Images of Abundance

 A Few of the Many Things That Contribute to a Life of Abundance

A Bountiful Harvest

LOVE

Physical, Mental and Spiritual Health

Connecting with Nature

Hope for the Future

Friends and Family

A Purpose

What would you add to this list?

Abbondanza! by Peggy Jaeger

 I grew up in an Irish/Sicilian household - mom was the Irish descendant, step-dad the Sicilian, so whenever I hear the word ABUNDANCE, I hear it the way it was spoken in my home - the Italian way - ABBONDANZA.

It sounds like such a joyous word when said in the language of Da Vinci, no?

I still use it that way to this day when I describe things, like the abbondanza of books I have to read on my kindle. Or the abbondanza of words I need to get written this month to win NaNoWriMo. That's a quantifiable number, too, set at 50k. But still...it's a lot of words!

Quantifying something as abundant or saying it possesses an abundance of...something, can be viewed either negatively or positively. Since this is me writing this, you know I'm going to accentuate the positive.

Hey - wasn't that a song?

My life is blessed with an abbondanza of friends, for which I am most grateful. My grandmother used to tell me if you made one sincere friend in your lifetime you were lucky. I've been lucky hundreds of times, then, if you go by this statement. I also have a huge family courtesy of my husband. As an only child, I always wanted siblings. I got them when I married a man with 5 brothers and sisters and now they fill my life with joy.

I have an abundance of books in my home library and on my kindle that feed my mind, encourage my psyche, and warm my heart. I'm that girl who loves both print and ebook. It doesn't matter which format I read in, just as long as I read.

I have an abundance of novels on my laptop plotted out and just waiting to have an abundance of time to write them!

Since we are entering the Christmas/Holiday season, I will freely admit that I have an OVER abundance of decorations and I'm not even one little bit embarrassed about that. I grew up poor. We rarely had a Christmas tree and when we did my mother could only afford those breakable, lousy-colored balls as decorations. We didn't even have a star on top of the tree. When I went out on my own and started making my own money, every year I bought a few ornaments and decorations and in just a few years I had a full supply. These days that full supply looks more like a hoard!

My husband actually says I have too many ornaments for one tree, which is why I never put up just one tree, but 4-5.

Don't judge.

One thing I will admit and then also state I am a tad embarrassed about is my overabundance of shoes. I have over 200 pairs. Again - don't judge! Carrie Bradshaw had nothin' on me, kids. And I've worn each and every one of them --- at least once.

It's easy to go overboard with material items, but if you'll remember the beginning of this piece, the first thing I mentioned was my abundance of family and friends - the most important of everything.

This holiday season I am wishing you all an abbondanza of health, love, success, and wisdom~

Peg

Oh, and since we're talking about abundance, you can never have too many holiday-themed romances, so check out my newest, FIXING CHRISTMAS. It's on sale right now for only #99cents 

and the prequel, SANTA BABY

Happy Holidays, kids ~ Peg

Abundance at Harvest Festival Time

When I was a kid we spent many of our school holidays on a farm in rural Lincolnshine (UK). After a busy summer helping my grandparents harvest the crops, I couldn't wait for the next school holiday so I could return for The Harvest Festival. This important annual festival is tied to the seasons, and dates back to the pagan times in Britain.

Once the last of the crops has been harvested, farming communities give thanks for the bounty of crops and food from the land, and attend a harvest festival at the local church to celebrate a successful growing season. 

It's typically celebrated on the Sunday nearest the harvest moon, and occurs close to the autumn equinox at the end of September or beginning of October. It's the closest festival to the US Thanksgiving, but has many of the same elements.

Traditionally the last sheath of the harvest was used to make a symbolic corn dolly that was created to ensure the continuation of the good crop the following year. The Saxons (5th to the 11th centuries) believed that this last sheath contained the Corn Spirit, and they would harvest around it until it was the last one standing, and it would be dried and woven into a dolly.

Different rural areas around the country would weave different symbols out of the corn, and this tradition continues to this day. 

Corn Dolly Ear-rings

I still have the pair of corn dolly ear-rings I received as a teenager from my grandmother. I don't think I've ever worn them, but I love the idea of traditional crafts commemorating beliefs from earlier generations, and the magical idea that one of mother nature's spirits was trapped inside.

We Plough the Fields

One hymn that is always sung around Harvest Time is We Plough the Fields and Scatter. It brings back such wonderful childhood memories of this time of year, and reminds me of my Mum. I used it as a basis for one of my poems that honours her battle with Alzheimer's during the time she was losing her ability to speak.

