I love that time in the very early part of the year, where thoughts turn to resolving that with careful management, this will be the best year yet. Where, in lazy summer’s days (I live in the southern hemisphere), I have time to dip into a hoarded library of books devoted to creating a modest, but rich existence in tune with the principles of harmony, simplicity and style. It is a time for purchasing pristine new diaries, journals and other notebooks that will help to capture everything that needs capturing and setting out some gentle rules and routines that if adhered to will ensure a life well lived.
Of great excitement this New Year is the arrival of the book ordered before Christmas that I have been waiting for, not too patiently. I bought the original version of this book over 20 years ago now and it has been the blueprint that I have used to overlay my life since that time. I am so excited to be able to reacquaint myself with a very dear old friend, who has emerged fresher and even more relevant for the world that has changed so much since she first appeared. The book of course is Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
The lessons of Gratitude, Simplicity, Order, Harmony, Beauty and Joy await for me in these pages and Simple Abundance will be my primary guide over the next 12 months.
I don’t know about you, but I can so easily become paralysed by overwhelm when I attempt to plan my days, capture my daily musings, compile the lists of things to be done or remembered.
This year, my mantra is simple. By keeping the must dos to a minimum and the daily routines simple and easily doable, I am setting myself up for success – fingers crossed.
There is much to be done this year.
Quietly Quaintrelle 