bythemethod.com blog

What does life taste like? If you have been following this series you will know that we have already looked at how to see, listen and feel better so it will come as no surprise that we now think about taste.

Taste is an important part of life. Food is one of the pleasures in life largely as a result of taste. Yet we usually pay little attention to what we can taste. Spending a little effort on noticing tastes will help us to feel more a part of the world in which we live.

Nearly everything has a taste

Do you ever remember as a child tasting things? When I think about it I realise that some of the things I tried to taste I shouldn’t have. I remember tasting the handrail on a bus once – urgghhh. As we grow older we stop doing this (in some cases this is obviously a good thing!). But it is bad that we stop tasting the world around us (don’t worry I’m not going to suggest you taste handrails or anything like that).

Nearly everything has a taste and whilst we don’t want to taste some things even the food we put in our mouth is not really tasted by us (unless you are a professional chef and taste is your life).

Fast food verses slow food

What I mean here is not a hamburger verses a roast but how fast we eat. Most of us in our hectic days tend to eat because we have to. We sort of like the taste of the food we eat but we have to eat it so fast that we don’t really get a chance to taste it.

I’m not suggesting you eat really slowly, although most of us would do well to chew a bit more – but that’s another story.

What I suggest is simply that when you first put something in your mouth you take a moment to taste it properly.

What does it taste like?

As you put your food and your drink in your mouth what can you taste? Is it bitter or sweet? Does it taste similar to something else?

The next time you have a cup of coffee take a moment to really taste it.

Where do I go from here?

Spirituality is about seeking. In this series we have taken some time to try and experience the world around us a little more. I have enouraged you to use your senses to experience things in ways you may not have done before. By being more aware of the world around us we get closer to it and to ourselves.

However this is not the ultimate aim of spirituality. What you need to experience is beyond yourself or even this world. The height of spirituality is to experience the divine.

I’m a Christian and so believe that I can experience God in a particular way. I would love all of you to discover what I have but you must seek and discover for yourself. At this point if you are just trying to get a little more spiritual then I suggest your next step might be to search for God.