Work-life readings worthy of summer
I've never fathomed the appeal of beach reading or summer reading lists. Being a wordsmith, reading is a four-season sport for me, and I'm not so hot on sandy pages.
Still, if these few warm months give us long days and a bit more time to enlighten ourselves, I can't complain.
Here's a grab-bag of new titles that especially fit these last days of summer, when our thoughts turn to carpools and apples, deadlines and briefcases, and perhaps yearnings for a bit more time and connection. While diverse, these books have something in common: They can help us to adapt to and effect change.
The Mantra -- "How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life: Opening Your Heart to Confidence, Intimacy and Joy," (St. Martin's Press), by Arlington meditation teacher Susan Piver is an easy read, and that's a compliment. Piver inspires you to tackle the very big issue of fear -- of change, challenges, love, and more -- with friendly reassurance.
Her main weapon is meditation, yet she manages to make her Buddhist teachings simple and relaxed, without minimizing the fact that changing your life can be hard work.
"Take your time and test out the notions presented," she writes, salting her thin volume with plenty of tales of her own tears and setbacks. Yes, it's a bit "Oprah," but hey, it's August, and we could all use a dose of straight talk on things like gentleness, confidence, and joy.
The Metaphor -- Sarah Susanka is a residential architect with an empire of books and accolades centered around the notion of building better-crafted, not bigger, homes. Her series of "Not So Big House" titles have sold more than a million copies, and now she's offering "The Not So Big Life: Making Room for What Really Matters," (Random House), to help us slow down and find meaning in our lives.
We all know the problems: Busyness, materialism, time-droughts. And Susanka's solutions aren't new: Know thyself, slow down, be more present.
Yet she manages to tackle these issues in a fresh way, partly by using the metaphor of architecture. This is a solidly built book that repays a close reading.
The Meta-View -- A book on systemic obstacles to better work-life balance is not a beach read. But labor economist Robert W. Drago's clearly argued volume gives us something that's in short supply: Perspective. "In Striking A Balance: Work, Family, Life," (Dollars & Sense), this respected researcher explores three growing gaps in society related to income, care, and gender. The widening gap between rich and poor is a concern, as is the substandard care received by many of our elderly and children.
Lastly, Drago, professor of labor studies at Penn State University, sees a new "gender" gap. While day care and other paid caregivers are largely female and poorly paid, professional women work so hard that they find themselves on the fringes of family care.
"That's the new gender gap, it's about caregiving," says Drago. A thought-provoking read.
For more practical help for mothers, try "Back On the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work," (Warner Business Books). Former investment banker and Newton mom Carol Fishman Cohen and executive searcher Vivian Steir Rabin write a soup-to-nuts guidebook on relaunching. Don't miss the tales of high-profile relaunchers such as former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who took five years off to raise her sons.
The Mirror -- Steve Talbott is a former organic farmer and computer programmer who has developed a growing following for his critical writings on technology. In his new book "Devices of the Soul: Battling for Our Selves in an Age of Machines," (O'Reilly Media), he argues that our dependence upon and identification with our machinery is leading us to mistake the limited gains of technology for real human progress.
Based in upstate New York, Talbott is no born-again Luddite, but rather a firm believer in living with our machinery.
"Our primary task is to discover the potentials within ourselves that are not merely mechanical, not merely automatic, not reducible to computation," writes Talbott, a gifted storyteller with a talent for revealing the illogic of many of our assumptions. This is an important book.
Balancing Acts appears every other week. Maggie Jackson can be reached at maggie.jackson@att.net. 