This is my second Marlene Schiwy book and I loved it as much as I loved the first one. I got Simple Days, A Journal on What Really Matters from a book swap site and read it in Romania. Now it has remained over there, because my luggage was just to heavy and couldn’t take any of the books (I had bought a few Romanian poetry books which have also been left behind).Anyway, I read it quickly and absorbed, because again I felt that I connected very strongly with the writer. A kindred spirit, for sure. I mean, women’s issues, journaling and simple living? How could I not connect?
She talks of a different simple life. When we hear the already very common phrase, we think of paring down to the bare necessities, retiring in the woods and living sustainably in a hut, off the grid, homeschooling the children. Marlene Schiwy sees it differently and I am very grateful for this new insight. Simple living it’s not necessarily about the exterior, about the material possessions, it is about prioritizing our spiritual life. It is about putting more time into what we love to do and into what makes us who we are, and it is about being aware of it. Simple living is about a life of connectedness with our true selves. As simple as that. Sure, if we can simplify the material world surrounding us, the world that keeps asking for our attention and care, then all the better.
This book made me feel all warm and good about who I am, about my choices and about the possibilities ahead. No, all is not that complicated.
What stays with me: I keep imagining the gypsy skirts that she describes in the book. She would make these beautifully adorned gypsy skirts, each with a different inspiration and they sound adorable to me, because of course, gypsy skirts and peasant blouses, they are all there is and what is this “fashion” thing all about? Right?
