Domestic joys by Walt Whitman
By Seeing the Everyday | October 29, 2009
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Prosaics in family
By Seeing the Everyday | October 28, 2009
What is at the core of the best family relationships is a question contemplated and explored in every age and by every family. While studies have found many factors that predict success in the home, much of modern research and experience converges on what may be the most notable indicator: prosaics.
“Prosaics” is a term, coined by contemporary literary philosopher Gary Saul Morson, used to capture a way of thinking that
“. . . Questions whether the most important events may not be the most ordinary and everyday ones—events that we do not appreciate simply because they are so commonplace. To adapt Abe Lincoln’s saying, God must have loved the ordinary events because he made so many of them. Cloaked in their very ordinariness, the prosaic events that truly shape our lives—that truly are our lives—escape our notice. The truths we seek are hidden in plain view, and for that reason are all the more difficult to discern.”
In other words, the big milestones of life, important as graduations and job promotions are, may cause us to overlook what Morson calls
“the infinitely numerous and apparently inconsequential ordinary ones, which taken together, are far more effective and significant. After all, memorable events are memorable just because they are exceptional. To imagine that they are important just because they are memorable and noticeable would be like concluding that because only treetops are visible on a distant hill, nothing exists there but trees.”
Prosaics assumes that
“[order] is always the result of work. It is never given, but always made.”
“Whatever wholeness we achieve requires enormous work, which is the effort of life; and that work is never complete . . . . [We work] to develop the habit of evaluating and correcting ‘the tiny alterations’ of our thoughts moment to moment.”
“[Creating good] demands energy, like the moment-to-moment conscientiousness of a good mother.”
(above extracts from G. S. Morson (Autumn 1988), Prosaics: An approach to the humanities, American Scholar.)
Our most common, ordinary, daily life experiences take place at home—in families. By applying the philosophy of prosaics, the work of family and all of our interactions therein become the most effective and significant of all we do.
Topics: Research | 5 Comments »
Pertinent to the work I am engaged in
By Seeing the Everyday | October 19, 2009
I really loved this last issue of Seeing the Everyday. It is so pertinent to the work I am engaged in as a mother and wife, and it both encouraged and inspired me to make some improvements. I love the quotes, the anecdotes, the essays at the end. Thanks for all your work with it.
- Kathryn Ward (Washington) in response to Issue 6
Topics: Reader Responses | No Comments »
Enjoying the small things in life is the way to go
By Seeing the Everyday | May 11, 2009
Jane Tercheria says reading Seeing the Everyday “helps confirm that enjoying the small things in life is really the way to go.” Read more of Jane’s thoughts by clicking on her quote above.
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It is What I Needed . . .
By Seeing the Everyday | April 18, 2009
Victoria from Norway says that Seeing the Everyday is “What I needed this week to keep mindfully focused and not get absorbed by work.” Read more of Victoria’s thoughts on her blog post.
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Interview with Brad Slade, Photographer for Seeing the Everyday
By Seeing the Everyday | February 11, 2009
Take-Out Photo interviewed Brad Slade, the photographer for Seeing the Everyday. Read about Brad’s philosophy, what drew him to photography, and what inspires him. He shares how he became involved with Seeing the Everyday and even a little advice for candid family photos. Read interview here.
For Seeing the Everyday magazine. “My mother has made bread as long as I remember, and the family remembers this was a good time to be with her. She always listened.”
Photo Copyright Brad Slade
Topics: Interviews | 2 Comments »
Company Offers New Approach to Parenting Magazines
By Seeing the Everyday | February 3, 2009
‘Seeing the Everyday’ creates a new magazine that removes the tips, recipes, and advertisements for a unique reader experience.
(PRNewsChannel) / Cambridge, Mass. / A new magazine provides a refreshing perspective to parenting and families. The typical parenting tips or the newest recipes are not to be found. Instead, Seeing the Everyday is filled with real stories of readers’ experiences in their own families—ordinary moments with parents that made meaningful and lasting impacts.
When looking through Seeing the Everyday, readers might first notice that the advertisements are missing. There are none. Instead, every page contains beautiful images and illustrations that capture the essence of the everyday.
Above all, Seeing the Everyday distinguishes itself by its content. “These are true, personal stories,” explains founder Daryl Smith, “But the key is that they are stories of unremarkable, everyday moments that mattered. The stories help each of us better understand what modern social scientists are discovering—that the seemingly small moments and interactions are the most influential in building and strengthening our relationships with one another. The principles found in Seeing the Everyday are critical for successful parenting.”
Seeing the Everyday thus allows its readers to learn about parenting the same way people have always learned from reading stories and poems: based on their own experiences and situations. “We all find something to glean from Seeing the Everyday,” says Smith, “because we find ordinary people doing ordinary things…and making big differences for others.”
Click here for a link to the press release
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Perfection in Print
By Seeing the Everyday | January 30, 2009
Kristen said her first issue of Seeing the Everyday was all she had imagined and more. “Perfection in Print.”
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A Magazine that Speaks
By Seeing the Everyday | January 7, 2009
Meg found that Seeing the Everyday sets itself apart as a magazine, reaching deep into your soul the way a book does. It “speaks like a book. It’s real. It’s raw. It’s meaningful…truly a treasure.” Read more here.
Muse Reviews
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“Magazines You Should Be Reading”
By Seeing the Everyday | November 27, 2008
Thank you Michelle (Scribbit) for making Seeing the Everyday Number 1 on your list of “Magazines You Should Be Reading.”
Topics: Reader Responses | No Comments »