Below are some of my favourite books on more nuanced topics such as being, belonging and perception. All have helped me to make new connections and see in new ways, opening up more space in my consciousness for curiosity, wonder and humility. I'm grateful to these authors and creators for their explorations of what comprises a rich and heart-felt human life – one lived in conscious, meaningful relationship with others, human and more-than-human.
This classic essay emerged from E.F. Schumacher's study of village economics and his growing concerns about rapid globalization. It continues to offer poignant reflections on appropriate scale, community empowerment and "enoughness" that feel just as relevant as they did in the 1970s.
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This thoughtfully compiled collection of essays by many of the brilliant teachers at Schumacher College is dear to my heart. Covering topics as diverse as Gaia theory, economics, mythology, farming and friendship, the authors reveal hidden connections and beautiful approaches to the wicked problems of our time.
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The union of Resurgence and Ecologist magazines has only increased their collective range and depth. I treasure and reread every copy I have, each filled to the brim with thought-provoking and heart-opening science, philosophy, stories and art.
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Adam Grubb and Annie Raser Rowland's book makes me giddy with delight. Perceptive, insightful, quirky and joyful, its authors call us back to the original, free-of-charge pleasures of being alive in a world of everyday magic. Beautiful and so very important.
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Here, craftsman and teacher Nick Kary explores the shifting landscapes of makers, artisans and craftspeople across the centuries, celebrating the interwoven nature of place, imagination, material and creativity. I loved his poetic reflections on how connecting with the natural world and making with our hands is the essence of being human.
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Again and again as I read this book, now heavily underlined and dog-eared, I just kept thinking, This is so important. Artist and critic Jenny Odell brilliantly points out where our attention, "the most precious and overdrawn resource we have", is being diverted from what matters most – our embodiment in a place, a time, a community of life – and reminds us of how to reclaim and redirect it in deeply meaningful ways. I can't recommend her work highly enough.
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Andreas Weber's lucid essay presents the concept of Enlivenment – the engagement with all beings in a common household of matter, desire, and imagination – as a life-affirming complement to Enlightenment thinking. By the end of the first page I had reached for a pencil to underline a particularly remarkable passage, and proceeded to underline almost every sentence in the book. Absolutely brilliant.
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There's a good reason why Toko-pa Turner's luminous quotes adorn the Gentlefolk website like jewels. This lovingly crafted guide to the practice of belonging invokes myths, stories and dreamwork to remind us of our place in the world, our at-homeness in the family of life. So beautiful it reads like one long prose poem, this special book nudges me closer to what truly matters and to who we truly are.
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I love this mindful exploration of simplicity from ecological, psychological, economic and spiritual perspectives. It was published decades ago, but still soothes and settles me when I'm feeling scattered or overwhelmed by modern life. Duane Elgin's gentle emphasis on cultivating a life that is "outwardly simple, inwardly rich" is good medicine.
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Another in my collection of collections, this gathering of essays edited by Cecile Andrews and Wanda Urbanska presents thoughtful reflections on simplicity, minimalism, happiness, creativity and inner wealth. Each author contributes something special, and the result is powerful.
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Charles Eisenstein reminds us that a careful study of our economic system reveals the foundations of who we think we are and what sort of universe we believe we're living in. This book and its associated lectures, podcasts and courses continue to open my eyes to the transformative potential of the gift economy and other economics of transition. For this I'm very grateful.
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This luminous book slipped into my life in a series of serendipitous discoveries that marked the beginning of a wonderful journey. Within a year of being transfixed and transformed by my first reading, I found myself living on another continent, studying holistic science and watching David Abram himself perform a magic trick. How about that.
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Here, Charles carefully charts the worldviews that have given rise to the climate crisis and that continue to fuel our polarizing reactions of denial, blame and techno-fix fantasies. Through storytelling, ecological research and psychological insight, he reminds us that transformative responses are rooted not in carbon credits and species prioritization but in connection, memory and love.
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Reading Henri Bortoft isn't easy for me, but slowly working through this text on phenomenology, perception and nature has deepened my attentiveness to life and shifted my understanding of wholeness: "Thus the whole emerges simultaneously with the accumulation of parts, not because it is the sum of the parts, but because it is immanent within them." Thank you, Henri.
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Unlike me, my dear friend and teacher Emma Kidd took to Henri Bortoft's phenomenological lectures and writings like a fish to water. She swam upstream and, after years of exploration and contemplation, gifted the world with this book. Through research, real-world examples and personal stories, Emma elucidates the delicate art of seeing dynamically, and how our ability to practice it is so deeply connected to personal, social and ecological healing.
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Mary Oliver's poetry feels like natural magic. Reading her, it feels as though the finches, black bears and goldenrod she so carefully observed are speaking themselves through her, but of course she worked tirelessly to bring such transcendent verses into being. I struggle here to express the extent of my gratitude for this. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I cannot image my life without her poems.
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