go thru the torture, hitting the bottom each time before I look up and crawl out by the skin of my teeth? When I see it happening again, shouldn't I recognize it and immediately start the battle upwards, instead of sliding a little each day, while I ignore the signs, waiting to be dashed into the rocks and crumble?
Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay put it like this, "Its not true that life is one d*mn thing after another - it's the SAME d*mn thing over and over." I think if we stop and ponder on this, what may at first appear to be somewhat humorous, will prove an incredible lite bulb moment!"
Could it be that we accept bad patterns in our lives because we don't feel like facing them yet, and when they have us completely crushed, only then do we fight to win ourselves back? I think, for myself it is true. I don't like this truth. I don't want to wait to be dashed into the rocks any more, just because I don't feel like resisting it today. I want to learn to recognize the same patterns as soon as they start, and stop them right there.
What are the destructive patterns in your life? Maybe they are people you really need to not be with. Everytime you are with them, they either lead you into trouble or they peck away at your self esteem and start you into days of depression or anxiety or guilt trips they lay on you for not doing what they want - both patterns are destructive. Maybe it is another type of bad habit that you know better before you start it, but you close your eyes and go ahead until you can't stop and suddenly you are at the bottom of the barrel looking up. It could be some food addiction, alcohol, reading to the point that your children don't have clean clothes or supper to eat. If it is something that keeps showing up in your life and causing turmoil, let's learn to recognize the pattern when we see it starting and not subject ourselves to it any longer, can we try? Can we open our eyes to the truth that the thing we possess to fight our way out with when we are at the bottom, we had it in the beginning also? That we've always had what we need, and only need to really see and understand that in order to use it.
July 18 ~ Loaves & Fishes II
"Hospitality is one form of worship" (The Talmud)
Do you enjoy entertaining? Perhaps you are a person who thrives on it and loves every detail as you set about preparing for it. On the other hand, maybe you are a person who pushes yourself past the point of enjoyment and the whole thing becomes a drudgery???
Would you really like to enjoy the company of your friends more often but are so overwhelmed by the thought of all it would involve that you don't see your friends often? Maybe it's time to rethink what hospitality really is about. It isn't about how much money you spent, nor how hard you worked ....but about making those dear friends feel welcome and spending time with them. Sometimes we get on a merry go round because we only see others when they have nearly killed themselves to look perfect. Sally kills herself shopping and cleaning to make a perfect lunch for Jane. Then Jane reciprocates by inviting Sally to her house. Having seen Sally's house, she knows that she must present perfection just like Sally did, and spends too much money and nearly throws her back out cleaning. When Sally see's Jane's house, she tells herself "it's a good thing I nearly killed myself preparing for lunch, look at Jane's perfect house, she would have thought me a slob". On and on it goes. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't make an effort to clean or cook nicely, but it has come to the point of everyone trying so hard, it is TOO hard.
I have had a friend stop by when my living room was a mess, I first thought to just chat at the door and not invite her in. Then I thought, "if I do that, she will only see me when I'm perfect, and in turn, she will only allow me in when she feels perfect." I quickly opened the door and showed her to the couch. We often spent pleasant mornings for a quick cup of coffee before we started our day, in our mussy homes. Our guards were down, we knew we didn't have to be perfect, and we shared our lives.
Enjoy your entertaining, and if you are up to it, pull all the plugs and go for it! But, if not, do what you are up to and if you have friends to share a cup of coffee with, drink it with thankfulness to share your time with someone close to you!
July 19 ~ Time for Personal Pursuits/Contentment
It is the soul's duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itslef to its master passion."
There is not one of us that doesn't have a 'full plate' with many things waiting for us to get to them, many people all expecting this or that....each one believing what they need is more important than anything else you have to do. And we do our best, sometimes we try TOO hard, and give ourselves away minute by minute, day by day ...always keeping in the back of our mind that time we plan to spend 20 minutes doing something for our own pleasure ...or sanity.
But if you've been anything like me ....you may have lived years of your life before you realized you never had a moments peace and were continually being taken to task for not doing MORE. I'm not saying we should never doing anything for others! That would make me a bit of a hypocrite I fear. But ladies! Your mind and spirit are just like your body. You would not drive your body nonstop without food and fluid and sleep ....well, if you did you know where it got you! And the same is true of your inner self. Unless you give your inner self the respect of time to repair itself from the affects of life -time to open up and feel it's own feelings and think it's own thoughts, you will be on the verge of collapse.
