Daedalia is a place where we will work together to share ideas and writing about the meaning of things. Some projects will be Hannah’s, some Alfred’s, and some collaborations.
We share a dissatisfaction with the mundane. We all need to earn a living, to eat, to clean the house, to walk the dog. Though we do not deny the importance of these responsibilities, or even the richness they add to daily life, we assert that they do not in themselves make a life lived in fullness.
We yearn for, as William James so handily put it in The Varieties of Religious Experience, “something more.” Wherein lies the value of what we do every day? Is meaning something we create for ourselves as complex animals who can think about these things? Or is there something than transcends our material existence? How do we make sense of it all?
We share an interest in writing and in language. We have each been quietly working on cherished projects for years. Sharing these with each other recently has been a process exciting in its seemingly coincidental shared themes and shot through with the very differing conclusions our life experiences have yielded.
Finally, we share intellectual curiosity. Life in the universe is fascinating. Though often horrible, and commonly banal, it also is filled with experiences that are intriguing and at times inspiring. Whether the topic is historical or literary or philosophic or scientific, so many things bewitch us. Of course, neither of us has the luxury to think and write full time, or even more than sometimes. But conversation over a rich porter or a lovely petit verdot has yielded much to think about, thoughts that inspire and inform our experience of daily life and the projects we present here.
So welcome to our site. It is a collection, a bestiary, perhaps, of things we are working on. But in time we hope it will be more, a place to share ongoing conversations and to discover kindred spirits.
Hannah Grachien
Alfred Reeves Wissen