Re-enchantment book may help the literal-minded

In a letter to the editor of The Weekly Calistogan (The Napa Valley Register) today, Donald Williams praises Thomas Moore's book, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life: "Recommending Moore’s Re-Enchantment". Williams states, "... I have read Re-Enchantment at least three times, starting four years ago. It is a convincing tonic for someone like me who can be too linear, logical, mathematical, or businesslike in my thinking."

In his letter, Williams includes, "Moore offers a wonderful perspective that’s magical and practical at the same time. He escorts the reader beyond excessive rationality to the real enchanting place where beauty, dreams, and emotion are validated, even in daily life at work, in the garden, in the home."

A book's magic may reside in its physical form

"Let's reverse the trend against books: Build a home library, however small. Buy books. Support real libraries, not information centers." 
— Thomas Moore @thomasmooreSoul tweet 16 October 2012

The blog Defying Obsolete quotes Thomas Moore in its post "Digital Apparitions" and then shows why e-books are dissatisfying. It shares Moore's description:

 "There are several books on my shelves that I love to see there for their sheer company, although I have no intention of ever reading them. In some cases, I have several editions of a book, not because of variations in translation but because of different bindings and typographies. A book is a book, and in these times in particular, when information is available in many different formats, especially on computers, it may be important to remember that a book is more than its text. It has a presence, and in that presence lies it's magic."
— Thomas Moore, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life 

The blogger avers, "Technology is fine, but I can't help but notice that the digital age threatens everything I enjoy. Books and the things related to them (e.g., libraries) are at the top of this list, but it's other stuff too. Objects like typewriters and letters teeter on the verge of extinction, as do more intangible, quality of life kind of things, such as
community, solitude, and so on."

Be affected by trees emotionally and intellectually

The blog post "Spiritual Lessons from the Lives of Trees", with musical accompaniment by Louis Armstrong, Vanessa Williams, a Cherokee Morning Song, and others, quotes extensively from Thomas Moore’s book The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life.

The post begins, "In between loads of laundry and changing sheets, I have been reading Thomas Moore's book, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life. The 382-page count was daunting at first because it looked more like a boring textbook, but I am glad now because I want the book to last forever. The poetry, imagination, practicality, and research is insightful and enchanting." The blogger intersperses her observations between long passages from Moore’s book.

In a comment she writes, "I love the book. Thanks for recommending it. It’s quite highlighted even tho I am near the beginning."

Runner recommends refreshing re-enchantment

A runner and college instructor advises readers "Rest, Recovery, and Easy Days: It's More Than Just Physical". He describes the "easy" days during a running streak and suggests:

"In one of my favorite books by Thomas Moore called the The Re-enchantment of Everyday Life, Moore argues that in modern society we have become so analytical and scientific in our society that we miss the magical and the awe-inspiring in our daily lives and that this point-of-view does nothing to nourish our souls. He advocates opening the mind to the enchanting and awe-inspiring in daily life by paying more close attention to the magical in the things around us.

This message can apply to our running. Recovery days and easy days are an opportunity to put aside worries about time and distance and appreciate the wonder in our surroundings or even the wonder of our own bodies moving across the ground. Many use easy or recovery days as the time to socialize with fellow runners. This can be a wonderful activity that nourishes the mind and soul, but there is something to be said about the solitary and reflective runs, as well. Wonderful opportunities exist if one just is open to them."

The runner describes a particular trail he enjoys and offers a video for further contemplation.

Ruminate about the unfolding mysteries of life

The Anchorhold site encourages spiritual expressions of gay and bisexual men. Today David Townsend blogs "Signs and Wonders " about consulting Tarot cards before setting out yesterday. After describing cards he turns over, Townsend writes:

"Then I settled into the slower, more ambiguous search for what these cards could tell me, digging into the uncertainties, looking in the shadows cast by hesitation for what I might otherwise fail to see. Reading your cards, or having them for you, requires a kind of faith. You have to trust that a series of random occurrences has something to teach you — that hovering just behind pure chance is a sign that points to something you'd do well to notice. You have to get past calculating the odds in order to embrace what Thomas Moore has called 'the re-enchantment of everyday life.'

You don't have to believe deeply. You just have to behave as though you do. You have to give yourself permission to imagine and play with the possibility that the randomness of the world is speaking to you. You can use the Tarot as a technology for the expansion of your soul. You could just as well use astrology; or the I Ching; or ink blots; or the pattern of the flowers that have opened this particular summer day, in this particular meadow. The truth isn't in the cards, but in the dialogue you have with them — a dialogue that can both take you out of yourself and invite you to enter more deeply into yourself."

