- What is everyday life?
- Characteristics of everyday life
- Examples of everyday life situations
- elements of everyday life
We explain what everyday life is, what elements make it up and its characteristics. Also, examples of everyday life situations.
What is everyday life?
When we talk about the life everyday or daily life we are referring to the common and ordinary life of every day, the one in which nothing special happens, in theory, since the actions and events that take place in this time are considered mundane, insignificant, common.
This is due to the fact that the repetition of daily actions throughout the days and months generates in each individual a sense of monotony and also of security, given that they assume that nothing surprising will happen to them, for better or for worse. However, daily life is not the same for all people, but depends on the way and the conditions in which each individual lives, in such a way that what is natural and everyday for some, may be exceptional for others.
For example, the daily life of a child living on the Caribbean coast might be perceived as flashy and fun by a child from the Siberian steppe, and vice versa. But behind this type of comparison there is a hidden truth about human nature, and that is that we tend to take for granted what is familiar and everyday to us, and, at the same time, to idealize and desire what is foreign.
Most of our lives take place in what we call everyday life, and it manifests itself in countless actions that we carry out automatically, without realizing them, but that deep down define who we are and where we live.In fact, everyday life in past eras of history was very different from what we have today.
Eventually, an unexpected situation can alter our daily life and force us to live a period of adaptation, but everything that is repeated ends up being, once again, natural and repetitive. The latter is known in psychology as adaptation.
Characteristics of everyday life
Everyday life is characterized by the following:
- It is the daily life, the one that is repeated every day and in which nothing extraordinary usually happens.
- It covers an immense set of family events and actions that we do not usually detail, unless something happens that takes us out of context, such as the hygiene staff, the worked or rest.
- It is the daily space in which the social relationships, the routine links and in which the vast majority of life takes place.
- It generally refers to the daylight hours of the day and a part of the night hours. Daytime hours are usually considered working and active hours, and nighttime hours of pleasure and rest.
- It is an important field of study for sociology and the psychology, since these disciplines see in the construction of everyday life a reflection of the entire social system.
Examples of everyday life situations
Many ordinary situations take place in everyday life, which vary depending on the person and his historic context, Social, economic and cultural. Broadly speaking, the daily life of a Western individual of the contemporary era encompasses situations such as the following:
- Sleeping and waking, and ideally waking up a few times (or not at all) throughout the night.
- Eat at least three times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner). Drink, ideally, eight glasses of water a day.
- Clean the body: brush your teeth after each meal, bathe once a day, do the physiological needs and then wash your hands.
- Work, which can happen in many different ways, and is reserved for adults. Children and young people, on the other hand, ideally dedicate themselves to studying.
- Take public transportation or use a private vehicle to travel from home to work or study.
- Exchange goods and services, that is, buy and sell things, which is necessary in the capitalist system to be able to carry out many other daily tasks.
elements of everyday life
In everyday life we interact with numerous physical, technological and other elements. Some of the most common in Western daily life are:
- PeopleLike our relatives, friends, partners, acquaintances and co-workers, or like the people we see on the street every day that we don't know.
- Appliances, such as washing machines, mixers, refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, televisions, irons, hair dryers, clothes dryers, dishwashers, shredders, among others.
- Technological artifacts, such as computers, smartphones, tablets, video game consoles, smart TVs, among others.
- Air conditioning devices, such as air conditioners, stoves, heaters, humidifiers, fans, among others.
- Furniture, such as tables, chairs, armchairs, sofas, beds, among others.
- Objects and substances of personal hygiene, such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, towels, soap, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizing cream, toilet paper, the shower, the toilet, the bathtub, among others.
- Vehicles, such as cars and motorcycles, buses, trains, subways, trams, or bicycles.
- urban spaces, such as our home, the street, the square, the train or subway station, the office, the school, the schoolyard, the sports field, the gym, the bank, among many others.