Creating Heaven on Earth: The Psychology of Experiencing Immortality in Everyday Life

ISBN-13: 9781782201786 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 256 str.

Paul Marcus

Opis

How does one best fashion an -internal- world, a personal identity, that creates the conditions of psychological possibility to apprehend immortality, that almost magical Infinite--conceived as something-outside-everything, God, or the Other--from everyday living? The art of living the -good life---following Freud, one of deep and wide love, creative and productive work, one that is guided by reason and ethics and is aesthetically pleasing--requires skillful attunement to these lovely presences in everyday life.

Lodged in a psychoanalytic sensibility, and drawing from ancient and modern religious and spiritual wisdom, this book provides the details, conceptual structures and inner meanings of four easily accessible, everyday activities: gardening, especially the creations of British horticulturist and garden designer, Gertrud Jekyll; baseball spectatorship; coffee drinking; music listening and storytelling (i.e., in professional storytelling, child analysis, encountering a -charming- person, and in love and friendship). It also suggests how to best engage these activities, to consecrate the ordinary in a way that points to experiential transcendence, or what the author calls -glimpsing immortality, - a core component of the art of living the -good life-.

Spis treści

CHAPTER ONE Introduction: the quest for earthly immortality CHAPTER TWO "Take time to smell the roses": the delights of gardening CHAPTER THREE "Magical myths": the passion for sport CHAPTER FOUR "Wake up and smell the coffee": the pleasures of drinking coffee CHAPTER FIVE "The shorthand of strong emotion": listening to great music CHAPTER SIX "Once upon a time there was": on storytelling CHAPTER SEVEN Conclusion: reflections on creating earthly immortality WEBSITE RESOURCES REFERENCES INDEX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR

O autorze

Paul Marcus