Deb's Book Nook: Madame Chic by Jennifer L Scott

Madame Chic is a delightful little book that allows one to experience a greater depth of life through the adoption of French culture. The author Jennifer lived as an exchange student with a french family and over her time spent with Madame Chic and her family she learned that being presentable, participating in rich culture and cultivating an appreciation of life can be done without the ideals of over consumption and mass materialism. Jennifer learned how to cultivate a life she desires and to bring richness into it through every day living.

Each chapter is divided into a life subject such as Exercise is a part of Life Not a Chore, Deprive Yourself Not, Find Your True Style, Reject the New Materialism. There are many simple suggestions to enrich and improve your life and live it to the fullest.

One of the things I liked most about this book was the emphasis on not conforming to societies' idea of materialism. Living a minimalist life myself as of late I can appreciate her suggestions on being happy with less, and learning or re learning to embrace cultural activities that enrich the mind as well as the soul like attending the theater, reading, seeking out different kinds of movies such as alternative, or foreign films that have a deeper message than hero's saving the world. ( not knocking those movies, just creating more of a balance ).

Another favorite suggestion of mine was incorporating more high quality foods into the diet instead of endless amounts of lower quality or junk foods. She talks about how the French have always enjoyed their food and don't obsess over carbs or calories or body size. Its definitely a cultural one up France and other countries have over the U.S. Our shelves are filled with tasteless lower calorie meals loaded with salt or sugar to make up for lack of flavor. Our citizens continually think about if a certain food will go to their waist or how much they have to workout because of what was eaten.

There are many more golden nuggets to take from this book. Not all suggestions will work for every lifestyle, one should take what is doable and adaptable to one's lifestyle. Living a minimalist lifestyle I fell this book goes hand in hand with the concepts of living a more purposeful life. I highly recommend tis book if you're looking for an overhaul or improvement of life in general.

Embracing Minimalism Quality over Quanity

In recent years I have begun creating a lifestyle that's cohesive with my beliefs and needs. I'd stumbled and backslid into former old habits numerous times in the process. It's ok that I made repeated mistakes for a lesson will continually repeat itself until learned. Life is a journey not just a destination.

As of late my as my spiritual growth expands so does the quality of life I choose to lead. My road leads me back to incorporating minimalism throughout my world. I now approach this lifestyle with a deeper purpose, a physical and spiritual space clearing. I aim to create space within my space so I am more effectively able to connect with a higher power to guide me through my life.

A minimalist lifestyle allows me to acquire and utilize less in order to better focus and become available to my greater purpose. By embracing God's culture instead of worldly culture I'm gaining a greater sense of self and peace.

One of the best things about a minimalist lifestyle is the joyful avoidance of gross consumerism and overt materialism. As we all are aware our society encourages consumerism leading one to believe that living a certain lifestyle in the right area, with the right clothes, car, job etc... will gain acceptance and and approval, and make one very happy.

In fact, quite the opposite is true for me.While I didn't have a keeping up with the Joneses mentality I had my fair share of unused unworn clothes, video games, gadgets and stuff that I thought I enjoyed having. However, most of this stuff only served to collect dust and create a heavy heavy household, not to mention combined with my husband's stuff!

Clearing our space has been cathartic and euphoric! I had no trouble hanging on to things I seldom used. I craved a lighter space a lighter simpler life. I let go of believing that I would acquire a lifestyle to match the clothes I never wore. I let go of fantasies and I'm now working on creating a life that matches who I am growing to be. It's great not to look out for the next coolest video games, over abundance of books, ( Shout out to my Kindle! ) unused beauty items and such. The monetary gain that comes from this is well worth the changes, and it can be put to a much greater use, or saved. I realize that our space won't be completely cleared to the extent I'd like because I live with a husband who has lots of stuff and lots of trouble letting go. He has agreed to declutter rooms like the basement and garage, but I know it will be a timely process as he too is on his journey and has to go through his own learning experiences and I must embrace patience and not force this on him at my pace...part of my journey...

As I sign off I leave hoping to inspire others who feel weighed down by life and life's stuff. It's possible to start where you are and at your chosen pace begin to be the change you want to live.

Next blog I'll be discussing how minimizing spills over into my diet effectively.

Deb's Book Nook: Marbles by Ellen Forney A Graphic Novel

Marbles is a memoir about a woman's struggle with mental illness, Bipolar Disorder. This story is told in graphic novel form which adds a whole new and fresh dimension to reading a memoir.

Marbles is refreshingly funny, yet allows you grasp the many struggles of living with this disorder. I loved the comic panel cartoon drawing format! The facial expressions in this story are everything! I many times found myself laughing out loud reading this.

The character is an artist who grapples with taking or not taking medication to manage her condition because of her fears that she will loose her natural creativity, and her eventual acceptance of this as a part of who she is instead of just a condition.

I highly recommend this book. It's an easy read because of the format. This story helps me to deal with any physical conditions, or even stressful life conditions with a little more gratitude and an ability to approach my reactions to them with humility and patience.

I give this book ***** 5 Stars!!!
Get it Read it!