The Glass People, who are they?

Have you heard the term "the glass people"?

My son introduced me to it and it has remained at the fore front of my mind. Who are they? They are the people a successful society don't want to see or acknowledge, they are the epitome of "losers". And although everyone knows that being a "loser" is not a contagious disease, the glass people are more often than not, still treated as if they are contagious.

If a person is successful; a winner, because they deserve it, are unsuccessful people; losers, so also because they deserve it? Is it really that simple? Are we all born with the same abilities to cope with the stresses of life?

Natural selection seem to indicate that the "strong" will survive, the weak will perish or struggle for their existence, but does "strong" necessarily mean better? Do only "winners" have something to contribute to society, is it possible to be a "winner" and yet somehow on another level be a "loser"?

In between being a winner or a loser, can one not simply be a participant of life, with moments of successes and failures, or just status quo?

In many societies "winning" has become a social measure of a persons personal worth and value, and if we lose, then there must be something wrong with us, we have the problem, we are not good enough, we are not measuring up, and it's all our own doing so.

So when we encounter the glass people; the tribe of people not coping according to an invisible but inferred "How to be a winner" manual; it is often easier to blame than show compassion.
When someone is deemed not trying hard enough, who sets the standard of what "hard enough" is?
If a person is deemed "weak", who sets the standard for what constitutes "strong"?
We find ourselves living in a world that is basically based on cause and effect; there's a problem, there's a reason for it, the reason will indicate who's fault it is and who or what is responsible for it, who-or-whatever is responsible must then be held accountable for fixing it, failing to do so, means you're a loser.
Someone loses their job, it feels like a personal rejection. A teenager is diagnosed with a mental health problem, the parents feel they must have done something wrong. The adopted child surmises he wasn't lovable enough for his real parents. After 135 rejections the job seeker is convinced it's her fault for not being pretty enough. After five times in rehab, the addict is convinced there is no hope, he/she is a loser. After seven attempts at dating he/she is sure he/she is better off alone.
But what about the variables? Is it not possible that there are many causes and many effects? Could there not be many reasons for why something occurs?
Maybe the reason for why there are glass people, is not so much about the reasons why they become the glass people, but that our winner/loser, success/failure societies has such a myopic view and definition of the terms? Turning on a light switch is easy, explaining what energy is, not so much.
The Glass People; i;e, the people sleeping rough, the drunks, the disenfranchised, the homeless, the many with mental health issues, the war vets, the abused, the run-aways, and many more, are not the losers,..........we who pretend we don't see them, ......we are.
A society which has no compassion or time for all its inhabitants, who finds it easier to dismiss rather than to listen, to reject rather than to include, to blame rather than to investigate, exactly how is it in a position to be labelling anybody a winner or a loser?

 

 

 

What is time?

