Did last week really happen? From Wednesday onwards I was rather under a rock healthwise: bed was the only place I could summon up enthusiasm for, and the idea of actually doing anything was rather a non-starter. Hence today, when I should be talking all Week Three of The Artist’s Way, I’m sharing my Friday post, and the quotation pictures that I created for Simple Abundance for 15th to 22nd January.

I’ll post both Original and Update quotations here, if only because it’s interesting to see how Sarah Ban Breathnach has changed her posts over the last 20 years, and how un-fond of social media she is. I don’t blame her. To a certain extent it’s like a ravenous dragon swallowing words and posts and throwing them out into the public to be chewed over or fought against. Some platforms are a bit of a bear pit, aren’t they? I try to keep away, but when it works as a place to meet and discuss with like-minded people (even when you don’t agree with them) it can be a rewarding experience. Last week’s post had 15 days worth of quotes, and was a bit squashed. This week we can afford a bit of breathing space.

16th January:

I spent a few hours this weekend decluttering (again) on account of this quote. And I will keep flinging bags as long as I have too much stuff and not enough breathing space.

17th January:

Whoosh! Social media swallows us up and spits us out. Being able to use it with awareness and without losing time and energy in pursuit of an impossible life is a great gift. And social media can never replace actual, face to face friendship (although at the moment even our face to face friends are only virtual).

18th January:

I couldn’t resist using this background for this quote: when we talk about details of life it can often be the smallest insignificant detail (like a crystal hung in the kitchen window that throws rainbow patterns on the ceiling) that moves our life from a dreary march to a sunlit saunter without the weather having changed. Notice the details, and let your heart sing above the darkness.

19th January:

Set your intention: speak it aloud, and wait for the Universe to reply. Lockdown is a crazy time to want to learn through Joy, if you let outer circumstances colour your inner self. I ended up reading a chunk of a book on the Stoics last week (don’t ask: my reading sometimes gets very eclectic) and their view that the path to peace starts where you are and goes through whatever you are going through now. Accept the moment as it is, and move on.

20th January:

I’m cheating here, because the Original post is the famous Acres of Diamonds story but it’s used in the Update version in a few days time, so I’m only going to refer to the Updated (2019) Simple Abundance here. The next few days in the Updated version are about the tools of Simple Abundance: the discovery journal, the treasure map, the gift of creative excursions. They’re all tools to connect with the hidden, deeper you. The Inner Child of Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Way; the girl you were before life taught you to be different through your anxiety to not stand out; the essence of your hidden self, buried beneath the washing and the burden of a life lived in fear. Dig deep, you’re still there. Finding and recognising our deepest self is cruical: by recognising who we truly are, we will learn what we need to be truly happy. I’m 52 (53 in May) and approaching another milestone of life: within 5 years, probably, I will be an empty nester. When that happens, I’d like to know who I am when I haven’t got my family around me. This year, this journey along the path of Simple Abundance, is part of that. And I fully intend to dig deep.

21st January (Updated version)

See yesterday, and the day before and the day before…. I will know who I am and what I want from Life and I will be my Authentic self. I can see traces of the old, bolshy me coming out more already. I am less inclined to smile sweetly and accept less than I deserve. Although, I temper that with sharing more than ever as well.

22nd January:

Will I share my personal goals on the blog? Probably not completely. There are some perfectly open ones that I can share, and will willingly, but the deep, dark, private ones… they’re mine and mine alone to treasure.

And there’s another week of quotes for Simple Abundance done. Use them, pin them, share them, enjoy them. I enjoy making them, so I don’t see why the pleasure can’t be shared. The pictures all come from Unsplash.com, including the brilliant header picture today, which is by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash. I chose it because I liked the single figure looking out at a wide Universe, free to explore every part of it, and yet needing to dig deep inside themselves to discover the true path to happiness. As without, so within?

Like all my blogs, Facebook groups and other social media content, A Year of Simple Abundance is free to join and ad free as far as possible.

How to Hygge the British Way is my gift to the world. I don’t get paid for writing it, I’m not in it for the kudos, financial rewards, to become an influencer, work with brands or otherwise make any money from the blog. That’s why there are no ads, and any products I mention and recommend have either been gifted to me or bought by me with my everyday wages or donations from supporters.

I do get a couple of pennies each time someone buys from the Amazon links on my page, as an Amazon Affiliate, but otherwise if you’d like to support me, I like to give something back in return. That’s why I write books. You can find a full list of my books at my Author’s Page on Amazon, but especially recommended for this time of year are:

Happier: Probably my most personal book, it’s the story of how I used hygge and the little rhings in life to help boost my happiness. I still go back and reread to remind myself what I need to do to be a happy human.

Cosy Happy Hygge: Setting up a rhythm to life and rituals to enjoy it to make for a more balanced life that handles waves and storms better.

If you’d like to support me, but don’t want to buy a book, I have a Paypal.Me account as Hygge Jem. Every little helps, so even a few pence goes towards the books, goods and courses I use and recommend on the site. I’m grateful for every little bit that brings me closer to my dream of full-time writing, and I know I couldn’t still be writing if it weren’t for the support of many readers and friends out there. Thank you all for every little bit of support, emotional, physical and financial, you give me.