Beans-on-toast

When I was a teenager, back in the 70s, I used to commute for a while to my inner-city school from my home in the outer London suburbs. It was a boring, repetitive journey, but I hit upon an idea to make it far more interesting.

The Piccadilly Line tube carriages were invariably packed with overseas visitors, many making their first trips to the city. They would chatter in myriad languages and jockey for positions near the windows, to get their first glimpses of the unfolding metropolis. One day I thought how great it would be to share their childlike wonderment during my own daily journey. And why couldn't I?

So, from that day on, I joined in with the jolly travellers, seeing each and every sight anew. Once mundane station names like Osterley, Boston Manor and Northfields, became exotic destinations, evocative and full of mystery! I saw towering office buildings, parks and factories for the first time and appreciated them in a way I never could have before.

Later on I extended this way of perceiving things to other mundane areas of my life. For example, whilst eating beans-on-toast, I imagined I was a visitor from China, invited into an English family home, to sample this exotic dish for the first time. Never did this humble dish taste so good!

It was a full 35 years later that I read the spiritual work, A Course In Miracles, which outlines similar ways of viewing the world around us afresh.

Why not give it a try yourself? It even works on people you've known all your life. Just imagine you're meeting your best friend for the first time, with no prejudices. Just allow them to be who there are, suspend all judgement and remove all context. You'll be amazed what you find!

In love & light,

Kenwyn