              Many of the things we have and do today, viewed with eyes from a century ago, would very probably seem like science-fiction. It was not that long ago when the first
"TV" appeared; in 1927 Philo Farnsworth filed for a patent on the first complete electronic television system, which he called the Image Dissector, and in the late 1940's the common person would be able to buy their first black&white tv-set. Since then, one more mind-boggling invention after the other has been made; technology has no bounds it seems. Much of what we do on a daily basis is done in front of or with the help of a screen. Amazing progress have been made through technology in the fields of medicine, science, diagnostics, physics, etc.etc as well as artistic areas. We can keep in touch with friends and family in most parts of the world, we can make friends with strangers by the click of a mouse, we can search for answers and information on any subject 24/7.
And to think that not long ago we were seduced by moving pictures on a large screen, and ecstatic by "talkies". Now we don't blink an eyelid at it, we just line up for the next new "i-thingy" and we do expect it all to work flawlessly, because exponentially we all seem to be running out of patience.
There is research that supports this with "unhappy" data showing more rage is all the rage; road-rage, parking rage, shopping-trolley rage, waiting-in-line rage, queueing-on-the-way-to-work rage, to mention but a few.
Seems that although we invent more and more time-saving devices and methods, we still don't have enough time, although, we do seem to always have time to be "raging".
Since we came up with the concept "hours" and that one day always has 24 of them, somehow we seem to continuously run out of "time". The time that we "save" with all these amazing time-saving devices we have invented, what do we do with it?
How is it that we are more stressed, anxious, over worked, stretched to the limit, sleepless, when we no longer spend any time collecting fire wood, hunting for food, plucking birds, catching fish, building our house, making our own furniture, ploughing the fields, making bricks, spinning the wool, picking the cotton, and so on?
And how is it possible that some people seem to have more time than others?
Statistics show that people are more anxious now than ever before in history, in spite of all the marvellous inventions we have come up with to make life less stressful, we are in fact stressing more than ever.
So we now need time to de-stress, to meditate, to relax, to get help to control and alleviate our anxieties. Yet, the number of hours in a day,...is still the same 24. Maybe the question is not so much about what we do with our hours, but who we spend them with. "Time", as in years, months, hours, seconds and so forth, is a human construct, something I believe we invented so we could function orderly and harmoniously, but they are all just terms for change, some incremental, others sweeping and large. The sun goes up, the sun goes down, in between the up and down; things, events, and experiences take place. Time is very sensitive to perception. When at the dentist, one hour can seem like four, when having a de-stressing massage, one hour may seem to fly by.
Waiting for ones teenager to return home safely from a party, one may experience every second they are late as a lifetime.
Time then, may be called a malleable concept. If beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, then maybe time is in the mind of the "beholder". Maybe it is not about the amount of time we have available so much as how we prioritise it, because aware of doing so or not, we do prioritise.
Chatting or texting while waiting in a waiting room, line, bustop, airport, etc. we miss an opportunity to get to know a new person. Sitting on the computer/ipad, gaming/working/emailing, while one of our family/friends needs our attention, we miss an opportunity for closeness.
Is not the whole point of having all these time saving devices so that we can spend more time with those that matters the most to us, or are they just elegant, sophisticated tools that encourage us to be more and more self-focused rather than other-focused?
Is it not possible to not answer the mobile/cell phone when it rings when we have company?
Is it not possible to occasionally leave the computer alone until the kids/significant other are in bed?
Is it not possible to turn to the person next to us on the train/bus/plane and start a conversation rather than text, twitt or facebook?
Is it not possible to just be where you are, when you are there?
Is it not possible to just sit down and wait for our souls to catch up with the rest of us?
I think it is.





 

Dare to "dream", coz you never know......

Babe Ruth, arguably one of Americas most famous Baseball players, began his life very humbly. Ruth himself described his beginnings as "rough". At age seven, his father sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage. From this humble beginning, Ruth has become credited with changing baseball itself.

The popularity of the game exploded in the 1920's largely due to his influence. The Babe ushered in the live-ball era with his big swing escalating home run totals. Babe Ruth is now regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture.     

We all are free to "dream", no matter what the circumstances may be. When I was very small, I dreamed of becoming a jazz pianist, I dreamed that I would play in America, with American jazz musicians, that I would experience first hand the spirit of Jazz. There was nothing that indicated that this dream would ever become a reality......what does a white, suburban Swedish child have in common with the african-american culture born out of slavery, poverty and disparity?

I never asked myself that question, I just followed my heart, and my heart knew no boundaries.

Have you ever noticed how people's first reactions to "dreams" often are of the doubting, critical kind, and how people with visions often become labelled "dreamers", but not in a good way?

I have often wondered if criticism is our default position to anyone with new ideas.

Yet, somehow and very fortunate for mankind, "dreamers" seem to keep popping up and in spite of many obstacles to overcome; they keep inventing, imagining and creating.

In the depth of your being, do you have dream?

Is there something in your life that you are passionate about and if you allowed yourself to throw caution to the wind, you would love to have a go at?

Then why not do so?

I'm a realist, you may say, and some of us have to do the "real" jobs, we can't all be dreamers.

Interesting thing is that many of our so called "real" jobs exist because somebody had an idea, a dream. Much of our technology that now employ hundreds of thousands of people, began with an idea. The Wright Brothers had a dream that man could fly, others that human kind could walk on the moon. Instead of saying: "it can't be done, people who dream, ask; how can it be done?

Whatever progress mankind achieves, the beginning point is often to ask: "what if?"

Often at the end of a performance, people would come up to me and say: "I wish I could play an instrument", to which I would ask; "have you ever tried to"? More often than not, the answer would be no.

To follow one's dreams, takes courage.
"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them" said Walt Disney.

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" Robert Kennedy

"You have to dream before your dreams can come true" Abdul Kalam
The time for having a dream, is always now, regardless of circumstances. Martin Luther King Jr: "I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream."
If you always wanted to learn an instrument, sing, paint, cook, garden, build, nurse, study, etc.
NOW is the time.
Dreaming, imagining, visualising, is the beginning,
the rest is hard work.
(ps. I did go to America and play with famous jazz musicians. My dream did come true, but that's another story.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How important are words?

