Abundantly Simple

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

A good spoof is always fun.

In 1995, Sarah Ban Breathnach published Simple Abundance, in which she
recommended keeping a daily gratitude journal as a way of achieving a
positive attitude toward life. Her book became a bestseller and
gratitude journals the fad of the 1990s. All of which opened the door
for this bit of humor.

Abundantly Simple consists of pages from the gratitude journals of
imaginary women. A few of the make-believe journal entries are really
clever (“I’m grateful that there really was toast burning”), some
rate a smile (“I’m grateful that I’m young enough to start another
life savings plan”), and others should have been edited out.

Ban Breathnach suggested that each day’s journal entry list five
things for which the writer is grateful. Kafka and Hellen’s spoofs
follow this five-points rule; in many entries, the five points are
enough to suggest a setting and situation in jail, for example, or in a
retirement home.

While there are a few smiles here, they’re spread pretty thin.