In ‘The Enchanted Life’, Sharon Blackie speaks to those who feel an emptiness at the heart of modern life – who long for a more authentic, harmonious and connected way of life.
From the introduction
I enjoy my technology, my devices, the convenience of it all, but, yes there is a but, because all of this modernization has left me “disenfranchised” the thoroughly perfect term to described in the book The Enchanted Life” by Sharon Blackie. You see all this technology, and modernization, has begun to make me feel apart from ecology, the earth, and it’s other inhabitants. I like so many others, have been conditioned by the desire for material possessions and that’s caused us to feel a disconnect, or loss of our natural instinct. Thus, leading to the idea that we are separate or above the natural world. This book has helped me see how much apart of nature we truly are. So I’m plugging back into nature. Reconnecting with my natural-self & reconnecting with my lost inner child. —Rachel
Check out the book here at the author’s blog: https://sharonblackie.net/the-enchanted-life/
The following is from the author Sharon Blackie
I believe that enchantment is an attitude of mind which can be cultivated, a way of approaching the world which anyone can learn to adopt: the enchanted life is possible for everybody. In this book I’ll share with you my own experiences, and the experiences of several men and women from around the world, as they demonstrate how we can bring enchantment into every aspect of our daily lives. Because enchantment, by my definition, has nothing to do with fantasy, or escapism, or magical thinking: it is founded on a vivid sense of belongingness to a rich and many-layered world; a profound and whole-hearted participation in the adventure of life.
The enchanted life presented here is one which is intuitive, which embraces wonder, and fully engages the creative imagination – but it is also deeply embodied, ecological, grounded in place and community. It flourishes on work that has heart and meaning; it respects the instinctive knowledge and playfulness of children. It understands the myths we live by; thrives on poetry, song and dance. It loves the folkloric, the handcrafted, the practice of traditional skills. It respects wild things, recognises the wisdom of the crow, seeks out the medicine of plants. It rummages and roots on the wild edges, but comes home to an enchanted home and garden. It is engaged with the small, the local, the ethical; enchanted living is slow living. http://www.sharonblackie.net
‘Ultimately, to live an enchanted life is to pick up the pieces of our bruised and battered psyches, and to offer them the nourishment they long for. It is to be challenged, to be awakened, to be gripped and shaken to the core by the extraordinary which lies at the heart of the ordinary.”
“Above all, to live an enchanted life is to fall in love with the world all over again. This is an active choice, a leap of faith which is necessary not just for our own sakes, but for the sake of the wide, wild Earth in whose being and becoming we are so profoundly and beautifully entangled.” From the Book “The Enchanted Life”
About the author
Dr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning writer and internationally recognised teacher whose work sits at the interface of psychology, mythology and ecology.
Her highly acclaimed books, courses, lectures and workshops are focused on the development of the mythic imagination, and on the relevance of our native myths, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, social and environmental problems we face today.
As well as writing four books of fiction and nonfiction, including the bestselling If Women Rose Rooted, her writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Irish Times, the Scotsman and more, and she has been interviewed by the BBC and other major broadcasters on her areas of expertise.
Other books by Sharon Blackie
A collection of original and reimagined fairy tales about shapeshifting women, Foxfire, Wolfskin, was published in September 2019, and Hagitude, a nonfiction book about the myths and stories of female elderhood, is scheduled for publication in 2022.
“All of my work – writing and teaching – springs from an intense connection to the land, which is rooted as much in the mything and storying of place as it is in a detailed knowledge of the physical environment. These are acts of creative place-making; acts of radical belonging. For twelve years I was a crofter, both in the far north-west Highlands of Scotland and on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, sandwiched between mountains and sea in one of the wildest and most remote places in the country. (On a clear day, we could see St Kilda from our kitchen window.)” Author Sharon Blackie, http://www.sharonblackie.net
