Customer Reviews

Moving On: Creating Your House of Belonging with Simple Abundance

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Absolutely one of the best books I've read in the last 10 years. As a grief counselor, I am painfully aware of how people get "stuck in a rut" and go back to old familiar behaviour. The only difference between a rut and a grave is it's size and the amount of time one spends in it. She has once again given us all something to think about as well as a plan of action that so many people don't really seem to have. As well as change lives, this book will, in this man's humble opinion, undoubtedly save some as well. A must read for grievors, those who have gone through seperation or divorce, and for the rest of us that haven't.... yet.

Bill Sellers C.G.R.C. Supv.
R.G. Sellers F.H. Inc.
Chambg. PA 17201

I received an email that said Sara's Back and offered me to pre-order this book. Though I love reading I never pre-ordered a book but "Something More, Excavating Your Authentic Self" led me out of a 20 year miserable marriage on a path to self-discovery. I read this book in one weekend as it was a page-turner and I couldn't put it down! I looked around my apt. at all the unnecessary clutter and vowed to fix this problem this weekend. So many dormant emotions ran through my mind as I read this book. It felt as if we were gal pals just chatting. I love the way she references other books and blend them into her thoughts. This meshing allows the reader to experience multiple authors simutaneously yet collectively. I sent this book to my sister in hopes that she will "see the light" that your home is sacred and react accordingly. However, I will order another for my own library ASAP!

There were lots of aspects of this title that I adored -

I completely appreciated the idea of making my home one of my "sacred partners" - something that would shift so much of how I perceive this place I live. This was a powerful moment in the reading and really worth everything else - it is not that the everything else isn't quality, for the most part it is - but I was thinking if I bought the book to help me reorganize - the "how-to's" I would be at a loss.

It give sthe inspiration, it gives insights into the psyche and soul, but is lacking in some of the core nuts-and-bolts that would have made this into a five star book. Her spirit definitely gives the book soul, which makes me wish there was a half-star category or something.

I think her idea for a "house scrapbook"... a "scrapbook of home desires" is a good one, but for someone like me it might create more of a block than inspire action. It took me several years, for example, to paint a room because I thought I had to have the perfect ceilign fan, first. I know, weird, and I know, true. I can also see myself getting cluttered with all the "stuff" in such a notebook to the point of getting zero done.

There are prayers and quotes and lots of references.

It is easy to read, inspiring. I know I would like to have a home that is truly a sacred partner. After reading this book, I feel like Sarah believes in me doing just that... which I hope I can do without the scrapbook.

This book was really a disappointment. Some passages were lifted verbatim from her other books--which made me feel ripped off. In "Moving On," she describes how the clutter in her house got out of control to the point where she had a psychic specialist come in. The psychic said the house was "weeping." Sarah then found out soon after that her husband was having an affair and the house was "protecting" her with its clutter. That's an interesting enough story--EXCEPT that she told the exact same story in "Simple Abundance," only the person having the cluttered house problem was her friend--not Sarah. So, which story are we supposed to believe?

This book seems so thrown together. I think she should've taken another year or so to flesh it out, to use all new stories and to find a really good editor.

I just don't feel the same about any of her books now.

Dear reader, I suggest you sit down with a cup of tea and get cozy --- this is the kind of read that will inspire you to make changes that will support and sustain as you move through life. Well done, Sarah. You've presented a very important, inspirational road map, especially for baby boomer women who are getting ready to clear out and move forward. Pamela D. Blair, Author, The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Mid-Life And Beyond

The author has never written a book I didnt enjoy. I have seen criticism of this book for repeating content of her previous book(s). I don't know about those critics - but I needed a new updated version' and I got it in this book. Of course, I love all of Sarah's books!

I am currently in the process of reading this book and so far find it to be a memior of the emotional turmoil the writer experiences after 'simple abundance'. She OFTEN quotes MANY other authors which has me wonder.... who is writing this? Sara Breathnach or is it a collection of womens discoveries and insights? When I first read the synopsis it was about how people often let go but don't move on. They acknowledge what stops them, let go, and then stay where they are. I didn't expect it to have anything to do with house cleaning.

However, the universe's 'coincidences' in life are amazing. I recently completed a house cleaning, physically and spiritually. A month later I begin this book, and tonight my mother who saw my living space for the first time in years, spoke to me about 'teaching me' the 'next level'. At first I was upset that she focused on how the carpets are old and that I don't vacuum enough rather than acknowledge and appreciate the beautifully clear, clean space I created. But then I thought.... wow! It was almost verbatim to the chapter I read this morning which, with all honesty I thought sounded a little 'victim-like' in the way Sarah blames women's' mothers' for not teaching us how to create a home. When I read that, my first thought was that - yes, I don't remember my mother teaching me how to be a 'proper homemaker' but I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR MY LIFE, and I figured it out myself. But then she showed up differently and she brought it up. What wondrous ways the universe works.

As mentioned, I haven't finished it yet. As of now, I'm conflicted. Like anyone who understands transformation, spiritual work, or coaching, you'll get these beautiful 'coincidences'. On the other hand the writing itself doesn't yet feel that profound, more like a lot of sharing with some deep quotes. If anything else hits me as I read or when I finish, I'll write another review.