Open eyes

For some of us, every trip to an Italian supermarket is a revelation.

"Habits are undeniably useful tools, relieving us of the need to run a complex mental operation every time we're confronted with a new task or situation. Yet they also relieve us of the need to stay awake to the world. ... If you need to be reminded how completely mental habit blinds us to experience, just take a trip to an unfamiliar country. Suddenly you wake up! And the algorithms of everyday life all but start over, as if from scratch."

This is from Michael Pollan's book about psychedelics, How to Change Your Mind, which I cannot get enough of.

In our next post, the adventure of opening a new bank account--something I doubt I'd be moved to write about were I back in California.