Today walking to work I noticed two things.

The first is something I am usually ignorant of although it happens throughout every single day. It is a mutual acceptance of the absence of any connection between people. An accepted, undemanding co-existence. As I walk along and approach people that I will pass, from about 12 yards we decide which side we will pass one another. This normally passes quite smoothly although from time to time we might experience slight embarrassment when we get it wrong and end up nearly dancing about each other. This is the extent of relationships I share on the bus, on the street, about town. Carefully avoiding eye contact and maintaining a safe distance of non-relationship. It can be quite unsettling when someone breaks that rules, trying to talk or to establish some kind of connection. To some extent it even happens at work with the people I see everyday.

The other thing I thought about was wonderment. If we live a life of awe and are able to take in and behold the beauty all around us I think it begins to change us. It starts to unravel the knots that have tied us up inside and it softens our hearts and sensitivity towards others. I think we are able to find peace where before we have experienced tension or frustration. To open our eyes to all that is of beauty we must slow down a bit, take time to look and take in our surroundings. I must leave a bit early for work so that as I wander along the river I have time to breathe in the air of a new day and witness the enormity of what is around me. The funny thing is you begin to realise the absurdity of most of what we fill our lives with, the absurdity of our social rules and I think it makes us a bit bigger.