Townsend concludes, "There's no objective, 'scientific' truth to the Tarot, as far as I'm concerned, but there is what it calls forth in us as we play with what it offers. The chance happenings of my day aren't direct messages from a God who has nothing more pressing to do than send me personal telegrams; but I can choose to take them as evidence of a Mystery that unfolds before me, and, sometimes, an invitation to allow it to unfold within me as well."

Appreciate and enjoy the things that surround you

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat offer "Handle Your Things with Care" that addresses "soulful materialism" on their site Spirituality & Practice. This piece mentions Thomas Moore as one who advocates that "the objects in our homes are appreciated and cherished for their beauty, expressiveness, life, and creativity." The Brussats describe ten practice suggestions:

  1.  Create a welcoming ceremony for a new possession
  2.  Respect your things
  3.  Anoint your house with beautiful things
  4.  Bring a bit of enchantment to the office: Read Thomas Moore's book The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life
  5.  Appreciate wabi sabi: Leonard Koren defines this Japanese aesthetic as "a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is the beauty of things modest and humble."
  6.  Hold a party for your things
  7.  Apologize to the offended object
  8.  Be generous to those who maintain your things
  9.  What not to do with things
10.  Pass on your things to others

This year appreciate ordinarily sacred every day

Today Gulf Breeze News publishes Jack Kale's piece, "Good intentions often fade, so savor the mundane and routine" in which he talks about New Year's resolutions while appreciating everyday life. Kale includes, "This year, I hope you find meaning in the mundane days of your life. Find joy in doing the dishes, taking out the garbage, or mowing the grass. Savor the the taste of a well made grilled cheese. Be satisfied with your car for one more year. Find excitement in someone else’s success. Be grateful for friends that tell you the truth and don’t need to be entertained. Pull off the road and enjoy a sunset or sunrise. Take a deep breath and thank God for the ability to breathe. Be thankful for toothpaste, toilet paper, running water, and nail clippers. Smile when eating microwaved popcorn. Enjoy the ordinary."

At the bottom of his column, Kale writes, "... I am grateful for the book The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life by Thomas Moore which emphasizes the point of this article much better than I can."

Bloggers take the temperature of the season

In the post, "Hot and Cold ruminations", blogger Ruth quotes Thomas Moore’s description of fundamentalism in his book Care of the Soul as it relates to the season of winter. The excerpt includes Moore’s definition, "I would define fundamentalism as a defense against the overtones of life, the richness and polytheism of imagination." Ruth responds, "Maybe winter is not simply: cold. It is cold with overtones of cool, warm, and much that is not about temperature. I am a polytheistic lover of winter!"

Catherine O'Meara blogs about childhood Christmases and her desire to maintain enchantment as an adult, in "Living an Enchanted Life". While reading Thomas Moore’s book, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life, she writes, "... Moore reminds us that every aspect of our daily lives deserves to be grounded in the enchantment granted by a spirit-infused perspective."

Enjoy reading the comments triggered by these entries.

Feel the spark when soul imbues a special place

Lucie D’Alessandro blogs about the significance of home in her post, "Mangonui: The Pearl in the Oyster" on Friday. Mangonui, in northern New Zealand is tied to D’Alessandro’s family since the early nineteenth century and in describing its sense of place, she writes, "Thomas Moore talks about the spirit of a place as being like ‘the pearl in an oyster’ or the ‘spark of its soul’ in his book The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life."

Artistic images show us the soul of human life

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat quote Thomas Moore's book, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life in their review of the PBS series "Art of the Western World", hosted by Michael Wood, now available on a three-DVD set. The Brussats write, "Throughout the nine hours of Art of the Western World, we had the same response as Thomas Moore did when he visits museums: we felt our souls come alive while viewing art by Michelangelo, Bernini, Goya, Van Gogh, and Miro. Wood engaged us in such a way that our faculty of reverie was called into play. In moments, we were reminded that a work of art brings out "the radiance." We want to linger and enjoy the painting or sculpture, or architecture." In his book, Moore observes,

"When we make our pilgrimage to the museum, we find images showing what the soul is made of, what my soul is made of. We celebrate those artists who powerfully and beautifully paint the secret sources of our lives. The images, so carefully made, educate our imagination in the precision, depth, range, and focus of human life. In a museum we see more of our souls than we could find through any means of introspective analysis."

Art of the Western World
Directed by Tony Cash, Geoff Dunlop
Athena Learning 09/11 DVD/VHS
Host: Michael Wood
This review includes the nine themes and spiritual exercises to accompany the program, supported by Shawn McNiff's view of art: "The pictures carry medicines, energies, creative spirits, and vitality that they will give to you freely."

