Variations on a Theme: Fresh Starts

It may be a bit late into the new year, but this is still the month for New Years' Resolutions. I didn't make any resolutions this year (because I'm a slacker), but the freshly fallen snow DC received yesterday reminded me that January is the time for fresh starts. I love how snow can make the world feel quite and new again. We can remake ourselves at any time of our choosing, but the first month of a new year seems like a perfect time to start.



365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life John Kralik

When you're down in the dumps, a time honored tradition is to count your blessings. For about a year, Kralik counted his blessings and thanked those who provided them with personal note cards. This is a short, but powerful book on being thankful. My review of this book is forthcoming.


The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
Gretchen Rubin

When people decide they need a fresh start, most decide to start small - one habit at a time. Rubin did exactly that. For one year, she changed one thing at a time in order to reach a higher level of personal and professional happiness.


Under the Tuscan Sun
Frances Mayes

Nothing says "fresh start" like uprooting your life and moving to Italy. In this bestseller, Mayes chronicles her struggles to establish a new life and home in Italy. She discovers a new language, new food, new friends, and the power of starting over.




Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia
Elizabeth Gilbert

Love this book or hate it, Gilbert has written a great memoir of starting over. She drops her husband, her friends, her home, and ventures out into the unknown world to discover herself. My review may be found here.


Unstuff Your Life!: Kick the Clutter Habit and Completely Organize Your Life for Good
Andrew J. Mellen

When I am in need of a fresh start, the first thing I do is weed my stuff and clean my apartment. For me, it's easier to relax at home when it's set up just the way I like it. "Spring Cleaning" is a popular term because it signals a new, organized, and color coded fresh start to life. I love me some labels and bins.


Starting Over: Why the Last Decade Was so Damn Rotten and Why the Next One Will Surely Be Better
Andy Serwer

Sometimes it's not just individuals who need a fresh start, it's whole societies. Serwer argues that the past decade was crummy - but we can and will do better. The book focuses on where the economy went wrong, and makes suggestions on how we can learn from past mistakes.


Other Fresh Start Books:
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right - Atul Gawande
Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live Off the Land - Kurt Timmermeister
The Hundred Thing Challenge: How I Got Rid of Almost Everything, Remade My Life, and Regained My Soul - Dave Bruno
The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life - Francine Jay
My Life from Scratch: A Sweet Journey of Starting Over, One Cake at a Time - Gesine Bullock-Prado
Organize Now!: A Week-by-Week Guide to Simplify Your Space and Your Life- Jennifer Berry
Real Simple: The Organized Home - Editors of Real Simple Magazine
Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea - Catherine Goldhammer
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard - Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Unclutter Your Life in One Week - Erin R. Doland