We plough the fields as wordsmiths scatter letters on the land.

You hope to grow a sentence up that isn’t weak or bland.

Watering your Ps and Qs coaxing them to sprout.

Grow gentle words to whisper or raise your voice to shout.

The barren earth dry in the sun a runway for the birds.

They peck at all the seedlings that never will be heard.

If they fly away up high and soar upon their wing,

We’ll never hear the song they stole or words you failed to sing.

About Jay Artale

Jay Artale abandoned her corporate career to become a digital nomad and full-time writer. She’s an avid blogger, podcaster, and nonfiction author helping travel writers and travel bloggers achieve their self-publishing goals. She shares tips, advice, and inspiration to writers with an independent spirit at her website Birds of a Feather Press, and documents her travels and artistic endeavours at her blog Roving Jay. Follow her on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter.

Jay is the author of A Turbulent Mind: A Poetry Collection of a Mother's Journey with Alzheimer's.

A Short Poem About Abundance shared by Sarah Raplee McDermed

 

by Theodore W. Higginsworth

The Many Faces of Abundance

 by Courtney Pierce

How many of you slogged through the 1980s with the rich impropriety of prime-time soap operas? I certainly did, and I even recorded them on VHS tapes for the privilege of watching these scoundrels over and over again. Remember Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Dallas, Falcon Crest, and Dynasty? Many of these TV programs were designed to make us envy lavish lifestyles and cheer on the cat fights for whose power superseded money. Oh, how I loved when those scoundrels who got their comeuppance for greed, dishonesty, manipulation, and fraud. But they looked so good in their designer outfits, coiffed hair, and diamond earrings.

Wickedly delicious.

We’ve been trained from birth that being rich is about having a lot of money. It's been promoted, by design, as a way to polarize us as people. The more you earn, the more you're cheated out of it: through income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, endless fees, higher interest rates, and increased cost of goods and services. If the elite can get rid of the pesky, free-thinking middle class, then they'll enjoy ultimate power and control over the minions.

So they believe. But they underestimate people's ability awaken to the truth.

As the saying goes, there are two happy days for the "uber elite": the day when they buy a boat or a plane, and the day they sell it when their knees get whacked. Luxuries can easily become burdens when life takes a downturn.

But what if money becomes worthless? Then what?

Think Venezuela. It used to be a country of abundance: awesome food, and resource independence, Its citizen enjoyed a vibrant economy, just like the USA a mere two years ago. Under the current tyrannical government, Venezuelans roll barrels full of worthless cash into the store just to get a loaf of bread—if a loaf of bread is available. The working people are forced to eat birds, rats, cats, and dogs to get sustenance. Their de-valued currency means nothing. 

Somehow, though, the government elites have lights, fresh food, and lavish homes behind walls and fences. Average citizens burn furniture to keep warm and live in the dark after sunset.

But the people are fighting back. They've had enough of the corruption. And they're making progress.

Here in Montana, there are a plethora of millionaires and billionaires among the working folk, farmers, and ranchers. Some earned their wealth. Others inherited it. To be honest, you wouldn't know who's who. They all dress the same.

People are moving to Montana from all over the world, hence our skyrocketing housing prices and rents. The building rate is crazy as people want be here to protect their wealth and freedom. We’re one of those desired free states. We don’t wear masks. We don’t mandate the VAX, and we don’t poison kids with divisive racism. We love this country and its Constitution, and we truly respect our fellow man, no matter how much money they do or don't have. We wouldn't know, anyway, because everyone looks the same. We're just people.

The vistas are amazing here, without a doubt. Glacier National Park is a national treasure and is only a stone’s throw away. Yellowstone National Park is only a few hours further. This state cradles an abundance of Nature’s bounty. This is the abundance we moved here to enjoy. We hike the trails in boots and backpacks, and we rough it in the wild in tents. We all yearn for the hooves of the mountain goats pounding through the campsite in the middle of the night.

But there’s a higher truth in our abundance as humans.

The real skivvy is that we're all born with abundance of benevolence in our DNA, aka "God Genes.' We’re actually magical beings that have telepathy and a deep understanding of the universe. But humans have been hijacked. Over the centuries, we’ve been dumbed down: our food and water purposely poisoned, our minds manipulated by mainstream media and school, and our money stolen by the Federal Reserve to keep us indebted. Abundance was reserved for only the chosen few, far above the one-percent.

