The Poetry of Everyday Life: Storytelling and the Art of Awareness
Steve Zeitlin
Abstract
This is a book of encounters. Part memoir, part essay, and partly a guide to maximizing a capacity for fulfillment and expression, this book taps into the artistic side of what we often take for granted in everyday life: the stories we tell, the people we love, the metaphors used by scientists, even our sex lives. This book explores how poems serve us in daily life and how they are used in times of personal and national crisis. The text explores meaning and experience, covering topics ranging from poetry in the life cycle to the contemporary uses of ancient myths. The book introduces readers t ... More
This is a book of encounters. Part memoir, part essay, and partly a guide to maximizing a capacity for fulfillment and expression, this book taps into the artistic side of what we often take for granted in everyday life: the stories we tell, the people we love, the metaphors used by scientists, even our sex lives. This book explores how poems serve us in daily life and how they are used in times of personal and national crisis. The text explores meaning and experience, covering topics ranging from poetry in the life cycle to the contemporary uses of ancient myths. The book introduces readers to the many eccentric and visionary characters the author has met in his career as a folklorist. Covering topics from Ping-Pong to cave paintings, from family poetry nights to delectable dishes at his favorite ethnic restaurants, the book aims to inspire readers to expand their consciousness of the beauty that resides in everyday things and to use creative expression to engage and animate that beauty toward living a more fulfilling awakened life, full of laughter. To live a creative life is the best way to engage with the beauty of the everyday.
Keywords:
metaphors,
scientists,
ancient myths,
life cycle,
everyday life,
sex,
laughter,
poetry,
cave paintings
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2016 |
Print ISBN-13: 9781501702358 |
| Published to Cornell Scholarship Online: May 2017 |
DOI:10.7591/cornell/9781501702358.001.0001 |
