URL's for comments on students blogs:

http://hayleypio1.blogspot.com/2011/09/labour-and-work.html#comments

http://clairepo1.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-affordances.html#comments

http://laura1participation.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post.html#comments

http://lucyotkelly.blogspot.com/2011/10/affordances-spirituality.html#comments

References for postings:

Caulton, R. & Dickson, R.  (2007).  What’s going on? Finding an explanation for what we do.  In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.), Contemporary issues in occupational therapy (pp. 87-114).   Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Christiansen, C. & Townsend, E. (2004). Introduction to Occupation: The Art and Science of Living. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

Creek, J., & Lawson-Porter, A. (Eds.). (2007). Contemporary Issues in Occupational Therapy (p. 99). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.   

de Lore,  C. & Brook-White, J. (2000).  Every kitchen tells a story.  New Zealand: HarperCollins Publishers

Hagedorn, R (2000). Tools for Practice in Occupational Therapy: A Structured Approach to Core Skills and Processes. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone

Webster, M. (2011). Ambience. Retrieved October 19th 2011 from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambience

Comments made on fellow students blogs:

Labour vs Work

Creek and Lawson-Porter (2007 p.99) define Labour as: “Mere activity characterised by necessity and futility. The goods produced by labour are consumed and have no enduring quality. A man is not free whose life is totally absorbed in labour. His energies are spent in response to necessity, under the aegis of forces outside himself, forces he cannot control. He is not master of himself as he is himself mastered”.

Creek and Lawson-Porter (2007 p.99) also define work as: an “activity producing an enduring object. Work requires self-investment, skill, craft and personal judgement. Work is purposeful and meaningful. Work is distinct from labour and often must be discovered independently from one’s job”.

Labour fits into my activity of cooking as at the end of the day it is needed for survival and fulfilment however, one can argue that there are components of my cooking that fit within work. When I am baking a friend’s birthday cake a lot of meaningful thought goes into both the preparation and creation of the cake. Baking a cake for my friend is not necessarily done for survival it is more done for pure enjoyment and as a purpose of a gift. Creek and Lawson-Porter (2007) refer to the idea of labours of love: “the difference love makes, the difference in seeing a task in one’s sensed community, as part of one’s creation, imagination and autobiography” (p.99). This concept relates well with my love towards baking birthday cakes for my friends and how in this case it is not necessarily done for necessity.

References:

Creek, J., & Lawson-Porter, A. (Eds.). (2007). Contemporary Issues in Occupational Therapy (p. 99). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.    

Practical Considerations

According to Christiansen & Townsend (2004,) practical considerations can be defined as: objects and tools necessary to engage successfully in occupations. When relating this quote back to my activity of cooking it is clear to say that practical considerations play an important role in my cooking.

A couple of months ago my street’s power was cut due to a faulty cable that was situated at the end of my driveway. We were told by the power company that unfortunately we were going to be out of power for at least a couple of days due the fact they had to dig up the ground and replace the cable. This really affected life in general however, the most frustrating thing was it made cooking and preparing dinner EXTREMELY difficult. I vaguely remember getting home from Tec and opening the fridge up to start preparing a roast chicken for that evening, my head was full of thoughts regarding Tec and I stupidly pulled the chicken and put it into the roasting dish (without clicking that there was actually no power). I seasoned the chicken with mixed herbs and a touch of salt and pepper and walked to the oven to turn it on however, soon enough realised that THERE WAS NO POWER……DURRRRRRRRRR! This obviously affected the fact that I was going to have to accept roast chicken was a write off for the night and I had to be extremely creative with what I was going to prepare for dinner. This example shows that in this case the practical consideration of the oven played an important role in the success of my dinner that night and without the oven this meal could not be prepared and therefore was obviously not consumed.

These two days without power felt like the longest days of my life and I can easily say that I defiantly learnt how to adapt with limited resources!

References:

Christiansen, C. & Townsend, E. (2004). Introduction to Occupation: The Art and Science of Living. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

Ambience

According to Webster (2011), ambience can be defined as: a feeling or mood associated with a particular place, person or thing. "Ambience describes the feeling created by a particular nature of an activity when it is being done for itself" (Butler, personal communication, 2011).
In relation to my activity of cooking my mood and feelings are important factors that influence how I cook and feel about myself as a person. In my first post: Participation in Occupation 2 – Activity: Cooking, I discussed how my mood can play a significant role on how much effort and time I put into my cooking. The atmosphere and the people apart of this environment when I enter the kitchen often can trigger many different moods and either inspire me to want to create or put me off the idea of preparing and cooking a dish.

For example on Sunday night I had invited family friends over to come and watch the All Black’s play their rugby semi-final for the World Cup. Everyone arrived in a very happy and excited mood dressed in their black and white. This immediately put me in a joyful mood and I wanted to make a dessert for everyone to celebrate the achievement of our mighty men in black! I started creating my apple pie and my visitors mingled in the kitchen to keep me company when I was making the dessert. We started to laugh and joke around and the atmosphere sent off a relaxing and happy vibe. According to de Lore and Brooke-White (2000), in any home the kitchen is often the place where friends and family congregate. Conversations, gossip humour and ideas flow freely in the relaxed atmosphere of the kitchen. I wanted to share this quote as I feel it fits nicely with my story I have shared in this post and reinforces that the ambience of this environment influenced my mood and feelings when participating in my activity of cooking.

References:

de Lore,  C. & Brook-White, J. (2000).  Every kitchen tells a story.  New Zealand: HarperCollins Publishers

Webster, M. (2011). Ambience. Retrieved October 19^th 2011 from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambience