April 24, 2023 Laura Barry

Cathy Madavan, author of Irrepressible, has a new book out this month - Why Less Means More. Learn how you can leave fear and franticness behind and discover that less can really lead to more. Save £2 OFF this month with our coupon code.

---

Cathy Madavan, author of Irrepressible, has a wonderful new book out this month. Why Less Means More: Making Space for What Matters Most. 

For the rest of the month, you can save £2 OFF both the paperback and ebook with our coupon code WHYLESS2.

With the news that 53% of UK employees feel overworked, and with trends such as ‘bare minimum Monday’ and ‘quiet quitting’ emerging in retaliation against burnout, Cathy writes in Why Less Means More about how radically embracing our God-given limits as human beings is both a radical act of faith and the path to peace in a society that continually deluges us with information and demands a superhuman performance from us.

Cathy's own experience inspired her to write the book. Her circumstances suddenly and drastically changed when one day she was forced to give up her home, her community, her work and move into a friend’s spare room with her husband with no idea what they were going to do next. Stripped of everything that gave her life external validation, she was forced to reckon dramatically with her own theory – could less really mean more? 

Trending shows like Sort Your Life Out with Stacey Solomon and The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo focus on simplifying life in the physical sense: getting rid of your material stuff.

Yet Cathy argues that our physical clutter is merely a symptom of a wider cultural problem: the demand that we can constantly breach our practical and emotional limits in the fruitless pursuit of excess.

For Cathy, accepting our limits doesn't have to mean living a 'minimalist' life where you give away all your possessions and crochet your own underwear. 

Why Less Means More actually reveals that abstract and practical decluttering is about the intentional decision to recalibrate your life around a few, select and precious priorities, creating an existence which reflects your spiritual values, with enough margin to love others and experience peace. 

Choosing not to reap to the edges of life 

Cathy points to this verse in the Bible when explaining the importance of living within our limits: “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner.” (Lev 19:9-10) 

She says: “Here, we have a fascinating instruction where, instead of harvesting right to the edges of their fields (surely the most efficient use of resources, we might think), farmers were encouraged to leave tangible margins around their crops, with deliberate room left at the edges. 

But there’s more. These farmers were also encouraged not to go back and scour the earth for every last crop they may have initially missed. Why? Just in case. Just in case somebody needed to glean a meal from the surplus. Just in case a poorer visitor could be provided for. Just in case that remaining food would be the contingency plan required for somebody in the days ahead.” 

Cathy's point is that not overextending ourselves to the point that we deplete our resources, benefits others and allows us to love people the way that Jesus did, creating richer community ties and a care and wellbeing that overflows to all. 

Despite the stressful situation that she faced, Cathy is aware of how lucky she is, and how solid her circumstances still were, compared to what many go through. However, the loss of all the things that society would associate with ‘success’, did teach her a precious, faith-filled lesson about how to live in alignment with what matters most. There’s a particularly moving scene in the book where she and her husband walk around their empty house as they leave it, knowing that they are relinquishing so much of their life: precious plans, possessions, and even some relationships, as well as the place and community they are deeply embedded within and attached to.

Cathy says: 

“On moving day, as we prayed, gave thanks for the many precious memories and closed the door on our home for the final time, there was a strange lightness that came upon us. We were now free to move on. And we were also free from the maintenance of the annoying tree that needed sorting and the wonky drawer in the kitchen. And with our possessions radically decluttered and the rest now in storage, we were suddenly free to live lightly for a while. We were free to start looking ahead again, unencumbered. And you know what else stood out to us as we drove away that day? Everything that really matters to us is completely portable. We have each other, and our closest relationships go with us, wherever we go. Everything else could be relinquished if necessary.” 

Why Less Means More By Cathy Madavan Do you feel frazzled? Frantic? Fearful you haven't got enough? In a world obsessed with more, where potential is maximised, and busyness is glorified, another reality also exists: we all have limits - and many of us are living at the edge of them. Why Less Means More shows you how saying no to one thing might mean saying yes to something far better. What would it look like to pursue less success and more significance? To live with less complexity and more clarity? To chase less of the 'extraordinary' and celebrate more of the 'ordinary' moments that make up an extraordinary life? Cathy Madavan, accomplished author and speaker, invites you to leave your fear and franticness behind and discover more space, simplicity and the truth that less really can lead to more. Enjoy the adventure! BUY HERE

Save £2 OFF both the paperback and ebook this month with our coupon code WHYLESS2.