Open-mindedness is the is a seasoning that makes all other things palatable.
It’s like cheddar cheese in the Midwest. Here are ten ways to sprinkle into everything.
Decide it’s good before you try it.
Prime your senses for happiness and you will invite that sensation into your memories. Placebo adjectives, muttered silently, can turn cheap wine into a magnificent quaff when deployed in time. The words we think are magic spells.
Live beyond the grody details.
Yes, there will be trash and filth and mess and stink and dishes and rot and crud and weird smells. But you live on a majestic celestial orb, and you can’t let nastiness claim dominion over all the rare and stunning beauty of this place. There is something tasty every dish (even if only mentally and not flavorfully), even failed attempts
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Let things be what they are.
Nothing is perfect. Nothing is as you would ever expect. That does not mean that what you have is bad or wrong. The dish before you contains sustenance. Your personal complaints cannot alter the present, but they can sour your future by replacing imperfection with a void.
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If the dish is weird, enjoy the company instead.
The meal is so much more than what’s on the plate. A good conversation can make even a twinkie a gourmet treat. And by expanding your zone of enjoyment, you’ll spend more time smiling and less time wincing, which is kind of the point of everything.
Let others enjoy the thing and you’ll find that you can too.
Second-hand savoring becomes first-hand bliss almost instantly once it’s felt. Any Paw-Patrol episode is an absolute masterpiece of cinema if you only watch the kids in the audience and don’t ever glance at the screen. You don’t have to like what makes other people happy.
Decide it matters before you do it.
You can’t regret doing what you can find even a sliver of meaning in, but you can regret everything you tell yourself doesn’t matter. So try a new recipe, restaurant, whatever. Let it matter that you tried and what you tried will matter much less.
Admit your tastes are warped and weird.
You’re not the target audience for most of the things you encounter. You’re not wrong, and you’re not special. And most of all: you’re not better than the people who love the stuff you cringe at. Once you get that you’re an outlier and not an expert, everything makes so much more sense. Less guilt for everybody leads to more pleasure too.
Don’t keep your bliss to yourself.
Share what makes you giddy and you will see who cares about you by their reciprocated smiles. You will also learn who you should be wary of by the sneers made at your happiness. Either way: your joy will be illuminating. Being evangelical about food is how people make more of it.
Let the novelty be amazing.
Sample the stuff that makes you uncomfortable. The more of these experiences you accept and seek, the better off you will be (and not just because you’ll be getting the vitamins and minerals you need anyway).
Remove yourself from the center of the story.
It’s not about you. Never was. And if you think it is, you’ll never even be a footnote. Better to be a perceptive narrator than a non-character. So take notes but not offense when sampling anything.