Sense the magic, mystery and imagination in life

"Enchantment invites us to pause and to be arrested by whatever is before us; instead of our doing something, something is done to us. This is the way of the soul, which is primarily the receptive power in us; by letting ourselves be slowed down and affected by nature, we are fashioned into persons of substance, even if at a more active, conscious level we are forcefully engaged in becoming something else."
— Thomas Moore, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life

Jeff Stroud starts yesterday's blog entry, "Engaged in Becoming", with the above quote from Moore's book and then describes how it and other writing "bathed me in renewing activity of the senses. That included a trip to the Town Center formerly the Mall, to a week-long used book sale with my friend Linda, which included a journey over to the library so she could use their computers while I perused the videos and bookshelves."

His post includes nature photographs and a link to a review of The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life on the Spirituality & Practice site. This S&P review includes, "Moore's juiciest volume to date pinpoints magic, play, mystery, and imagination as wands that can renew and restore both our private and public lives." Spirituality & Practice also offers an excerpt from The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life about Silence.

Practical, simple, enchanted living feeds the soul

Auburn Meadow Farm, a small "modern heritage foodstead" in western Pennsylvania, raises American Milking Devon cattle for dairy and beef.  It wants to "reintroduce an extraordinary eating experience while providing a simple, joyful life" for its animals. Thursday's blog post, "In which we are enchanted", introduces readers to Thomas Moore's book, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life. While packing household items during a family move, Jackie Cleary writes, "His most famous books are Care of the Soul and Soul Mates, but the two that most feed my soul are the The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life and The Education of the Heart. I found The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life first and of course had to plop down in the middle of the action for a quick skim. Here I found interesting observations about that uneasy tension between dreams and practicality so especially polarized in our American culture."

Quotes from The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life fill Cleary's post including Moore's observation:

“Over the years, when I’ve lectured on food, cynical listeners have complained that I’m reducing psychology to the themes of modern living and gourmet magazines. When I first heard such objections I felt defensive and concerned. Was I not being clear about the depth of these issues? Then I realized that magazines about food and home may be more important, even if they are intellectually light, than thick tomes of research and philosophy. Now I don’t mind being associated with books of recipes and advice about furnishings and entertainment. Of course, they can be superficial and middle-class, but their simplicity is not a sign of their insignificance.”

Cleary ends with "And so this evening, we ponder the importance of two words rarely used anymore – enchantment and delight. Yet that’s exactly what I feel every day as I stand in the special glow unique to summer evenings, pumping water into the trough and watching the cows graze their favorite evening pasture." The site includes a Cow Gallery of farm personalities.

How to measure progress in the 21st century?

A quote from Thomas Moore’s book, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life, leads Nate Bettger to contemplate, "The marks of a progressing civilization". He includes Moore’s view, "An enchanted ecology comes into being when our concern for the environment goes beyond materialistic elements in nature and culture: to children rather than machines, trees rather than excessive paper products, and home rather than shelter."

Bettger asks, "What does our society claim as proof of our progression? Happiness is something more than self-satisfied, self-interested, and self-serving. It something greater than an innocent or unaware naivety." He is working to build "relationships in Bend, Central Oregon, and across the United States to connect people to what is happening in an emerging and evolving paradigm and with those who are seeking to follow God and live more authentically in the transforming presence of the divine."

Enchantment: soul is a receptive power within us

Dr. Don Meyer, president of Valley Forge Christian College in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania features Thomas Moore's book, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life (1996) in his column, "Think about it: The enchanting world of nature", published by The Phoenix today. Meyer shares Moore's observations about enchantment:

"Moore defines enchantment as "a spell that comes over us, an aura of fantasy and emotion that can settle on the heart and either disturb it or send it into rapture and reverie." He speaks of falling in love and how it effects more than just life with that person. It affects all of life. Everything we see and hear and feel and do is enchanted by the love we have for one other person."

After quoting Moore's view, "In general, it's difficult to imagine being busy and enchanted at the same time. Enchantment invites us to pause and be arrested by whatever is before us; instead of our doing something, something is done to us. This is the way of the soul, which is primarily the receptive power in us; by letting ourselves be slowed down and effected by nature...", Meyer describes his own enchantment, "As I read those words something stirs deep inside of me. It feels somewhat mysterious, even mystical. I guess that's why I like the word enchantment. And I have discovered I don't need to travel far to experience it. I can drop my briefcase off in the kitchen, take off my suit coat and tie, roll up my sleeves and go for a walk in my flower garden and that enchantment comes over me. I feel it as I look at the hydrangeas opening up and just touches of blue and pink appear on those delicate petals."