Sarah Ban Breathnach's work celebrates quiet joys, simple pleasures and everyday epiphanies. The wisdom, warmth, compassion and disarming candor of her No. 1 New York Times bestsellers, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy and Something More have made her a trusted voice to millions of women.

Ban Breathnach's tale of how she found her way to discovering the joy in the smallest details of her life began one day in 1985 when a ceiling tile crashed down on her head while she was having lunch in a fast-food restaurant with her two-year-old daughter. For the next 18 months she was left partially disabled, unable to continue her work as a freelance writer and radio broadcaster. As she healed from her injury, she became grateful for every living thing: listening to music without getting sick or dizzy, to be able to go downstairs without wobbling or go out into the backyard to see the falling leaves. Things that were so minute that she had never taken time to notice before.

Ban Breathnach's writerly impulse led her to record these seemingly inconsequential moments in what she came to call a gratitude journal, which led to her blockbuster bestseller, Simple Abundance . First published in November 1995 with little fanfare, Simple Abundance --a daily inspirational guide written for people who wish to live by their own lights--soon found its audience through word-of-mouth raves including Oprah Winfrey's, who named it "her favorite book" of 1996 and called it "life-changing." Simple Abundance has been back to press 43 times, and has sold nearly 4 million copies in the United States alone. It has been on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years, topping the list at No. 1 for a year. It was named one of the top ten best selling books in the United States for the last five years according to USA Today.

Simple Abundance has been highly praised from different corners of American culture. Thomas Moore, the best selling author of "Care of the Soul," called it "a book of real wisdom … a satisfying blend of the sassy and the profound." The book's phenomenal success has been parodied in the nationally syndicated comic strip "Cathy" and featured as a question on the hit television quiz show "Jeopardy."

In October 1998 Sarah's book Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self debuted at No. 1 on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and Publisher's Weekly. In just four months it has sold nearly a million copies. Her Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude has sold over a million copies.

According to Deepak Chopra, writing in George Magazine, which named Sarah Ban Breathnach as one of America's twenty most fascinating women of power and influence, she is "a one-woman women's movement…just the subversively cosmic voice society needs "to help the country "re-evaluate our values". Because its editors feel that Sarah has her finger on the pulse of the American people, in September 1997 she was commissioned by People Magazine to cover the funeral of Princess Diana. As a contributing editor of Good Housekeeping she writes a regular column on "everyday spirituality", the first such feature in a mainstream American woman's publication.

She is the founder of the Simple Abundance Charitable Fund, a non-profit bridge group between charitable causes and the public dedicated to increasing awareness that "doing good" and "living the good life" are soul mates. In acknowledging Sarah's contributions to rethinking the role of philanthropy, Since 1995, the SACF has supported the vision of 85 non-profit organizations by awarding over $1 million in financial support. The Simple Abundance Charitable Fund is underwritten with proceeds from Sarah's speaking engagements, royalties and product sales.

Most Requested Topics:

Ode to Joy: Why Your Attitude Matters: Joy Is in the Details

Simple Abundance Workshop