"What decides why things go well one day and badly another? The events are the same, the homemaker is the same, yet on one occasion nothing works out for her and on another everything seems miraculously to fall into place. Is there a special ingredient within us that we can tap into and cultivate to generate the longed-for equilibrium?"

Veronika van Duin began her career as a homemaker forty years ago. Setting out with love, enthusiasm and idealism, she soon discovered that she had no idea of the magnitude of the task, feeling herself to be 'very, very wanting'. As she writes: "...I felt guilty, pressurised and inadequate much of the time. I became increasingly conscious of my personal shortcomings. I also felt very alone, and sometimes lonely too..."

It is from such humbling feelings that van Duin writes, offering support and hope for fellow homemakers. She reveals the discoveries that have provided her, and many others she has taught in workshops and courses, with the basic life tools for overcoming personal hindrances. In this wonderfully uplifting book, van Duin gives exercises for restoring balance, maintaining equilibrium, discovering understanding, creating joy, validating feeling, maintaining vitality and drive, developing insight, finding freedom, and much more.

VERONIKA VAN DUIN, born in Scotland, trained as a nursery nurse. For many years she lived with people with special needs, together with her own family, and later took in teenage boarders. Her experiences led her to search for ways of creating a home that could contribute to a truly sound and healthy society. In 2000 she published her popular book Homemaking as a Social Art. She has recently retired from care work, but continues to run seminars and workshops for homemakers. She is married, has three grown-up children, and enjoys looking after her grandchildren.

October 2008; RSP; 128pp; 1.5 x 13.5 cm; pb;