Learning to live the simple life

With the dog days of summer winding down, this may be the right time

to relax in a hammock and think of ways to simplify your life. In our

busy society, filled with deadlines, meetings, work and school, it is

often difficult to find a balance with so much to do and not enough

time in which to do it all.

Simplifying your life helps you focus on creating the life you

want to live. The Newport Beach Public Library has several good books

to help you begin simplifying your life.

Elaine St. James is a syndicated columnist, who is read by more

than two million readers weekly in more than 50 newspapers

nationwide. She has also written several best-selling volumes,

espousing life simplification as a predominant theme. In “Living the

Simple Life,” St. James offers a myriad of suggestions to help us

remove clutter from our lives and find time for our most meaningful

and enriching activities. A follow-up book, entitled “Simplify Your

Life with Kids,” offers suggestions for making bedtime easier,

developing discipline strategies, finding time to enjoy your family,

minimizing sibling rivalry and deciding what to do with the baby

teeth, pasta paintings and all the other “stuff” that children

produce. In “Simplify Your Life at Work,” the author explains how to

scale back in the workplace in order to have more time to enjoy your

life. She asks readers to set firmer boundaries between work and

home.

“Slowing Down to the Speed of Life,” by Richard Carlson and Joseph

Bailey, shows how to create a more peaceful, simpler life from the

inside out. The authors’ purpose is to teach us how to remain focused

at the task on hand and stay in the moment. Included in the book are

ideas, exercises, diagrams and charts to help us reflect on ways to

build meaningful relationships, scale back hectic schedules and

maintain a calm attitude. In “Doing Less and Having More,” Marcia

Wieder reveals her simple five-step Roadmap to Ease, along with

dozens of inspiring stories of people who have achieved their dream

of doing less and having more. As the author states, “Doing less is

not about doing nothing. It is about center and balance. It is about

choice and freedom. And it is about ease.”

Jerome M. Segal -- a philosopher, political activist and former

staff member of the House Budget Committee -- articulates a

particular conception of simple living in his book, “Graceful

Simplicity.” His ideas about simple living are rooted in beauty,

peace of mind, appreciativeness and generosity of spirit. They call

for a politics of simplicity that would be the heart of our approach

to social and economic policy.

One of the most well-known books about simple living is the best

selling “Simple Abundance: a Daybook of Comfort and Joy,” by Sarah

Ban Breathnach. This book of 366 essays, one for each day of the

year, is an inspirational guide that provides a meditation or

exercise each day in an attempt to help women pare down their lives

and clear their mental clutter. Ban Breathnach has followed this

volume with several others, all discussing ways of simplifying and

enjoying your life more fully each day.

If you are looking for ways to downshift your career, searching

for more meaning in your everyday life or just wanting to connect

with those around you, visit Newport Beach Public Library to find the

books you need to help you make it happen.

DID YOU KNOW?

You can enjoy a picnic dinner and Shakespeare by the Sea next

weekend at Grant Howald Park in Corona del Mar. Two free shows will

be presented at 7 p.m. in the park -- “Richard III” on Aug. 7 and

“Two Gentlemen of Verona” on Aug. 8, courtesy of the Newport Beach

City Arts Commission. For more information, call (949) 644-3211, ext.

2155.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Andrea Jason. All titles may be

reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

https://www.newportbeach

library.org. For more information on the Central Library or any of

the branch locations, please contact the Newport Beach Public Library

at (949) 717-3800, option 2.