The Luster of Everyday Things: Pictures & Poetry Celebrating Life’S Small Treasures & Simple Pleasures

By Dr. Matthew Allen

Do you really value the objects around you or are they just things to you? The premise of this book is that part of the pleasure of lifecontentment that we can cultivate no matter how much or how little we havecomes from the conscious appreciation of the beauty and the significance of everyday things. Through photographs and poems, the author takes you on a voyage of discovery through the world around you. You are shown, sometimes playfully and sometimes profoundly, that even the simplest of thingsa shirt and tie, a kitchen colander, a closed door, or a blue butterflycan have a shining beauty, secret story, and surprising meaning. Along the way, you are gently reminded that such objects deserve to be warmed with much handling and gazed upon with pleasure and gratitude as the tiny treasures they are.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Feb 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781466999787

Dr. Matthew Allen

Matthew Allen was born and raised in rural British Columbia, Canada. He was educated at Queen’s University (Kingston) and The University of British Columbia where he earned a Ph.D. in English (Renaissance Literature) and won a Research Council of Canada Fellowship. Dr. Allen has held various teaching and administrative posts in North, South, and Central America, and is currently Head of Languages at Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola. Previous publications include articles on renaissance literature and adventure travel as well as his popular guidebook, Self-Care for Teachers, also by Trafford. He lives in Lima, Peru, where he is surrounded by abundant beauty every day, not least of which is that of his wife, Maria del Pilar Ferradas Manucci.

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Copyright 2014 Dr. Matthew Allen.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4669-9979-4 (sc)

            978-1-4669-9978-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013911017

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Cover photo by Gromovataya

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