Many shocking truths will be exposed in the coming months. And what if average Americans become very wealthy as a result of having their moral compass on a benevolent spiritual path? It's like winning the lottery. Some acquire and give; others squander and consume. We still have a little free will to make decisions.

There's actually science to back up the premise.

Intuition and telepathy are gifts that are centered in our pineal gland, a precious bodily organ at the base of our brain that functions as our “third eye.” It governs our connection to spirituality and intuition. Over the decades, this gland has been purposely calcified by fluoride: in our water, in our toothpaste, and in the treatments at our dental visits. Why? We were willing sheep with our ignorance from misinformation. There are those who don't want us to have these gifts.

Conspiracy theories are now confirmed conspiracies. That's only the start.

There is good news! The world is waking up to the many, many lies that have been fed to us on a slow drip over the years. Some may be able to handle them, others may not.

As people, the real abundance we all have, no matter the amount of our income, is our intuition, our heart, and our benevolence. Those we love, and those who love us, are precious beyond anything we can purchase. Moreover, we are able to pay attention to our inner voice when “something’s not right.” Trust that your moral compass is straight on point.

As the holidays are upon us, we must pause to take stock of our many abundances, especially with the people we love. There may still be a stall of the supply chain for Christmas, but the day isn't about presents; it's about giving of ourselves to others. Personally, I have everything I need: the love of my husband, my sisters, my in-laws, my step children, and step grandchildren. I want their world to be as good to them as mine has been to me.

My new prized investment is our garden. We raise our own vegetables, garlic, herbs, and potatoes. We hunt for elk and venison to fill the freezer. We will bring our bounty indoors this winter with a mini greenhouse. Our goal is to control our food supply—free of additives or chemicals.

We’ll heat our home through the winter with cords of wood. And when spring arrives with the retreat of the ice-melt on the lake, we’ll have fresh fish, along with the beauty of iris and tulips.

That’s abundance to us.

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Kalispell, Montana with her husband and stepdaughter. She writes for the baby boomer audience. She spent 28 years as an executive in the entertainment industry and used her time in a theater seat to create stories that are filled with heart, humor, and mystery. She studied craft and storytelling at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. Active in the writing community, Courtney is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and on the Advisory Council of the Independent Publishing Resource Center. She is a member of Willamette Writers, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and Authors of the Flathead. The Executrix received the Library Journal Self-E recommendation seal.

Print and E-books are available through most major online retailers, including Amazon.com.

Check out all of Courtney's books: 

courtney-pierce.com and windtreepress.com 

New York Times best-selling author Karen Karbo says, "Courtney Pierce spins a madcap tale of family grudges, sisterly love, unexpected romance, mysterious mobsters and dog love. Reading Indigo Lake is like drinking champagne with a chaser of Mountain Dew. Pure Delight."

Coming in 2022!

When Aubrey Cenderon moves to Montana after the death of her father, the peace and quiet of Big Sky Country becomes complicated with a knock on the door from the sheriff. An injured grizzly bear is on the loose and it must be eliminated before it kills again. The sheriff's insistence that she buy a gun for protection will present Aubrey with some serious soul-searching, because the grizzly-on-the-run is hunting her too . . . for a different reason.

Alaskan Abundance by Lynn Lovegreen

To an Alaskan, abundance is a full freezer. Many of us live a subsistence lifestyle, which means that all or most of our food comes from the natural world around us. That’s how to survive when the closest grocery store is many miles away, or just too expensive to rely on in rural villages. To give you an example, last year in Utqiagvik, a gallon of milk cost $13.50 versus less than $2 in most of the Lower 48 states.  

 

We provide food for ourselves and our families by fishing, hunting, berry picking, and/or gathering plants. The fish, meat, or plants depend on whether it’s on the tundra, coast, or forest. Even more urban Alaskans can do a little fishing, hunting, or berry picking during the season to supplement our diets. If we don’t fish ourselves, we might support a local fishing coop which sells batches of frozen fish. Many of us add to our foods by gardening, too.

 

I didn’t garden or pick berries as much as usual this year, due to other commitments. But I still have frozen greens, raspberries, and several kinds of fish in the freezer. It makes me happy to see all those packages waiting for us to use through the cold winter. And every time I taste those berries or bite into a salmon filet, it will remind me of the long days of summer.  I feel rich when I have food in the freezer. I am so thankful for the abundance.

 

I hope you find abundance in your life, in whatever form that means for you. When do you feel rich?