I've heard quilters who were showing their recently finished quilt tell others, "there's a lot of tears in that quilt". Not tears from pricking your finger, but the other kind. Their heads all knod as they knowingly look at each other and say, "it is a kind of therapy..when I sit and quilt". As a woman works on creating something with the physical side of her, it is our nature that we also begin to create something with our spiritual side also. Our mind begins to flow and our emotions and dreams begin to emerge in our finished product. I believe it is the same whether sewing, gardening, painting, writing, cooking...or any of the many other things that our creative nature seeks out.
By allowing your creative self to express itself, you will be creating a better you for yourself and everyone concerned.
July 20 ~ True North
"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end." (Ursula K. Leguin)
We all know the importance of some distant goal we have....go to school, get a better job, buy a house, or the big ultimate eternal goal ...but you know, sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. If you were right in the middle of the forest walking along and passing a tree, then another, and were not real keen on the meaning of 'forest' you might believe you were walking TOWARD the forest, and this was just the path. Might it be that way with our lives also? Do we spend so much time working to get somewhere that we don't spend any time with our authentic selves, and missing that we are already in the middle of our lives, not on some holding pattern until a future year? The real tragedy here is that over time, we change and mature and if we don't spend time alone with ourselves, we may lose years of our lives 'off course', never getting the opportunity to realize our choices may be much better today then what we first started out with years ago.
Our goals exist in the future, and goals are good to have....but our journey is happening now, it is real life. We need to be aware of our need to seek our 'true north' and that can only come from time spent reflecting and re-evaluating. Time we give ourselves, that is part of the 'soul-craft' of caring for our authentic selves. Rupert Brooke so eloquently says, "store up reservoirs of calm and content...and draw on them at later moments when the source isn't there but the need is very great."
July 21 ~ 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)
From today's reading: "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. Could it be that by shortchanging ourselves, the only thing impoverished is our inner life? And after all, if the lack doesn't show on the surface, if we can pull it off one more time with smoke and mirrors, why, then, of course, it doesn't count. Or does it?"
Is it the heat of July that talks us into, at last, allowing ourselves to sit down and rest? Why do we continue with thickheaded thinking? ...day after day refusing to allow ourselves the time we need to stay centered, and then wonder why we feel so much anxiety and panic?
Other cultures know the magic in 'preparing yourself' to accomplish and stay sane. Think of how those in Mexico take the mid-afternoon siesta. Those in England often think that only the brutish skip tea! And I'm not talking about a quick cup, it is an actual time slot for them!
When we were in Mexico we went to an outdoor restaurant along the beach. We ate our food and were done and ready to go. Imagine our surprise when one of our friends plopped into a hammock (which were strung up all over the place), after she got out, her husband, then after him, their child! We weren't sure what to do, as Americans are so used to running here and there, and felt ansy thinking it was time to go when the last bite went down! It took us a little while to accustom ourselves to the notion that we were not just 'here to eat'. It is more than the food. We are spending time and enjoying the relationship. That is the thing our society misses more than anything. We seem to have a great long list and busily check off one thing after the other....and NEVER get to the point where it's time to stop and enjoy.
I suggest to you that STOPPING be on the list! Lists are grand and help us keep focus unless, like over-achievers, we fill them to the extent that we can never finish and never get to the stopping time.
July 22 ~ Neglect Not the Gifts Within You
Sarah tries to teach us that in order to maintain inner harmony it is vital to have time that is ours alone, with the only obligation being toward our inner self and being in tune with what is happening inside us. She also tells us that deliberately seeking solitude will refresh us with new life, creating a richer, fuller, deeper world than before.
The moments of peace we schedule for ourselves will make us better able to cope with all that is going on around us. Sometimes life IS just hard, and it is going to leave us reeling ....but, other times, I've had to stop and ask myself if the amount of stress I feel is directly related to me being willing to minister to everyone else, stopping short of myself. If you have followed a pattern like this, it is not an easy thing to make a change, and decide you will take the time for your own peace of mind. Others may ridicule you and try to make you feel childish for thinking of yourself. If you stop and think about it, those people are usually the same ones you are turning yourself inside out for continually. They already have managed to find the key to having time to themselves - CALL YOU!
