Devorah Tarrow, Aesthetic Realism consultant, writes:
Praise: wives have looked for it, angled for it, relished it, and seen it as the measure of their spouse’s love! Why, though, even as the desired praise is gotten and seems so pleasing, does many a wife feel deeply unsure of herself, and feel something is still missing?
At the Understanding Marriage! class, on Saturday, October 12th, the question “How Can a Wife Be Sensible about Praise?” will be answered, clearly and deeply. The class takes place from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM, and is open to all women.
Conducted by consultants Barbara Allen, Meryl Nietsch-Cooperman, and other Aesthetic Realism consultants, this eminently practical class will be taking up the following comprehending sentences from an essay by Eli Siegel, founder of Aesthetic Realism:
There are many women who have been praised…and have felt, nevertheless, that something not so good was being encouraged in them or evoked from them. The Aesthetic Realism viewpoint is that if anything is flattering to yourself and doesn’t make the whole world look better in your eyes, that which is flattery is only flattery—it is not useful praise. We all of us want praise of ourselves; and the need to look into the nature of the praise can be not so welcome. But once we are not critical of why we’re praised, there can be a letdown that is too great. The most important thing about praise of yourself is that you should be able to believe it and be proud that you believe it.
Women attending will be learning what it means for praise to be useful: when it has a wife feel honestly comprehended, more integrated, and strengthens the best thing in her—the desire to like the world. And women will come away from this exciting event with the liberating feeling: “Yes!—finally it’s really possible to be sensible about praise!”
The fee for the class is $10. For more information, call 212.777.4490.