2014/04/30

Make Us Ever Mindful

I've been seeing "mindful" and  "mindfulness" enough lately to make me want to find out what the collection says about them.

Time Magazine had a cover story in February 2014, "The Mindful Revolution".   And even as I was thinking about this post, Lodro Rinzler was writing last week on The Huffington Post that "Mindfulness Isn't a Trend, It's a Movement".

The Wikipedia entry on Mindfulness is helpful.  While "mindfulness" has been used to refer to the Buddhist practice of "right mindfulness", the seventh element of the noble eightfold path, it has been adopted in the West as a therapeutic concept.

Thich Nhat Hanh and Jon Kabat-Zinn have written popular works on the Buddhist practice, while the library owns a couple of works by Ellen Langer written from the psychological perspecrive.

32 titles.
(Meditation-6)
Children-8
Self-Help-5 
Food-4
Health-4
Money-3
Work-2


As with the Whisperer books, the library's Mindfulness books are heavily weighted  toward child-rearing.  Unlike the Whisperer books, the library does not own any books applying Mindfulness to pet ownership.  I see a few out there on Amazon, but the Whisperer phenomenon was to do with animals from the start.

After child-rearing, a large proportion  are devoted to psychological self-help, such as  The Mindful Way Through Depression and The Mindful Path To Self-Compassion.  Lord knows a lot of us need help with depression.

What does "mindfulness" communicate as a tag?  If you use it in a book title, whom do you hope will buy the book?  For example, Tranquilista:  mastering the art of enlightened work and mindful play. (And what about that suffix, "-ista"?)


The Miracle Of Mindfulness:  a manual of meditation, by Thich Nhat Hanh, 1987.

Mindfulness, by Ellen J. Langer, 1989.

Peace Is Every Step:  the path of mindfulness in everyday life, by Thich Nhat Hanh; edited by Arnold Kotler, 1991.

Dharma Family Treasures : sharing mindfulness with children,  edited and illustrated by Sandy Eastoak, 1994.

Living The Mindful Life, by Charles T. Tart ; foreword by Sogyal Rinpoche, 1994.

Wherever You Go, There You Are:  mindfulness meditation in everyday life, by Jon Kabat-Zinn, 1994.

Everyday Blessings:  the inner work of mindful parenting, by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn, 1997.

The Mindful Money Guide:  creating harmony between your values and your finances, by Marshall Glickman, 1999.

 Aligned, Relaxed, Resilient : the physical foundations of mindfulness, by Will Johnson,  2000.

 Mindful Steps To Happiness:  walking the path of the Buddha, by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, 2001.

Mindfulness And Money : the Buddhist path of abundance, by Kulananda and Dominic Houlder, 2002.

Journey To Mindfulness:  the autobiography of Bhante G., by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana with Jeanne Malmgren, 2003.

Under The Chinaberry Tree:  books and inspirations for mindful parenting, by by Ann Reuthling and Patti Pitcher, 2003.

Harvest For Hope:  a guide to mindful eating, by Jane Goodall with Gary McAvoy and Gail Hudson, 2005.

Resonant Leadership:  renewing yourself and connecting with others through mindfulness, hope, and compassion, by Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee, 2005.

ChiWalking : the five mindful steps for lifelong health and energy, by Danny Dreyer and Katherine Dreyer, 2006.

The Mindful Way Through Depression:  freeing yourself from chronic unhappiness, by Mark Williams, et al., 2007.

Counter Clockwise : mindful health and the power of possibility, by Ellen J. Langer, 2009.

Mindful Eating : a guide to rediscovering a healthy and joyful relationship with food, by Jan Chozen Bays; foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn, 2009.

The Mindful Path To Self-Compassion:  freeing yourself from destructive thoughts and emotions. by Christopher K. Germer; foreword by Sharon Salzberg, 2009.

Fully Present:  the science, art, and practice of mindfulness. by Susan L. Smalley and Diana Winston, 2010.

Savor:  mindful eating, mindful life, by Thich Nhat Hanh and Lilian Cheung, 2010.

Tranquilista:  mastering the art of enlightened work and mindful play, by Kimberly Wilson, 2010.

How To Train A Wild Elephant And Other Adventures In Mindfulness, by Jan Chozen Bays, 2011.

Mindfulness:  an eight-week plan for finding peace in a frantic world, by Mark Williams and Danny Penman; foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn, 2011.

10 Mindful Minutes : giving our children-and ourselves-the social and emotional skills to reduce stress and anxiety for healthier, happier lives, by Goldie Hawn with Wendy Holden, 2011.

Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat, With Diabetes:  a mindful eating program for thriving with prediabetes or diabetes, by Michelle May, with Megrette Fletcher, 2012.

The Mindful Way Through Pregnancy:  meditation, yoga, and journaling for expectant mothers, edited by Susan Piver, 2012.

Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and Their Parents), by Eline Snel; forward by Jon Kabat-Zinn, 2013.

Mindful Discipline: a loving approach to setting limits and raising an emotinally intelligent child, by Shauna Shapiro PhD and Chris White MD, 2014.

Mindful Parenting : simple and powerful solutions for raising creative, engaged, happy kids in today's hectic world, by Kristen Race, PhD, 2014.

The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Mindfulness, by Amanda Ie, Christelle T. Ngnoumen, Ellen J. Langer, 2014.

2014/04/06

The Joy of Ruins

Really interesting video-essay on the Financial Times Arts page, prompted by an exhibit at the Tate gallery.  Peter Aspden talks about the lure of urban decay and the appeal of ruins.  He looks at lost London, post-Katrina New Orleans and Hitler's Atlantic Wall.



I was pleased to see Iain Sinclair, who says that ruins help us think about our own mortality.

It reminds me of a donated book I once put in the library collection, The Pleasure of Ruins, by Rose Macaulay.

We used to get teenagers coming in, asking about our file of clippings on Sunland Center, a hospital for the mentally and physically disabled in Tallahassee.  It stood empty for many years before it was finally torn down, and was rumored to be haunted.

In February, I had an inquiry about an establishment called the City Hotel.  Was it still standing?  I discovered that it had been built around 1828 and had been the "best tavern in town".  The Count de Castelnau stayed there, as well as the poet, Sidney Lanier.  But it burned down in 1886, and the state capitol building and grounds occupy its former place.