 

 

How important are words?  Imagine a world without them. How would we communicate? Hmmm.........not very easily. There are many ways to communicate, but don't we still convert our experiences in to words? How would we know what we think, feel or experience if we did not have words to describe/define those experiences for us? So we use words to identify/specify what we experience, but do we define those words the same way? If I say "I'm angry", you may call it "irritated", if I say "I'll see you soon", soon may be anything from 10 minutes to a few days for you, "good" for me may be "content" for you, and so on. Everything we say is open to interpretation by others, everything we write, although so very clear to us, can be misunderstood. (Even as I write this, you may find yourself already disagreeing with my words :)Have you ever written an email, an sms, and received a response which puzzled you? You thought you were saying one thing but the response from the recipient indicated that it was interpreted differently.

Language is ambiguous, interpretation highly subjective, and add on top our vulnerabilities and proclivities and its miraculous that we do understand each other as often as we do. One word can have many definitions, many interpretations, add to this perceptions and what feelings we are experiencing at the moment that the word is used, not to mention the conscious or subconscious intent.

For instance, the actual truth of how others see us is less important than our perception, because our identity is defined by our truth about ourselves, not necessarily by accepted reality. If we are anxious, the more likely we are to "mind read" according to our own negative inner text and not according to the rules of an intelligent life. We don't have to actually be strange, vague, shy, etc, only think we are and we can become sensitive to any indications, reflections, hints we think we are picking up from others confirming our self-critical subtext.

Our emotional state can become like a "filter" and without us really being aware of it, we put all words through it. How does it affect you when you're irritated and flushed and someone says: "Calm, be calm"? Or when you're anxious and worried about a friend being uncommonly late and someone tells you: "Don't worry, it will be alright"?

Or when you just want to be quiet in a corner by yourself and someone keeps asking you to join in?

Respectively, for someone feeling anxious, having a friend gently saying: "calm, focus on being calm" may be what helps the anxiety to pass. Words used for a two-way communication; the "sender" and the "receiver"; have many hurdles to overcome but there are a few words that I have found to be immensely helpful for efficient communication: "How do you mean? What is your definition of the word? Can you please explain how you see it? I'm not sure I understand, would you mind explaining it for me? Maybe I misunderstood, can you tell me again please? Would you care to clarify, please?"

Equally, I have found some words to be unhelpful: "You're wrong, You're not getting it, or sentences including always, never, everybody, nobody, all", in short absolutes with no room for flexibilities.

"Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them." (Buddha)

"In a sense, words are encyclopedias of ignorance because they freeze perceptions at one moment in history and then insist we continue to use these frozen perceptions when we should be doing better."

                                                               (Edward de Bono)

"So difficult it is to show the various meanings and imperfections of words when we have nothing else but words to do it with."

                                                                (John Locke)

Us humans go about naming things, but does a frog know it's a frog, or will it be less of a frog if it's called a groda? Giving something a word, does that make that something more "real" than before it had a word attached to it? And if there were no words for our emotions would we still experience them? What came first, the word or the thought?

 

"Watch your thoughts, they become your words

                                             Watch your words, they become your actions
                                             Watch your actions, they become your habits
                                             Watch your habits, they become your character
                                             Watch your character, it becomes your destiny." (Anonymous)

 

We have choices, we chose what words we will use, and although we may not know if everyone else define the words the same way we do,

we can ask.

 

"When you are listening to somebody, completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it."

 (Jiddu Krishnamurti)

 

(the painting is called "Death of a Remmington" and written on the piece of paper is: "I used to be touched and heard")

 

 

 

 

 

Why do bad things always happen to me?

        Have you had days when it seemed as if one bad thing after the other happened to you?

Of course "bad" is very hard to qualify, so maybe we just define it as "bad" according to your experience of it. But lets see how Collins thesaurus defines it: 1) harmful ex: Divorce is bad for children 2) severe ex: the pain was so bad she wanted to scream 3) inferior ex: many people live in bad housing 4) wicked ex: He was selling drugs but didn't consider himself a bad person 5) incompetent ex: having a bad eyesight didn't seem as bad as being totally blind 6) guilty ex: you don't have to feel bad about relaxing.

Perhaps a really bad day includes all these definitions all at once?