Seriously, do what seems right, do what would sound right if you heard someone else relating it - we often have blinders on when the work is on us, but quickly see it is too much to expect if someone else tells us they are doing it. Accepting obligations that you knew would cause turmoil, because you didn't want anyone to think you were bad - is trying to trade your sanity for popularity. I will let you in on a little secret I learned. The only thing it made me popular on was the call up list.
I've been room mother, I've been scout leader, I've got a list of things that would bore you all, ha, ha - and I don't regret most of the things I've given my time for. Point is, we all do things and that is how society works. Determine what you want to do, what is too much, and be prepared to follow your own schedule. Different times of our lives leave us with more energy, more time, more ability than other times. Don't try to be all things to all people all the time. Learn to pace yourself, make out your 'to do promise list' as if you were assigning these things to your best friend, and I think you will see a difference in the obligations you expect her to be able to do!
May we all 'gift' ourselves with moments of solitude and peaceful reflection that sustain us, and carry us thru our day.
All of nature seems to whisper, "Peace, be still."
Peace, Be Still
by Charles Bowman Huchins
I can hear it in the vale and on the hill;
I can hear it in the gently blowing breeze;
'Tis the secret murmured by the whispering trees.
"Peace, be still...."
July 23 ~ Snatch Stolen Moments of Solitude
So now that we know that having time to ourselves is vital ...how will you spend it? Some already have established certain rituals that they look forward to, but for others, this may be a completely new mode of thinking!
For me, the time I spend reflecting on the messages in Susan's book is my number one source of renewing myself and staying centered. It is a sacred time for me and the lessons can only be absorbed and applied when I give them my full attention. Other times that I have found to myself that fascinate me are home decorating shows on tv, quilting, knitting, any art work. For some it is reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee undisturbed - although I would caution about using this technique while sharing the actual meal with others, as that would be overlooking the 'big picture'. But, there's nothing wrong with sharing the meal, then kicking back and taking your coffee with the paper! I love taking the time to be at one with nature and find even a small flower type weed to be something awesome when you bother to really look at it. I'm lured to gaze into the sky at any period of a day or night. Sunsets/sunrises, starry nights are times I melt into and become one with, losing the days cares in the magic in the air. The lushness of summer breezes, low black autumn clouds on crisp days, moonlit 'blue snow' winter nights and spring rain tapping on my window renew me as I revel in the sensations they flood me with throughout the year.
The important thing is to have time to yourself to ponder, and time that brings you some form of comfort or joy. These may or may not be the same activity. For instance, you can ponder over your own heart's thoughts while quilting or star gazing. Or you may be so involved in a creative endeavor that you lose yourself in it as you create it, which is wonderfully envigorating, but not really ponder time.
Pamper time is always a special way to lavish yourself with physical and emotional care. Bubblebaths, lathering on your favorite lotion afterward, facials, pedicures, manicures - are times to reinforce that you are 'worth it' and deserve the time!
Look for simple ways to experience larger joys that may seem out of your reach. I don't have a fire place or a place to build a bonfire, but I have been known to light a candle and burn my marshmallow anyway! Travel shows, travel books, travel videos can open the door to many places that most of us will never get to - and they are at your finger tips at your local library and many available on your tv now!
Many find self discovery and know the value of using their quiet time to write in their journal. Your journal can be as detailed or to the point as you desire. Some like to keep track of their entire day, the things they accomplished, their food intake and exercise journal, family doings, something funny or cute a family member did (priceless as part of your heritage), etc. Others may only write down thoughts they have during the day, still others may jot down just their gratitudes, which are in themselves a window of what that day held. I find alot of comfort re-reading my gratitudes, because I know exactly what I meant when I wrote them and it is little memories collected for me.
Make special times for yourself, and you will find the burdon you lifted today was your own.
Read July 24~31
*In order to understand the full context of these reflections, you will enjoy your own copy of the Sarah Ban Breathnach book:
"Simple Abundance ~ A Daybook of Comfort and joy"
Sarah's Website ~ ENJOY!: www.simpleabundance.com
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED-COPYRIGHT 2001
This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page
