176 of 177 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Make your home your soul nourishing sanctuary, March 26, 2006
This review is from: Moving On: Creating Your House of Belonging with Simple Abundance (Hardcover)
I needed to declutter thirty years of collecting books, cds, clothes, appliances, knick knacks - you name it, I never gave or threw anythng away. I started by boxing up new and in good condition items to take to the Salvation Army every Saturday. I donated thousands of books to my public library. I sent newly dry cleaned clothes and unworn shoes to my local Dress for Success woman's charity. As I decluttered, I spent a month writing down every day what I used and wore - clothes, music, books, appliances - everything I did and used went into a diary. At the end of the month I was shocked to find that I used less than 20% of the music I owned, clothes I wore, appliances I had, etc.
I needed a way to find out if I used these items because they were convenient, or because they were truly my favorites - things I loved and that nourished my soul.
Most of the decluttering and get organized books give you steps to get the physical clutter out the way. Julie Morgenstern's Organizing from the Inside Out and Karen Kingston's Clearing the Clutter help you uncover the psychological reasons why we hold onto clutter. They are great at helping you clear your mental blocks to getting and staying decluttered and organized.
Moving On by Sarah Ban Breathnach takes it to the next level. The author helps you slow down and make a soul nourishing connection to your home and possessions. Using the same format as her bestselling Simple Abundance and Something More, she leads you step by step to turn your home from neatly organized to a sanctuary of soul contentment for you and your family.
Moving On is part memoir, part soul nourishing exercises to coax you into re-connecting to what you love most in your home and life. This is just what I needed in this fast paced world. Like most people, I have a frenzeid commute to work and I am in the office long hours. I spend most of my weekend running errands. I have very little time/waking hours at home. I need that time to be in a place that rejuvenates me and recharges my soul. With this new book by Sarah Ban Breathnach, I feel I can create my home haven, my soul sanctuary with relative ease.
If you loved her other books, you will really appreciate this new entry in the Simple Abundance series. It is a soul nourishing way to declutter, stay organized and enjoy the things in your home and life that you cherish and love the most.
I also recommend all books by Karen Kingston, Julie Morgenstern, Victoria Moran and Alexandra Stoddard.
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50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brava!, April 17, 2006
This review is from: Moving On: Creating Your House of Belonging with Simple Abundance (Hardcover)
I just finished this book and have to say "She did it again" She's given me (all women) permission to not be perfect; perhaps even to revel in non-perfection.
One needs to have read "Simple Abundance" (1996) to get the full impact of Sarah's narrative in "Moving On". What she has shared with us is her digressions from the path of "Simple Abundance" over the past 10 years.
What a difference a decade makes! In 1996 I had an emotional, family crisis. "Simple Abundance" helped me moving forward.
Her book was just what I needed. It was OK to buy a bunch of flowers just for me. It's OK to sneak an hour out of a busy afternoon to go to the new antique store. Wow, I even felt calmer after I had organized my linen closet.
Like Sarah, in the last 10 years I had financial woes, created and then sold a business. She moved across "The Pond" while I moved across the nation (California to Maine). My small family suffered chasms of pain and they are just now starting to come back together.
There are so many topics in the new book that I can relate to -- What are 5 things you like about your kitchen even though you want to remodel it -- HA! I found 10. So many of her observations dovetail with everyday women's lives.
In 1996 "Simple Abundance" was there for me and now "Moving On" can help me as I, too, move on. Thanks to Sarah.
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51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
SBB's Best Offering Since Simple Abundance, April 22, 2006
This review is from: Moving On: Creating Your House of Belonging with Simple Abundance (Hardcover)
If you're one of the legions who found comfort and joy in the wisdom of Simple Abundance, you won't be disappointed by Moving On, Sarah Ban Breathnach's meditation on creating a home that truly reflects your spirit. Though homekeeping was also one of the topics of Simple Abundance, Moving On is a deeper exploration of what it means to belong in your own environment. Both thoughtful and revealing, Sarah tells through her own story what we know in our hearts to be true: money, fame, and external success will never bring the peace we want and need from our surroundings. Houses don't become havens by accident -- Moving On is a blueprint to help you start the process of creating your sanctuary.
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