Romancing the Ordinary: A Year of Simple Splendour - Hardcover

Breathnach, Sarah Ban

4.16

695 ratings by Goodreads

9780743207300: Romancing the Ordinary: A Year of Simple Splendour

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743207300 ISBN 13: 9780743207300

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd, 2003

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The long-awaited new book from Sarah Ban Breathnach, encourages us to work out what most excites and moves us, what makes our heart miss a beat. By exulting in the ecstatic experience of daily life - by romancing our soul - we can truly flourish. ROMANCING THE ORDINARY is organised as a yearbook, celebrating a spirituality of the senses seasonally, monthly and weekly. Sarah Ban Breathnach introduces the concept that women are endowed with not five, but seven senses: Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch, Scent, Knowing and Wonder. Each day's reflection, each week, will highlight one of the senses drawing on myth, literature, poetry, film, music and drama. By exulting in the ecstatic experience of daily life, by romancing your soul - working out what excites or moves you to tears, what makes your heart miss a beat, your knees shake and soul sigh - Sarah Ban Breathnach shows you how to embrace your magical, mystical, sensitive and spiritual Essential Self, restoring weary and jaded feminine souls.

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Review:

Romancing the Ordinary is the latest book from Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of the best-selling Simple Abundance. In the mid-80s Sarah Ban Breathnach spent several months bedridden, "confused and disorientated" as the result of a head injury. Her eyesight blurred, listening to music made her dizzy and her senses of taste and smell had vanished. At first she bewailed her fate, but gradually her attitude changed--as she recovered her senses, she realised she had learned an important spiritual lesson: "I had discovered the miracle of the sacred in the ordinary."

In Romancing the Ordinary, Ban Breathnach is determined that we too learn how to "turn our days of lead into days of gold." Aimed especially at women, it's a month by month celebration of "simple splendour". Each chapter is headed by an inspirational quote, and is jam- packed with suggestions, recipes, observations, tasks and sensual treats to help you re-discover the feeling of "wonder". Ban Breathnach first task is a deceptively simple one--you have to learn how improve the quality of your days. If that sounds a bit worthy, don't despair, Ban Breathnach's approach is more practical magic rather than good house keeping. So sure, she does suggest getting rid of all the useless junk in your hand-bag, but she also wants you to fully appreciate decadent mugs of hot chocolate or make up your own 'scrumptious' baths oils, or go for a stroll in the park on a sunny day. Instead of waiting for a significant other to show you a world of passion and romance, she wants you to create it for yourself. Now there's a heartfelt challenge. --Eithne Farry

About the Author:

Sarah Ban Breathnach's work celebrates quiet joys, simple pleasures and everyday epiphanies. The wisdom, warmth, compassion and disarming candour have made her a trusted voice to millions of women. She is publisher of Simple Abundance Press and president and CEO of Simple Abundance, Inc., a consulting firm specialising in publishing and multimedia projects. Sarah is American but lives part of the year in Lincolnshire when writing.

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