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The premiere issue of Polite Society Magazine, titled “Doors,” is an introspective journey through the portals of life that lie open before us, beckoning us to reach for new heights and seize opportunities that will take us further on the path towards a wholeness of self.

About Polite Society

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"Letter From The Editors"
[ READ ARTICLE ]
As the hustle and bustle of the holiday season draws to a close, we tend to draw inward, taking personal inventory of our lives, our dreams, and the reality in which we dwell. We pledge to make and keep new goals. We promise to lose the extra ten pounds that we have been trying to lose for the past few years, always blaming the weight on the holiday goodies we over-indulged in. We draw up lists of lofty goals that we believe we will adhere to (this time). And often, too often, we find ourselves right back where we began last January —dreams still unrealized, goals unmet, and to-do’s undone. That failure is felt deeply… [ read more ]

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"Which Door Will You Choose?"
[ CLICK HERE ] What do you think of when you hear the word “door”? Do you simply imagine the large piece of wood that is hung on the front entryway to your house? Or do you actually think a bit broader, imagining the door symbolizes a passageway from one world to the next?… [ read more ]

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"Food For Thought"
[ READ ARTICLE ] Throughout history, practically every culture and civilization acquired and cultivated their own sets of laws and rules of propriety, thus maintaining a standard by which to judge a person’s character and behavior towards their fellow woman (or man, for that matter). Each culture's differences can be seen within the diverse rules of salutations, entertaining, and interactions, just to name a few. … [ read more ]

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"One Step at a Time"
[ READ ARTICLE ] The beautiful country of Germany never ceases to amaze me. I have not once been disappointed by the decision my husband and I made to relocate our family here for a short while. One of the benefits of residing in Europe is the opportunity to travel to nearby lands, which is very similar to, and as easy as, it is to travel to a neighboring state within the United States. … [ read more ]

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"Open Your Door To Your Neighbor"
[ READ ARTICLE ] How well do YOU know your next-door neighbor?
Some, like my sister, know theirs exceedingly well. They greet each other in the morning, swap carpool rides, exchange Christmas gifts, and throw block parties. They even have a “Neighborhood Contact Emergency List,” filled with the names, phone numbers, household pets and emergency contact information of their next-door neighboors. … [ read more ]

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"The Sorcery of Language"
[ READ ARTICLE ] Charles Baudelaire said that to handle language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery. The magic of language, when mastered and used well, can work any number of miracles. Entire worlds that would otherwise exist only in an author’s imagination can be contained in words and disseminated to other minds. Poets can stir our emotions from distant places and distant times. In the hands of the powerful language can be used to free, or to subjugate, an entire people. … [ read more ]

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"The Secret Garden"
[ READ ARTICLE ] She led him round the laurel path and to the walk where the ivy grew so thickly… There was a door and Mary pushed it slowly open and they passed in together… ‘It’s this,’ she said. ‘It’s a secret garden, and I’m the only one in the world who wants it to be alive.’ ‘Eh!’ he almost whispered, it is a queer, pretty place. It’s like as if a body was in a dream.
[ read more ]

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"The Gathering Place"
[ READ ARTICLE ] Today has been an incredibly busy one, as far as days go. My daughter had to be dropped off at a fundraiser event that began at 9:00 in the morning. My twelve-year-old son had baseball registration, which I attended with my four-year-old and almost-two-year-old sons in tow. Then it was time to pick my daughter up, along with about fifteen complete dinners she made with her church youth group, to deliver to the various families who participated in the fundraiser. After that, a phone call from my dear sister-in-law, who just gave birth to a new son and needed a respite from her own four-year-old, summoned me to help her by taking my nephew for a play day at my home … [ read more ]

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"The Musical Movements of Life"
[ READ ARTICLE ] It’s afternoon. My 8-year-old is at school. My other three kids are (miraculously) down for a nap at the same time. I look longingly at my bed and then at my piano. Which do I choose? Do I take a much-needed nap, or do I spend some much-more-needed, therapeutic time playing the piano? Of course, the piano wins. I know I’ll be able to dream just as much as if I had slept. … [ read more ]

