Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Radical Homemakers

I have long thought of myself as a homemaker - as in the Maker of the Home - and have been very proud to do so, after all, what could be more important than making a home for my loved ones and I.  When I heard about the book Radical Homemakers I asked our library to buy it so I was very pleased to see it sitting in my library bin last week.  I knew it was my kind of book almost from the moment I started reading it.  Every once in a while I find books that are so good that I don't want to put them down and so with this one I managed to find a way to read it while I went about my daily round.  I even found a way to clip it open so that I could read it while knitting gifts (which I've never been tempted to do before).
Reading while knitting
It is such a good feeling to come across a book telling about a group of people who value the same things you do.  I enjoyed reading about each person in the book and very much felt a feeling of community while reading.  And, when you choose to live your life outside the norm in our society, it always feels good to hear about others making similar life choices - it is very affirming.  Such a good book!  And so, I think the next time someone asks "What do you do?" I might just say, "I am a Radical Homemaker."  How fun is that?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this. I believe I am a radical homemaker too - and would love to read this book.

I agree with you that finding like-minded people is so empowering and validating. In that regard I am so thankful for blogging and the amazing mamas I've met.

Oh, and I love to knit and read. :)

Mary said...

Extremely fun!! I applaud and affirm you. There is nothing more important or challenging.

Grace and peace

Katherine said...

Oh, I will have to see if the library here has it.

Radical Homemakers - I like the sounds of it! ;o)

The Apple Pie Gal said...

Cool, thanks for sharing the tip! I am going to check it out RIGHT now!!! I love a good book!

AMOffenwanger said...

Hey, thanks for the tip! I'm No.13 in line for it now, after you bring it back.

Mary-Sue said...

YAY! you are the QUEEN of radical homemakers!!! and i am SO going to use that title whenever ANYone asks what I do, from now on! :o)

L said...

I love this book! And I'm loving reading your blog! Thanks!

Christa said...

I loved this book!

I found it especially empowering that so many of the homes she visited didn't look finished, neat or tidy all of the time. Something about reading about others having a sink full of dirty dishes, projects heaped in piles half finished and parts of their house still in a state of construction gave me permission to go easier on myself. I know I should be able to do it myself, but it was nice to have a little encouragement from the book!

I also really liked that she discussed how so many radical homemakers have decided to eschew health insurance and instead choose to maintain a healthy lifestyle and invest in the kinds of preventative medicine needed to keep themselves healthy in the first place.

All in all, a great read!

Heather said...

Hi Christa, I also liked that she talked about health insurance and preventative medicine. In Canada there is free medical help available to all but I would like to see it used only when needed - not for a cold, for example, because it is still costing tax payers loads of money. I also think it can take away from people's own sense of ability to take care of themselves and their health. There are so many things we can do to take care of our own health and lots of easy remedies we can use to help us through many common minor health issues and I think that it is so important that people really take responsibilty for their own health when they can.

That was just one of the parts of the book that I found very encouraging because usually when I tell people how rare it is for us to seek medical help I get the look - you know the look I mean.
;-)