Inspiration: Book Review

I have been lusting after Jane Brocket's book The Gentle Art of Domesticity for months; however, the $35.00 price tag was just too steep. I attempted to order it from the library with no success.

Recently I was browsing Barnes and Noble's website for adoption books and decided to search for Jane's book. And yes, it appeared, as lovely as I remembered it, and the best part was it was in the Bargain Book section for $9.98! (It's now $5.99 if you'd like to order a copy).

For your enjoyment, here are a few quotes from Jane's book:

"We can walk through life without seeing, without taking in the details, the words, the colors, the pictures, and miss the whole point of inspiration. Or, we can adopt an approach that allows us to top a while and look and listen and reflect and enjoy. We can learn to sift through the mass of stimuli we encounter every day and to focus on what inspires us as individuals and, in doing so, create a way of seeing, a way of being receptive to inspiration." (16)

"It's so easy to lose touch. [. . .] It is quite possible to pass whole days without making contact with any natural surfaces and textures. We can exist in a bubble of emptiness and not even recognize that we are suffering sensory deprivation." (70)

"There really is no secret to running a stitch or cake baking or bulb planting. We all have the ability to do these things, it's just that some people don't believe they can. They have lost the gentle art of self-reliance, and lack of practice erodes this further." (123)

Jane also lists her top seven comforts (including Birkenstocks and friends/Friends--the t.v. show). So for fun, I'm going to list mine, and I hope you'll take time to reflect and think of yours:

1: Tea---herbal, sugar-free, no caffeine. I like it iced in the summer, hot in the winter.

2: Bread and Butter. And I mean good bread---toasty, with real, organic butter. Yum!

3: Books. Especially the ones I've read twenty times but go back to again and again for laughter, tears, comfort, and joy.

4: Music. Particularly, an old, familiar song that reveals itself in new ways every time I hear it.

5: Children. I love their innocence, their sweet smell, their loving hugs and kisses, their honesty.

6: Swimming. Well, more like floating. Nothing is better on a hot, summer day than a dip in the pool. It's liberating. It's invigorating. It's divine!

7: The Office. The TV show, not the actual office I work in. This show makes me smile every single time I see it. It also has the best one-liners.....ever.

Also included in Jane's book: recipes, vibrant and detailed photographs, movie suggestions, thought-provoking paragraphs, paintings, poems, and so much more.

LOVE love love this book!