If we are honest with ourselves, do we really think it is possible to live life without bad things happening now and then, or do we expect life to be free from such experiences?

Most of us without even giving it a conscious thought, expect many things to go "right" automatically.

We spend little time worrying about whether the sun will be there in the morning, or if earth will keep spinning, or if gravity will keep working tomorrow as well as today. We expect our living quarters to still be there when we come home from work, studies, or play, and we expect the water to flow from the taps and the electricity to always be available at the flick of a switch.

What if none of the above could be taken for granted? People in New Orleans, Japan, Bali, and many other places, certainly know what its like when those very basic expectations are removed suddenly.

Is it possible that when we view events as "bad" it is partly because what we expected to take place, ...didn't?

In an ordinary day, how many things do we take for granted and only notice that we are doing so when what we expected to take place, didn't? Maybe this can also be applied to our relationships with other people? Once we think we know somebody, we have certain expectations and should there suddenly be a change in behaviour, we have to readjust our expectations. "My wife always sleeps on the left side of the bed, she has done so ever since we got married". When the wife tells her husband she thinks they should buy a new bed and that she wants to sleep on the right side, the husband is perplexed. "I want to quit football" the son announces and the parents immediately retorts "But you love football!", "Not anymore" the son replies.

There are times when things happen that affect us personally; we lose our job, someone steals our car, we miss out on a promotion, we get kicked off the team, the love of our lives walks out on us, we get struck down with a serious illness, our dog gets run over, etc.etc.....the options of "bad" stuff that can happen to us, are endless. But so are also the "good" things that happen in our lives, we just don't see them as such many times, we often take them for granted.

In a "bad" day, maybe we could ask ourselves how many "good" things also happened, because how we experience something has a lot to do with how we think and perceive that something.

If we expect our health to always be excellent although we eat too much and do no exercise, then being told by a doctor that our blood pressure is too high may unsettle us. If we expect our loved ones to know that we love them although we never tell them so, we may be taken off-guard when they tell us we don't love them. If we expect a life free from heartaches and disappointments, we may find ourselves bewildered when when we have to face such. Life it seems, includes both "bad" and "good" experiences, and it is up to us how we will define them.

Beside my bed I have a smooth pebble I found on the beach and on it I have written: Gratitude. I often hold that pebble in my hand to remind myself of all the wonderful and amazing good things that happen in my life every day. During turbulent periods I have it in my pocket so that I can feel it and constantly remind myself to not take anything good for granted.

"Bad" things happens, but so do "good" things, they happen collectively but also individually, and although we may at times feel as if we are alone in our suffering, we can rest assured that the "human experience" affects every human.

"Life is suffering" teaches Buddhist philosophy, "Life is difficult" is the opening line in M.Scott Peck's "The Road Less Travelled", "Once we truly know that life is difficult - once we truly understand and accept it - then life is no longer difficult" he goes on. It is in the whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has its meaning, and because of problems we grow."

 

There's more than one way to live a life....

On his 18th birthday, the son says to his parents: "I'm going to clown school, I am going to become a clown" at which the parents instantly begin to tell him all the problems he will have to deal with, how being a clown is not a real job, how insecure and fickle his future will be, and wouldn't a business course be a better option. A girl in her first year at law suddenly announces that she is going to quit and start art classes instead. Her family quickly do a phone-around to find out if something bad has happened, is she on drugs, what has gone wrong, why would she do something so irresponsible? A farmer sits down at the dinner table, sighs heavily and then tells his wife that he wants to sell the farm and move to the city, he wants to run a coffee shop. A single mother with two children decides to move to Hawaii, she wants her children to love life, to enjoy nature and live at a slow enough pace to be able to notice all that happens in their lives. A husband comes home from his dead-end work and tells his wife he wants to go back to the studies in medicine he dropped out of; at which his wife immediately begins to worry about the bills. A little girl jumps up in her fathers lap and tells him she wants to be a an astronaut when she grows up, her father pats her on the head and says: "Everything is possible, we'll see, we'll see, now run along and get your mother for me". "Linda, who's been putting these silly notions in Arielle's head?" the man asks his wife.

 

Regardless of cultural setting, many of us hold expectations on what we consider to constitute a "proper" life.

Often we are expected to follow in our parents/caretakers footsteps, carry on the family traditions, or at least variations of such. 

