Ideas

Books in Print

How to Get A Life - Toward a Science of Daily Living - Book 1

2003, ISBN 0-9732356-0-8, 128 pages. About techniques for balanced living based on effective habits and play. Currently available at the Laurentian University Bookstore, suggested retail price $16.50.

To listen to an audio recording and read the summary notes, go to DrDnotesand select the chapter headings.

 

Where Has All the Leisure Gone - A Discussion of Barriers to Health and Well Being

2003, ISBN 0-9732356-1-6, 238 pages. About our focus on work and the industrialization of lifestyle. Currently available at the Laurentian University Bookstore, suggested retail price $31.50.

To listen to an audio recording and read the summary notes, go to DrDnotes and select the chapter headings.

 

Other work (full text) is at the following links.  

• Human Ecology is about Giving (January, 2009)
• A Statement on Gift Culture (January, 2005) Prepared for The Northern Artist Gallery/Artists on Elgin
• Arts and Crafts in the Economy (December, 2004) Prepared for The Northern Artist Gallery/Artists on Elgin
• Gandhi, Fox, Barber et. al and "Why use the Hand Spindle?" - An introduction to Spindle Spinning (2004)
  • How to make a hand spindle (2004)
• Gift Culture - An example from the Textile World - When is dependency appropriate and what are the conditions for successful interdependency? (2003 - with references to"Persistence of the Gift, Tongan Tradition in Transnational Context" by Mike Evans in 2001)
• Health and Creative Work - An example from Textile History - Is it important for healthy living that each individual should have a complete skill that enables them to participate freely and independently in exchanges? (2003 - with references to Tessie P. Liu, The Weaver's Knot in 1994)
• Dealing with Poverty - History of Textile Production - What is the best way to promote healthy living among the poorest people in the community? (2003 - with references to Robert Owen, A New View of Society and Report to the Couty of Lanark. Edited with an introduction by V. A. C. Gatrell in 1970. Originally published, 1813/14 and 1821.)
• Health Culture and the Art of Living
• Where has all the Leisure Gone? - a draft from 1997
• Leisure and the Industrial Lifestyle - Danielson, Kusaka and Nishijima
• Tea and the World of Science I
• Tea and the World of Science II
• Comment on Tea and the World of Science - Nash
• If you Can't Find Time for Tea, It's Time for Tea - MacQueen
• The Elements of Lifestyle
• Making Tea From the Heart
• Tea Work and Leisure

Recommended reading and summaries of related publications:

• Axline, Virginia May -1911- Author of Dibs in Search of Self (1965) and Play Therapy (1947). Reading about Dibs is like reading a novel. At the same time, this little book demonstrates the great power of gentleness and respect in play situations. While these books are about the world of children and methods for therapy we can learn from them that both the  knowledge and the courage to find peace and well being, reside within the individual.

• Frankl, Victor.-1905 -1997. Author of Man's Search for Meaning (first published in1946, translated 1959). This little book illustrates how crucial it is to find meaning in life and how we can find meaning in the things we do, the experiences we have and the way we handle adversity. Based on logotherapy which he developed as a result of suffering in death camps, Frankl confirms that well being can be maintained even through great deprivation if we search for meaning.

• Illich, Ivan - 1926- . Author of Deschooling Society (1970), After Deschooling, What? (1973), Energy and Equity (1974), Medical Nemesis (1975), Toward a History of Needs (1977), and The Right to Useful Unemployment. He writes about distortions in the modern way of life and offers guidelines for balanced development. His perspective on the plight of disadvantaged populations is innovative.

• Jung, Carl Gustav - 1875-1961. Author of Modern Man in Search of a Soul(1933). He was one of the chief founders of modern psychiatry. Jung's writing is important for healthy living as well as for those who are ill. Among the issues he covers are the stages of life, the steps to healthy living, archaic man, spirituality and creativity. More: Stages, Consulting

• Maddux, Janes E. - A contemporary author - Habit, Health and Happiness, was published in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1997, 19, 331-346. More: Mindfulness

• Maslow, Abraham - 1908-1970. Author of Toward a Psychology of Being (1968). This is a study of the healthy side of psychology. It is not about deficiencies or about getting "unsick." Instead it is an exploration of the species wide, biologically based characteristics of people who are developing fully. 

• Miller, Susanna. Author of The Psychology of Play.  This book covers the field from insects and arthropods to animal play fighting and the play of children.  I contains lots of interesting examples of apparently useless behaviour and explanations of these behaviours as well. 

• Nitobe, Inazo. Author of Bushido, The Soul of Japan, written in 1905 to explain the unwritten feudal code of the nobles. Bushido is comparable to the code of chivalry in Europe but survived into the 20th century. This book describes some well tested criteria for interdependent living. More:

• Pieper, Josef - 1904-1997. Author of Leisure, the Basis of Culture 1952. This is a book about the drift of the 20th Century toward a slave society through the cult of work.  Pieper explains that genuine wealth is not possible in the world of work because anything superfluous is immediately subjected to utilitarian purposes. On the other hand, real wealth is created with sacrifice or when voluntary offerings are freely given.
  

• Rahner, Hugo - 1900-1968 . Author of Man at Play (1972). With quotations from classical literature and from early Christianity, Rahner explains why play was highly valued. Why did wise old men in Athens engage in extremely serious political activity as if it was an intelligent children's game? Why was the bliss of everlasting life described as a heavenly dance? Why were only those who became "as little children" able to enter the kingdom of heaven?

• Russel, Bertrand - 1872-1970. Author of The Conquest of Happiness (1930). A popular book by a Nobel Prize wining mathematician and philosopher. He covers topics like impersonal interests, love, interdependence, work, and boredom. Some comments about how women's roles were perceived at this time.  

• Suzuki, D. T. - 1870-1966. Author of Zen and Japanese Culture (1938, revised 1959) and Zen Buddhism, edited by William Barrett (1956 with content from 1949-55). This material is important for understanding the role of nature, the doctrine of No-Mind, the unstructured facts of life, poetry, swordsmanship, and tea. Westerners have  found Zen attractive for its emphasis on what has been called psychological wholeness or self-realization. 

• Vanier Jean - 1928- . Author of Becoming Human (1998). Vanier writes about the importance of inclusion and draws on evidence from his life with mentally disabled people. This is a very readable book about closed and open groups, the basis of our needs for personal gain, and the freedom we can enjoy if we put priority on justice, truth and service to others. Based on the CBC Massey lecture series. 
  

return to the top   

Copyright: Richard Danielson PhD and Karen Danielson PhD.  All rights reserved. Contact Us

Home    Ideas    Illustrations   Activities