Lynn Lovegreen has lived in Alaska for over fifty years. After twenty years in the classroom, she retired to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering at her local library. Her young adult historical romance is set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com. You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram.

An Attitude of Gratitude!

 

By: Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com

I manifest abundance by being grateful for what I already have

MJ Brown

 When I hear the word abundance I think of excess. Excessive spending, more food than one could possibly eat, gifts that I don’t want and possibly wouldn’t use. Literally, it means to have much more than you need. Yet holidays are associated with that A word. No wonder so many dread them.

It's the over the top expectations.

Imagine that poor mother with four kids working a minimum wage job. Imagine the expectation as the holidays approach and the disappointment on those four faces when mom provides only what she can afford. Imagine how that mom feels.

I love holidays but somewhere along the way holidays  went on steroids and galloped way out of control. They've become costly and have lost their true meaning.  There are many ways to celebrate holidays that do not include debt and excessive shows of opulence, Is it that important to keep up with the neighbors and their elaborate  lawn decorations?

Shouldn’t Holidays be about giving grateful thanks and appreciating making it through another year?  Yes, I know, I’m beginning to sound like the grinch that stole the holidays.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a nicely decorated table and a well-prepared meal, but do we need four entrees, especially if all of those entrees aren’t eaten and a good portion makes the trash? Do we need five desserts that everyone takes a bite of but never finish?

At Christmas, do we need more than one gift? Could the money be better spent feeding the poor? Could we not give back by working in a soup kitchen, visiting an orphanage, donating food or clothing to the homeless, adopting a poor family or teaching an underprivileged child how to read?

Is it possible to spread the abundance of good cheer and seasonal generosity over the year? Maybe if we cut back a bit on being over the top, we could replace the material things with kindly actions. Maybe this abundance of loving actions can take the place of material things.

As the year draws to a close, maybe we should rethink how we do abundance and make it more about acts of service and about giving from the heart.

My Holiday novella, Kwanzaa ‘Pon a Time  is all about forgiveness, It's available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  I hope you enjoy it. 

https://amzn.to/3BSRGsC

Happy Thanksgiving all!

About Marcia King-Gamble

USA Bestselling romance writer, Marcia King-Gamble originally hails from a sunny Caribbean island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue. This former travel industry executive has spent most of life in the United States. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 34 books and 8 novellas. She has contributed to Michael Fiore’s DigitalRomanceInc and served as a moderator on the now defunct eHarmony advice boards.  Having witnessed the bad, the ugly, and the not so good in relationships, she still prefers to write about happily ever after. Caring for her animal family keeps her grounded and sane.

Visit Marcia at www.lovemarcia.com or “friend” her on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1MlnrIS

Be sure to join her newsletter mailing list.

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The Abundance in my Life by Paty Jager

As I sat thinking about abundance in my life, the first thing that came to me was friendships. Though up until I started writing and reached out to other writers, I’d had only a few close friends.

Growing up I had two to three good friends I’d confide in. College, I had one friend. As a young mother living in an area that was new to me, I slowly acquired friends as my kids started school. But again, I only had two or three who I truly felt were good friends.

When I finally put myself out into the world to learn more about writing, I discovered the romance writers and before long, I had more friends than I’d ever had before. It is a bit overwhelming at times for this introvert!

The reason I felt closer to these writers than most of my adult friends was the bond we shared over writing. Even though I talk about writing to one of my closest friends, she still doesn’t understand the characters in my head or the need for a certain word. It’s something that only other writers understand.

When I get excited about something that would make a great place to hide a body or a unique way to kill someone, only murder mystery writers understand. My family just rolls their eyes. Though my younger brother is starting to think like me and will call me and tell me about something he saw that might make a good murder scene or weapon. 😉

I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many writers I feel are true friends. I know I could email or message any of them with a problem and they would listen and help me figure it out. And I would do the same for them. We all know how hard writing and sustaining our family life is. We are there for one another.

We cheer each other on when someone finals or wins a writing award, or finishes a book, or puts out a new version of a book, or even just finds time to write. And we all rally around when a book isn’t selling, or a rejection letter comes, or the story isn’t working, or family life has sucked the creativity out of us. It’s what friends do.

I also have found new friends through the readers of my books. That has been an added bonus!

And that my friends is what I have in abundance--FRIENDS!  

Some of my friends and I have a Book Event happening starting today! 

Eight authors are giving away Christmas ebooks! You can go to this page to find out how you can get entered to win. https://maggielynch.com/holiday-books-contest/ 

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 50+ murder mystery and western romance novels which have Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters.

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