on :: sentiment vs sentimentality

hello friends,

I'm still taking this week "off" from the blog to continue learning how to care for two little people all day by myself. Thus far, we're doing exceptionally well. I hope you've enjoyed the posts from last week.

I found this photo this morning, and I love it. I love when a woman's beauty is presented naturally and with reserve. There's nothing in this photo that I'd hide from a teenage boy, but it is still tantalizing.

Source: joannagoddard.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

On that note, I've thought much lately about explicit vs. merely-offered impressions. On sentiment vs. sentimentality, as explained in this interview from NPR. Harlequin novels, movies like Fireproof and The Notebook offer sentimentality--they basically tell us what we should feel, a way that is general and somewhat impersonal. Sentiment, on the other hand, provides a foundation upon which one can respond emotionally, but in a way that is particular and authentic. Think the movie Wit or the novel Jane Eyre or even the movie Brothers.

I strive to provide my children with opportunities for sentiment rather than sentimentality. Giving them a chance to experience something for themselves and respond to it in a genuine manner without putting my own spin on it to the detriment of this genuine response. It's rather amazing to me how this already comes into play with my son, a mere 16 month old. When reading a book, I offer a great deal of voice inflection to give emphasis to various portions, move the story along in an interesting way, etc., but I try not to make too many faces when it comes to things like broccoli or any other subject I'm not fond of.

Which do you prefer?

And on a side note, we're housing a family of blackbirds in our bathroom vent. Every morning now, I find myself ducking as I hear the flap of wings, a few bird calls, and some pounding around of bird-body and aluminum venting. I'm eager for them to move on...

Have a lovely Thursday!

icj,
~j

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