Many of our expectations consist of things we feel we have to do to satisfy the requirements placed on being "successful"= a winner. If we were to fail those expectations, there is the possibility that we may find ourselves feeling like losers= "unsuccessful". Winning; being a success; has become a measure of a persons worth in many societies. If a person is a winner because they deserve it, does the same apply for a loser? If you lose, the underpinning is often that there is something wrong with you, you are the problem, you are not good enough, so the pressure of being a winner is permeating most societies. Problem is, who sets the standard of what constitutes success or failure? Maybe we need to ask more questions.

If we shift our outlook and view events not in terms of successes or failures, just outcomes, then every outcome is another experience, an opportunity for learning. Life goes on, we can't go back, but we can do things differently, find new ways. If we desire a different outcome, we need to behave and think differently, move in the direction of the outcomes we desire.

As an autodidact artist, my way forward is to make mistakes. Actually, come to think of it, for me there really are no mistakes, only less desirable outcomes. Many marvellous and exciting discoveries on the canvas have come about through "mistakes", actually,..... I have even found my very own painting technique through it, I'm happy to say.

If we were not so burdened by fear of failure, or the pressure to succeed, would we maybe attempt more creative, joyfull, spontaneous pursuits?

Who says one can't try a different path? Does everyone really have to do the same thing? Is there only one way to live a life? Who decides what the acceptable way to think, be, and behave, is?

A person can be wealthy, yet own nothing, a person can deem him/herself successful in his/her own eyes, yet be regarded as a failure in others.

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome" (Booker T. Washington)

If your desire is to do something different to what you are presently doing, change.

If your desire is to behave differently to how you are presently behaving, change.

If your desire is to be somebody differently to who you are, change.

 

We may not be able to turn our backs on our social structures and systems, but we can shift the way we measure our worth and the way we view the world we live in.

You wanna be a clown? Go for it. You wanna swim with dolphins? Go for it. You wanna be a person who is treated with respect? Be respectable. You wanna follow your dreams? Go for it.

Life only happens now.

A little kindness goes a long way...

For many who have seen this painting, this is a depiction of Jesus, but for me, this is a painting of Zac, my son's friend. As far as kindness is concerned, compassion and unconditional love, Jesus for many embodied them all, which is my reason for choosing this image, but if you have other images/representations that rings more true with you, please feel free to disregard this image....Maybe we begin with a definition of "kindness"..According to Wikipedia, "Kindness is the act or state of being kind, being marked by good, and charitable behaviour, pleasant disposition and concern for others." Interesting to note is the fact that not only the receiver benefits from an act of kindness, but also the giver. Research has established that neurotransmitters are released when we are kind to others; the giver receives feelings of contentment and relaxation in return for being charitable. At this point the question is often asked if it is at all possible for a human to perform a genuinely selfless act, and although it is an interesting question, let's leave that philosophical quandary for the moment and just focus on kindness.

There often seems to be an element of surprise attached to kindnesses; an unexpected turn of events. A woman is trudging up hill with a bag in each hand, her steps are heavy and her breathing laboured. On the top of the hill she sees two young men dressed in denims and hooded sweatshirts involved in what seems like heated discussion. She is too tired to worry, she just wants to get home, get the dinner going and sit down. As she comes closer to the young men, they stop speaking and suddenly start walking towards her. "There goes my purse" she mutters under her breath but keep on walking.

"Hey Lady, you want some help with those things?" one of the hooded young men asks.

Random acts of kindness can make a bad day good, a discouraged heart full of encouragement, a broken spirit renewed, disbelief turned into belief and hope lost, can become hope found.

Everyday there are opportunities in our lives to become the bringers of "random acts of kindnesses".

Everywhere we find ourselves, there are opportunities for sharing a bit of kindness. There are animals in animal shelters needing homes, children in orpanhages needing families and safe, loving homes, there are homeless needing living quarters, there is our environment in need of us not to violate it,

and we all can to with a kind word every now and then.

During the lunch break, Adrian always eats alone. His classmates thinks he's a bit strange, he certainly dresses oddly. Adrian hardly ever say a word and when he does, he speaks so quietly no one can understand him. Rory is liked by everyone, he never eats alone. Rory watches Adrian as he sits quietly on the bench with his head hung down. A ball out of nowhere suddenly hits Adrian in the head and he drops his lunch on the ground, his juice a wet circle in the sand. Rory grabs his drink out of his lunch bag and walks over to Adrian; "Hey man, have my drink, I'm not thirsty".