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"The Sacred Doors of the Duomo"
[ READ ARTICLE ] The symbolic reference to the celebrated ritual of a groom carrying a bride “over the threshold” indicates a human awareness, conscious or subconscious, throughout many centuries, of the significance of doors and passageways. The superstition surrounding this step exists because of its symbolic meaning of something much larger than merely entering a structure. It is the pivotal point in the couple’s relationship as they start a new life together. … [ read more ]

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"Florence, Italy"
[ READ ARTICLE ] My favorite portrait of Florence is E.M. Forster’s novel A Room With a View. Young Lucy Honeychurch finds, in Florence, a life more expansive than her stiff English upbringing. She discovers herself in Italy. So many women in literature and film have discovered themselves in Italy. It seems to be a place bursting with selves, just waiting to be snatched up like post-cards, and that is why everyone wants to go to Florence, not for a post-card, but for a self. … [ read more ]

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"An Artist Among Us"
[ READ ARTICLE ] I’ll admit, I was a little nervous about meeting my younger sister’s college professor for an interview. She had spoken of him, and his talent for writing and painting, with such awe and reverence that I wondered if I was worthy of begging an audience of him. Maybe I still find the idea of standing on common ground with a teacher a bit intimidating, … [ read more ]

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"Doors, Symbolized"
[ CLICK HERE ] I stumbled across myriads of symbols, idioms, and fun facts that came pouring out and unfolding before my eyes. I had never realized how many philosophies, clichés, and proverbs are symbolized by the mere mention of a four letter word… door. [ read more ]

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"Persons From the Past...
Opening Doors for the Future"
[ READ ARTICLE ] Many people celebrate Halloween on October 31st.. Were you aware, though, that there is another holiday celebrated around the world on this same date? The holiday is called Reformation Day and is celebrated as the beginning of the "re-formation" of the Roman Catholic Church. It was on this day in1517, when an obscure German monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed a list of 95 theses (or theories) to the door of the Catholic Church in Wittenberg, Germany. … [ read more ]

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"Synchronicity"
[ READ ARTICLE ] The connection between the mind, body, and spirit has been acknowledged and practiced by human beings for thousands of years as a synchronized relationship between three essential pieces of our own being. In essence, it is believed that when the mind-body-spirit connection is in total agreement and alignment, we are connected to our Higher Power*, which, in turn, creates a state of joy. Being in this connected state makes us feel centered and balanced; the mind is in agreement with the body, which is in agreement with the spirit. … [ read more ]

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"A Door to Your Soul"
[ READ ARTICLE ] What I needed was a listening ear — someone who would completely understand me without judgment. I needed to be comforted, emotionally pampered. I needed to feel and be in tune with God, The Spirit, The Universe, and to bask in that light and love. … [ read more ]

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"A Thousand Words"
[ READ ARTICLE ] It happened while riding near the village of Fougêres during our two-week cycling trip down the coast of Brittany, France. We happened upon the most charming French chalet; a breathtaking image forever etched in my soul. Climbing vines and fragrant roses crept silently up the door and window frames, perfectly encasing their glorious prize. Pots of bright blooms spilled over and cascaded down the stone brick walls as softly as a tiered waterfall. The weathered shutters were thrown back welcoming, almost beckoning, the morning rays to linger and dance upon the poured glass, window panes. … [ read more ]

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"Warmth of the Season"
[ CLICK HERE ] As the excitement of the holidays comes to an end, January can seem especially cold. No more lights and singing, all of the excitement of gifts and surprises are gone, and friends and family return home. It always seems to end so abruptly, but the end of the merriment ushers in a quieter, calmer time, a time for renewing, refocusing, and reevaluating. There is nothing better than a comforting, yet sophisticated, soup for these simpler moments. A silky smooth soup that warms you from the inside out. … [ read more ]

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"Polite Society Recipes"
[ CLICK HERE ] Recipes from the Polite Society Kitchen [ READ MORE ]

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"Credits and Special Thanks"
[ CLICK HERE ] No article written yet... do we need the pop-up on this page? … [ read more ]

“Follow your bliss, and the Universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”

-Joseph Campbell