Go with the FLOW

As a rule, I don't buy magazines. Although I enjoy looking at home decor and arts and crafts magazines, I have a difficult time throwing them out as I think I will reuse them or refer to them sometime. Honestly, that rarely happens so I try to avoid the temptation of bringing them into my home.

But there are always exceptions to my rules. Take FLOW magazine for example. I was introduced to this magazine that celebrates "creativity, imperfection and life's little pleasures" a year or so ago by a friend. It hails from the Netherlands and is filled with the most engaging illustrations and thoughtful articles plus all sorts of treats for the reader. By treats I mean tear-out decorative papers, tags, prints, stickers, and inspiring words. You never know what its pages will hold. There are articles featuring artists from around the world and essays on all sorts of topics — philosophy, slowing down, unplugging, organizing, crafts — all written from the point of view of taking one's time to engage, experience, enjoy. 

I love this magazine. It is relaxing to leaf through its pages. But, it is difficult to find and a subscription costs a fortune as it ships from the Netherlands. However, I discovered that my local Barnes & Noble carries it. The couple of times I have looked for it though, the magazine has been sold out. Apparently I'm not the only one to be taken with its wisdom.

So I was thrilled when I stopped in B&N on Sunday and found a stack of the latest issue #20. They must have just arrived. I snatched one up and was delighted to read in the table of contents that there were pages devoted to tours of the homes of three different artists, the importance of friendships, what we can learn from Mother Nature, setting up a morning routine, and the advantages of loafing. (Ooh. I love that one.) Plus three 4x6 notebooks each with a different illustrated cover are included. There are four full-page prints by German naturalist and scientific illustrator Maria Sibylls Merian from her book Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium which was published in 1705. There is even a sticker for my cell phone that advises: Offline is the new luxury. 

As I stood in line to make my purchase, excited to discover the surprises it held, imagine my delight to spy a display of a special edition of FLOW: 19 Days of Mindfulness. Wow! I really hit the jackpot.

I swooned.  

This edition contains 163 pages of day-by-day ways to bring mindfulness and creativity to your life. There is a notebook for your Morning Pages, a feature on artists and their tools and talismans, a color-by-number paper tablecloth (big project), and colorful cutouts to make your very own hot air balloon paper garland. 

An amusement on every page. 

On its website www.flowmagazine.com you can preview its gorgeousness. There are photos and features and DIY crafts. There is a store locator so you can check to see if it's available anywhere near you. Its website tells me that there are four international editions in English each year. It is also available in German and French and of course Dutch.

I will warn you that the issues are a bit pricey — $25. But if you break that down to the number of hours of entertainment you will enjoy, it's a mere pittance. In the long run, FLOW is an inexpensive way to fill your life with beauty.

Let me know if you are already familiar with FLOW or if you have any luck finding copies in your neighborhood.

Here are a couple of photos from the magazine that is way more than a magazine:

Three notebooks are included in issue #20

This article contains pages of small illustrations

 that can be used in my art journal

From Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium 

An article on stepping away from technology

A funny look at people merging with book cover images

Suitable for framing - words to live by

Simplify Your Life and Living the Simple Life by Elaine St. James

It is not surprising that I would come home from my retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani to revisit two books I own on simplicity: Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter and Living the Simple Life: A Guide to Scaling Down and Enjoying More. 

Both books were written by Elaine St. James in the 1990s. They are a tidy little size measuring just 5½ by 6 inches and averaging fewer than 300 pages each. You could read them both in an afternoon or two. 

Ms. St. James was a high-powered real estate investor with a time management system the size of Texas. Her husband Wolcott Gibbs Jr. was an author and magazine editor. She briefly recounts what led to their decisions to sell the Big House, move closer to work to eliminate a four-hour commute, and declutter, declutter, declutter. 

In the first book, she offers the reader 100 specific ways to simplify in the areas of  home, lifestyle, finances, job, health, and personal life. Each suggestion comes with a brief essay on how she handled these simplifications. Here are some samples:

14. Get rid of your lawn.

22. Build a simple wardrobe.

33. If you don't like the holidays, bow out.

77. Spend one day a month in solitude.

93. Stop carrying a purse the size of the QE2.

I read this book when it was published and it was one of the few I could find then that gave concrete instructions on simplifying your life. Ms. St. James is spot on. I see that of the 100 suggestions, I have accomplished about 98 percent of them. (I didn't have a boat to get rid as per idea #21: Sell the damn boat.)

Her writing style is breezy and never preachy. She offers what has worked for her and relates her suggestions with a sense of humor. 

In the second book, she once again inspires with 100 suggestions and relates her own experiences in scaling down an over-bought - and over-wrought - life. There is some overlap with the first book, but this second one takes a more in-depth look at our consumer society and gives the reader some things to think about before simplifying and pitfalls to watch out for during the process. It also includes a few responses from readers of her first book and how they took on the task of assessing their lives, deciding what was really important to them, and what they did about it.

This is all good stuff. For me, it was encouraging to see how many of my own changes have been in place for years. But, as we know, one can always simplify more.

Ms. St. James has another book, Inner Simplicity, that I am on the hunt for. A nice little trio of books to inspire and not take up too much room on the bookshelf. Keeping it simple.