Everyday life

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Children reading books.
Grooming
Watching television

Everyday life, daily life or routine life comprises the ways in which people typically act, think, and feel on a daily basis. Everyday life may be described as mundane, routine, natural, habitual, or normal.

Human diurnality means most people sleep at least part of the night and are active in daytime. Most eat two or three meals in a day. Working time (apart from shift work) mostly involves a daily schedule, beginning in the morning. This produces the daily rush hours experienced by many millions, and the drive time focused on by radio broadcasters. Evening is often leisure time. Bathing every day is a custom for many.

Beyond these broad similarities, lifestyles vary and different people spend their days differently. Nomadic life differs from sedentism, and among the sedentary, urban people live differently from rural folk. Differences in the lives of the rich and the poor, or between laborers and intellectuals, may go beyond their working hours. Children and adults also vary in what they do each day.

Sociological perspectives[]

Everyday life is a key concept in cultural studies and is a specialized subject in the field of sociology. Some argue that, motivated by capitalism and industrialism's degrading effects on human existence and perception, writers and artists of the 19th century turned more towards self-reflection and the portrayal of everyday life represented in their writings and art to a noticeably greater degree than in past works, for example Renaissance literature's interest in hagiography and politics.[1] Other theorists dispute this argument based on a long history of writings about daily life which can be seen in works from Ancient Greece, medieval Christianity and the Age of Enlightenment.[2][3]

In the study of everyday life gender has been an important factor in its conceptions. Some theorists regard women as the quintessential representatives and victims of everyday life.[2]

The connotation of everyday life is often negative and is distinctively separated from exceptional moments by its lack of distinction and differentiation, ultimately defined as the essential, taken-for-granted continuum of mundane activity that outlines forays into more esoteric experiences. It is the non-negotiable reality that exists amongst all social groupings without discrimination and is an unavoidable basis for which all human endeavor exists.[1]

Much of everyday life is automatic in that it is driven by current environmental features as mediated by automatic cognitive processing of those features, and without any mediation by conscious choice, according to social psychologist John A. Bargh.[4] Daily life is also studied by sociologists to investigate how it is organised and given meaning. A sociological journal called the Journal of Mundane Behavior, published 2000 - 2004, studied these everyday actions.

Leisure[]

Daily entertainment once consisted mainly of telling stories in the evening. This custom developed into the theatre of ancient Greece and other professional entertainments. Reading later became less a mysterious specialty of scholars, and more a common pleasure for people who could afford books. During the 20th century mass media became prevalent in rich countries, creating among other things a daily prime time to consume fiction and other professionally produced works.

Different media forms serve different purposes in different individuals' everyday lives—which give people the opportunities to make choices about what media form(s)--watching television, using the Internet, listening to the radio, or reading newspapers or magazines—most effectively help them to accomplish their tasks.[5] Many people have steadily increased their daily use of the Internet, over all other media forms. Fearing changes promoted by mass entertainment, social conservatives have long censored books and films, called television a vast wasteland, and predicted that social media and other Internet sites would distract people from good personal relationships or valuable interactions. These concerns did not prevent the progressively wider popularity of these innovations.

Language[]

People's everyday lives are shaped through language and communication. They choose what to do with their time based on opinions and ideals formed through the discourse they are exposed to.[6] Much of the dialogue people are subject to comes from the mass media, which is an important factor in what shapes human experience.[7] The media uses language to make an impact on one’s everyday life, whether that be as small as helping to decide where to eat or as big as choosing a representative in government.

To improve people's everyday life, Phaedra Pezzullo, professor in the Department of Communication and Culture at Indiana University Bloomington, says people should seek to understand the rhetoric that so often and unnoticeably changes their lives. She writes that “...rhetoric enables us to make connections... It's about understanding how we engage with the world.”[8]

Activities of daily living[]

Activities of daily living (ADL) is a term used in healthcare to refer to daily self care activities within an individual's place of residence, in outdoor environments, or both. Health professionals routinely refer to the ability or inability to perform ADLs as a measurement of the functional status of a person, particularly in regard to people with disabilities and the elderly.[9] ADLs are defined as "the things we normally do...such as feeding ourselves, bathing, dressing, grooming, work, homemaking, and leisure."[10] The ability and the extent to which the elderly can perform these activities is at the focus of gerontology and understandings of later life.[11] In an 'active society' which sees mobility as an important norm, constant physical activity has replaced the striving towards personal growth in later life.[12] When you are getting into the routine of daily life, you can lose value and joy in everyday things. Routine is no longer there to keep you sane, but it takes the joy out of your life. Spontaneity and a break from routine can offer more relief from the hardships of day-to-day life. People need to live a life of fulfillment to enjoy and savor their life. When we focus on the hardships of life, we never see pass the negativity.[13] Reflection and acknowledgment of positive life experiences are important to daily life. Daily routine has us so caught up in a cycle, we never leave room for change or improvement. We stick to what we know and feel safe. The routine causes us to focus on the negative things in life. For example, another bill, bad health, money trouble, and toxic relationships. A break from routine allows us to self-evaluate and focus on positivity. Exploring hobbies or talents can bring more joy and exciting elements into our lives. We can alter daily habits and routines simply by add more change rather than the menial tasks we do daily can affect how we see life and progress “Habits are powerful but delicate. They can emerge outside our consciousness or can be deliberately designed. They often occur without our permission but can be reshaped by fiddling with their parts. They shape our lives far more than we realize—they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.”[14]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Felski, Rita (1999). The Invention of Everyday Life (PDF). London: Lawrence & Wishart. pp. 15–31. ISBN 9780853159018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Lefebvre, Henri (1984). Everyday life in the modern world. New Brunswick, N.J., U.S.A.: Transaction Books. p. 38. ISBN 978-0878559725.
  3. ^ Coser, [edited by] Lewis A. (2012). The idea of social structure : papers in honor of Robert K. Merton. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1412847414.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Wyer/Bargh 1997, p. 2.
  5. ^ Baym, N. (2010), ‘Making New Media Make Sense’ in Personal Connections in the Digital Age, Polity Press, Ch. 2.
  6. ^ Roger Silverstone (1994), Television and Everyday Life, p. 18-19
  7. ^ Marie Gillespie and Eugene McLaughlin (2008), Media and the Shaping of Public Attitudes, p. 8
  8. ^ Elizabeth Rosdeitcher (2006), "The Rhetoric of Everyday Life", Humanities, Then and Now 29, no. 1 (Fall).
  9. ^ "Activities of Daily Living Evaluation." Encyclopedia of Nursing & Allied Health. ed. Kristine Krapp. Gale Group, Inc., 2002. eNotes.com. 2006.Enotes Nursing Encyclopedia Accessed on: 11 October 2007
  10. ^ MedicineNet.com Medical Dictionary
  11. ^ Katz, Stephen. Busy bodies: Activities, aging, and the management of everyday life. - Journal of aging studies, Elsevier, 2000. p. 136.
  12. ^ Katz, Stephen. Busy bodies: Activities, aging, and the management of everyday life. - Journal of aging studies, Elsevier, 2000. p. 148.
  13. ^ Langston, Christopher. "Capitalizing on and coping with daily-life events: Expressive responses to positive events". APA PsycNet.
  14. ^ Duhigg, Charles (2012). The power of habit : why we do what we do in life and business (1st ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-8129-8160-5.

Bibliography[]

Further reading[]

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