What Ever Happened to, “Simple Abundance,” Author — Sarah Ban Breathnach?
A cautionary tale about a writer’s success — did she heed her own advice?
Some of you old schoolers and young’uns may not remember or know about Simple Abundance by author Sarah Ban Breathnach. She was all the rage back in the day. Queen of inspiration who pinched an exposed nerve inside every woman’s psyche in the mid-90s. A pioneer of self care.
Okay, I’m dating myself — sue me.
I was a homemaker, a fourteen-year stay-at-home Mom during her reign as the newest published darling. Two years on the New York Times bestseller list is no easy feat, with nine million nationally and two million abroad in book sales — translated into 28 languages.
Before that, she was a freelance writer, living paycheck to paycheck. She said she wrote the book to heal. Fame and fortune never entered her mind.
Sarah sparked and renewed my long lost high school dream of writing a book. In those days, I would say, “When I write my book, blah blah blah” to anyone who’d listen. Most didn’t take me seriously.
Something about this passage in her book struck me, pulled me closer to a fuzzy dream in a distant future.
The world needs dreamers, and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.
I purchased a writing program because of her — never finished it. Life got too busy with two boys, ten and six, in tow. Homework, year-round little league practice in baseball and basketball, weekend games, volunteering in their school, and assisting the hubby with a home-based business after his day job of teaching. Exhausting.
I got lost and swirled in the shuffle like a speck in Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Long dream — still waking up to it with my eyes wide open. Still traveling in my dreamscape, holding on to the coattails of my preordainment, a soul’s journey.
Sarah’s brand of kindness, thoughtfulness, grace, and spirituality had a way of melting any deep-felt angst circulating inside my mind, piercing my heart — a band-aid to shield a half-opened wound while healing.
She started me on a journey of in-depth searching for anything that would help me work through my repressed emotions.
When I had a moment in between housekeeping, picking up the kids, and various errands to run, her Daybook of Comfort and Joy gave me solace. Each of her entries started with a writer’s quote, then a few paragraphs of her expounding on the concept brimming with novel ways to make a woman think about the appreciation of herself.
Her philosophy changed my perspective — shined a light on gratitude instead of the doldrums of internalized pain. As part of my self-therapy routine of working through my childhood trauma — her book spawned a huge fanbase for good reason.
I was perusing the trusty bookshelf this past weekend and found my hidden treasure, the “big pink” — a nod to the infamous floral hardcover.
Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday interview revealed some hard truths.
After all the hoopla and notoriety — long story short, Sarah lost her fortune two years into her marriage to an English chap, her third husband — a hustler who spent all her money, began dehumanizing her as soon as it started dwindling.
He had taken over her finances and wasn’t bringing any bacon to the breakfast table, no less a hot cup of tea and crumpets.
Eight pairs of Manolo Blahniks, a purchase of Sir Isaac Newton’s 900-year-old stone chapel in Lincolnshire, countless trips on the Concord, checks to the needy and nine assistants later, she ended up on her sister’s doorstep in LA with a suitcase and a cat named Mikey. Well, damn.
Sarah became a leaking money machine — unprepared for success — didn’t know how to manage it. The irony, she suffocated under the gravity of her success in financial ruins within the walls of a polymath’s home.
Maybe she should have hired a psychic to channel his genius with numbers.
A British newspaper once dubbed the successful author “the Isaac Newton of the simplicity movement.”
I’m not sure Sarah walked her talk in the simplicity arena. Although I understand going from an unknown to fame and fortune is an intoxicating transition.
She admitted she thought her finances were all under control and never asked for help — those royalty checks were rolling in while her husband was sinking her fortune in terrible investments.
She said she thought the bestseller was the hurdle she had already leaped over and that her success would continue on and on. The New York Times called her every Wednesday night to confirm she was still on the bestseller list as number one until they didn’t.
She cried, called her agent who delivered the bombshell news she had slipped out of the number one spot.
I think this is the perfect “simple” cautionary tale about how a writer’s success is dynamic in a world ever-changing — flying high in April and shot down in May.
Writing requires elasticity in that we need to allow ourselves the flexibility to stretch long and wide, see those changes coming in from a fickle world, adapt as quickly as possible, and remain aware of a finicky audience’s pulse.
We can’t rely on yesterday’s effervescent potency of thought. No matter how fizzy and delectable. As writers, we need to shake it up, infuse a unique flavor with a kick, add some spice now and then. Climb off the comfy couch sectioned within our minds.
Her book in 2010, “Peace and Plenty-Finding Your Path to Financial Security,” paled when compared to her earlier success. She admitted it took a long time to heal from her mistakes — a load of self-talk, journaling in her gratitude notebook, and self care. This book is her flow of financial serenity.
In 2019, Sarah was back revamping her original book to address the life of the modern woman — a completely changed animal. Since I pulled mine from the bookshelf, I plan on filling up on all those golden nuggets of wisdom once again.
She still has fans out there encouraging and praying for her. She currently lives outside of LA in an apartment next door to her sister.
My favorite interview answer to “O’s” question;
O: What is the soul?
Sarah: The soul is the spiritual essence of who we really are.
All we have is all we need. All we need is the awareness of how much we’ve been blessed with every day. ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach