In the Moment: Celebrating the Everyday [Hardcover]

Harvey L. Rich (Author), Teresa Barker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 2002

In this enlightening work, popular psychoanalyst Harvey Rich offers a philosophy for living that transforms the flow of everyday moments into a celebrated life. Most of us recognize celebration as an event, but as Rich describes it, celebration is much deeper; it is the internal experience of ourselves in the moment that leaves a long-lasting imprint on our psyche. Whether we are experiencing the beauty of a sunset, the pain of loss, the chemistry of love, the sting of harsh words, soul-crushing boredom, or the thrill of accomplishment, what we learn when we fully engage ourselves in the experience of a moment can affect us forever.

Rich describes a celebratory process that unfolds when we recognize a moment as special, and open ourselves to the fullest sensory experience of it. In this deliberate engagement we enrich our understanding of ourselves and our lives in the context of family, friendship, love relationships, and work. Celebration carries us through the joys and adversities of life, and connects us to our spiritual center.

Drawing upon his own life experience, family history, and his training in theology, art, literature, medicine, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis, Rich shows us how we can capture the moments of our lives and bring our own histories and aspirations to bear upon those moments -- a celebration that is the antidote to the blur of our often high-tech, fast-paced lives.

Celebrating the daily moments of our lives serves as a means of including ourselves in the fullest experience of life -- our profound inner life, our spiritual dimension, the life of our culture, and the history of humankind.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clinical psychiatrist and lecturer Rich started working on this book, which deals with being aware of life's daily moments, prior to September 11. After the attacks, he reconsidered his premise, thinking it trivial, but decided "celebrating life's moments is an important antidote to what is poisoning our very humanity." Rich opens the book with remembrances of his mother, a woman who saw merit in everyone's lives. Drawing on her lessons, Rich posits that taking this approach to life allows one to live in the present while feeling "grounded in the scheme of life and history." This popular view certainly has its merit, but Rich's statement, "The more we use conveniences that eliminate our need for one another, the more limited become our opportunities to know ourselves in relation to others in a way that brings meaning to their lives and to our own" may rankle some. (Buying groceries online-an example Rich himself cites-does not necessarily mean the end of human contact.) Still, his basic premise is valuable and his examples are appropriate. There's the story of Wanda, whose mother's inattention to her childhood accomplishments caused her suffering later in life; Marvin, who comes to celebrate his own gift; and Eleanor, a divorcee who finally learns to recognize the value of adversity. Although he uses the word "celebration," Rich's counsel often hinges on the concept of "awareness." Indeed, reveling in the triumphs and travails of everyday life can help anyone gain new perspective.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

What a remarkable book! -- Judith Viorst, author of the New York Times bestseller NECESSARY LOSSES

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (November 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060199687
• ISBN-13: 978-0060199685
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,063,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's something in it for everybody, December 5, 2002

By 

Gary Abrahams (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Moment: Celebrating the Everyday (Hardcover)

I must say, I am extremely impressed with this book. Impressed because I began reading it thinking that it would contain the simple message that we need to stop and smell the roses. I was wrong. "In the Moment" is so much more. Without doing a complete review or synopsys, I will just say that the book has helped me to better understand myself and my place in this world, as well as to better understand many other people in my life. The text goes beyond the simple suggestion that we look beneath the surface (of ourselves and others)and tells us that we are the prouduct of our past celebrations, or lack of them. And it is through the recognition and understanding of this, that we can truly grow. I am buying "In the Moment" for, or recommending it to, everyone I care about in my life.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In the Moment: Celebrating the Everyday, January 8, 2003

By 

John T. Brookes (Palo Alto, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Moment: Celebrating the Everyday (Hardcover)

This book is refreshing in its style and content. One very imporant message is that accepting the bad with the good is not nearly enough; we must embrace it,name it, and ultimately put the experience to work for us in a positive way as we wander down the path of our uncertain lives. The difficult experiences embolden us and prepare us to deal more effectively with more of the same. This is not an easy concept to accept, but it is right. All is a gift, and we must celebrate the unwelcome events as well as the happy ones if we wish to live life to the fullest.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing and Challenging, April 23, 2003

By 

Jennifer Macaulay (Seattle, WA. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Moment: Celebrating the Everyday (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book by Harvey Rich. He takes his experience with hundreds of people he has seen in his psychoanalytic practice and tries to describe what makes for people who know joy in their lives, and who can also accept adversity in their lives. He contrasts those who are too fragile for joy and who break in the face of adversity. He has done a good job of naming the steps to living a "celebratory" life and giving examples so that you and I can understand how we might begin to make a habit of these steps.
Some people aren't going to "get it." They may be a little too far from living a celebratory life to grasp to concepts -- but most of us, who are doing okay but missing out on some of the joy that is waiting to be in our lives, will love this book.