Jinkies! My glasses!

If you're reading this blog, chances are good you're doing so through corrective lenses. Possibly up to three-quarters of the population wear glasses, contacts, monocles — something to bring the ascenders and descenders into focus. My own glasses, I've found, are the key to moments of mindfulness.

It's simple, really: I take ’em off. During at least the first few moments of tea (alone), I remove my glasses. This leaves me pretty blind — the red blur over there is the pot, and I can usually line up the emerging brown liquid with the white blur — but, more importantly, it means I can't read, I can't focus on things out the window, I can't rely on the pair of organs that dominate our experience. The world Out There is less accessible. So I sit, turn inward, think. I have little choice. Perhaps my other senses heighten a tad, but I am mindful of the moment.

A weakness becomes a strength.