Homemaking as a Social Art: Creating a Home for Body, Soul, and Spirit

by Veronika Van Duin

Today, social and economic pressures affect the traditional role of the homemaker. Emphasis is placed on the working world instead of home life, and many struggle to function in several roles at once. This increasingly hectic climate has tended to downgrade of the work of the homemaker.

Taking a spiritual perspective inspired by Rudolf Steiner, Veronika van Duin suggests that homemaking needs to be undertaken consciously as an honored and valued area of work, as nothing less than a “social art.” She asserts that, by elevating our regard for the homemaker, we can enjoy a happier and more contented family and home life.

The author does not claim any blueprint for perfect homemaking, but offers principles and observations based on a study of the seven “life processes” and how they affect us. She addresses the significance of rhythm, relationships, artistic environment, caring, self-development, and much more in this invaluable book.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2001

Reviews

[Lindsay Evermore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is simply one of the most powerful books I have read on the importance of homemaking and the spiritual elements it encompasses. I will return to this often!

[Granny Swithins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping this book would inspire me to find the joy in the everyday drudgery. It didn't. A lot of esoteric Steiner philosophy which I didn't find very useful. Nothing in the way of practical suggestions. I guess it encourages the reader to take home-making seriously, and to place it as being as important as having paid employment, which is a nice thought if not one validated by the rest of society. As I was reading it I felt as if it wasn't really going in, and many times I had to turn back a page and read it again. Perhaps I'd get more from it by reading it again, but I don't feel in a hurry to try. It didn't really give me what I was looking for.

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Veronika van Duin’s work primarily addresses the spiritual aspects of creating a home, and living in a home, in that it is the fabric from which the rest of your life springs. No matter what your circumstances, or the grandiosity (or lack thereof) of your lifestyle, with the right person guiding the home environment, the rest of the family will prosper. For the rest of the review, see http://www.waldorfbooks.com/item_304.htm

[GB Noriega · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a long time to get through this book. I couldn't commit my attention to it because it asked me to "maintain" my home. So I kept cleaning and maintaining instead of reading.

Being a homemaker is not hell if you think about it differently. Okay, thanks!