Maybe we begin in our own homes? How often do we say something kind to our loved ones? Are we more quick to say something of a criticising nature than encouraging? How often do we take the time to just do something nice for someone we care about?

"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love". Lao Tzu

On his way home from work, Dennis hears the faint meowing from behind a dumpster. It's drizzling and Dennis has paperwork to do when he gets home, but the sound of distress from the animal halts Dennis steps. He walks up to the dumpster and finds a wet, shivering, and miserable looking kitten gazing up at him. Gently he lifts the kitten and wraps his coat around it.

If both the receiver and giver of kindness benefits; our neurotransmitters swishing about and making us feel good; one may wonder why we don't perform random acts of kindnesses every hour and minute of the day, since it appears to be a win-win situation?

Audrey Hepburn: "For beautiful eyes, look for good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."

 

Are you feeling a bit glum, maybe a bit down, try a little kindness.......your neurotransmitters will love it.

 

 

 

 

Where ever you are, be there.....

Lets talk about coffee.

Not until I was 31 years old did I really taste, or get what an amazing beverage coffee is. I was a tea drinker and found coffee to be a bit bitter to the taste, and so for most of my life, I chose tea as a hot drink.

Until one day when I converted to coffee.

I used to have a small music studio where I would spend most hours of the day recording and performing music. Often I would forget what time of day it was; time was practically non-existent in the studio. All my intention was focused on the music, and food and drink was barely touching the rim of my consciousness; it was all about the music...until one day.

With pink eyes, my ears burning from using headphones for hours on end, I found myself in the kitchen staring at the clock on the wall and was suddenly overcome with tiredness. My partner put on the kettle and suggested that I drink some coffee since it was obvious that I was going back  to the studio regardless of how tired I was.

I had heard people say that coffee perks you up when you're tired so I thought: "I need to get the recording done, so maybe this time I'll try some coffee rather than tea." My long suffering partner put some freshly ground coffee in the plunger, warmed some milk, and when ready, handed it to me.

Gratefully I accepted the coffee, and although it still tasted a bit bitter to me, I drank it, chased it down with a cool drink of water and headed back to the studio.

That was when I discovered that coffee really does give you a boost, helps you to focus, and keeps you energised.

What in the beginning tasted bitter, (many cups later), became enjoyable, and a wonderful treat.

(Ofcourse, many were the times when I forgot to savour the taste, and just gulped it down and only when I begun to feel jittery did I ask myself just how many cups of coffee I had consumed.)

 Reminded of how often we eat without tasting, drink without savouring, and smell without discerning, was brought home to me when I heard a Buddhist monk say: "When you eat, be conscious of every bite you take. Inhale the aromas, savour the textures, enjoy the flavors and notice every mouth full." Hearing those words, it struck me how often I do the opposite.

Fast food? Take away food, food in plastic containers, coffee in paper cups, food not needing cutlery, grab and run food, do we really taste it at all? Or is it just fuel?

When was the last time we really smelled an orange; while peeling it, we allowed the fragrance to be appreciated, or do we prefer it in a bottle?

Do we prefer to buy frozen vegetables rather than fresh ones we have to peel, shave, dice, etc.?

Hearing those words spoken by the Buddhist monk, I decided to take heed to his words and become conscious of every food or drink item I consumed.

A thought dawned on me: whether a countries citizens die from over eating or starvation, (or both), it is still a sign of a country in need.

If we are savouring and noticing every drink or bite of food we partake of, maybe we will rediscover the simple enjoyment and pleasures of taste?

"Coffee is a language in itself." (Jackie Chan)

Enjoying the pleasure of coffee, may I suggest, begins in the mind. Lets share a virtual coffee.

Imagine your favourite coffee shop, the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans, the soft music in the background and the barista at the machine. Imagine being handed your tall latte, or cappuccino, or espresso, or whatever your favourite kind of coffee may be. Now sit down at a table, with the lid still firmly in place on the container (if it has one). Slowly remove the lid, inhale the fragrance of the coffee, fill your nostrils with the aroma. Close your eyes, take another whiff, then gently place your lips around the cup and take a small and deliberate sip.

Experience the taste, the texture and the aroma. Don't rush it, stay in that moment, and just enjoy.

(Perhaps this can be applied to anything we eat or drink, smell or taste?)

 

 "Wherever you are, be there", forget all your worries for a minute and just show up in the present, and enjoy the moment with all its "flavours" as it presents itself.