Abstract

The Meaning of Everyday Occupation describes the meaning found in the ordinary and familiar occupations that make up our everyday lives. Meaning and everyday occupation are dimensions of living that are of the utmost importance to quality of life for each of us. This exceptional new text is about occupation as an experience rather than occupation as a task. Occupation as experience is occupation as it is perceived through our senses, as it is lived through, as it is experienced. From an occupational perspective, the occupations of our lives and the meanings of those occupations are essential contributors to the pace and direction of the life flow. Daily occupation is viewed as the essential current that propels each of us along a lifelong journey. The initial chapters in the text address the concepts of meaningfulness and meaninglessness in our lives as well as meaning and occupation. Cultural contributions to meaningful occupation and the contributions of experiential space and place are discussed. Subsequent chapters focus on the primary ways in which daily occupation contributes to meaning in our lives—as a source of connection to others, as a force for well-being and lifespan development, as a source of meaning in disability, and as a repository of creativity and spirituality. The Meaning of Everyday Occupation contains many theoretical concepts related to everyday occupational experiences that are interwoven in all chapters. Quotations and stories from the author’s phenomenological research on occupation and from her own life experiences, as well as illustrations from literature are used liberally throughout the book.