We are surrounded by many things we take for granted: the railway, music from the radio with several channels, front doors, curtains on the window, fridge incl. electricity, health care, traffic system, doorbells, daily newspaper, steps, …

It’s good that they normally stay on the sideline, otherwise they would altogether surpass our imagination, but every now and then, one by one may be taken to the foreground, the dust of naturalness has to be blown off them and they must be gazed at.

What was said about the little things (key 1) also applies for the things we take for granted, as many of them are also overlooked since they are small, the dishes on the daily breakfast table, our slippers, the pen I am writing with, …

What are things we take for granted?

We start taking things, events for granted because we got used to them, due to frequent use, due to lots of time, tarred streets, internet, saying hello by handshake, … Things we take for granted often are automatisms, changing gears when driving, heating up food in the microwave, or are part of automatic processes like my toothbrush, my shoelaces I tie a bow with, the chip card for my bank account. Automatic actions or their components take place semi- or even unconsciously; we can do other things at the same time, continue a conversation while tying our shoes, think already about the preparations of lunch when paying with our chip card at the cash desk, …

There’s still another group of things we take for granted I want to mention, the one of our belief. They as well can get dusty over the years. They remain true in our hearts, but their richness, their beauty become blurred. Whether they are words from the bible (“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” says Jesus or Psalm 23 reads: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.”) or theological understandings (God became a human being out of love, to give his life for reconciliation for me”), all these believed truths are beautiful due to our personal shared history. Once they had appeared in our life clearly, had thrown light on our world.

It is natural for a pianist to play a sonata of Chopin, to let her hands jump and glide on the keyboard, following the notes in front of her eyes. I, the completely unschooled, get confused already by the tangle of lines and dots, manage to play a few tones with two fingers, however, it remains incomprehensible to me how the notes turn into movement of the hands and than into right tones in the intended speed.  The pianist probably does not remember what it’s like being a beginner, unless she gives lessons, and the art of playing the piano will never lose its naturalness for her, unless an accident happens.

The miracle of naturalness stays but the gratitude for this miracle must not get dusty, whether it is playing the piano, riding the bike or writing.

Things we take for granted might lose their naturalness

We only notice the things we take for granted when we ‘lost’ them and realize that we miss them, that they helped us, that they made our life more beautiful.

I had a serious operation in 2007. During the following convalescence, some of my automated processes suddenly were taken to pieces, needed some time to be reassembled. Things I had taken for granted like climbing stairs suddenly were not natural anymore,

Or if we get in touch with other cultures, things we take for granted leave the background of our memory, as we suddenly face or miss other solutions, ways or alternatives.

We are surrounded by the beauty of things we take for granted, mostly dusty, but it is there!

Let’s blow off the dust from things we take for granted

Almost every day I ride the bike from the train station to my home, I notice the changing weather, the fields and roads in the different seasons, the varying light. Recently I had the idea to consciously breath in the air, to smell it. It smelled good, it smelled aromatic, it smelled of childhood. I realized that I principally see, then hear, only then smell, and eventually touch and at last taste.

I resolve to use my senses alternately for my order is my personal one, maybe the one of my time, my culture, but not mandatory.

Art of Life Exercise:

• Experience the things you take for granted with all your senses.

• Be grateful over and over again for the things you take for granted by remembering that they have not always been natural, have been strange maybe even threatening, that they didn’t exist once (at least in history), even were unimaginable.

• And notice that every thing you take for granted has a personal touch, that is yours (your fridge differs from your neighbour’s one of the same brand due to your use, decoration, position…) or the one of your region (the trams look differently in other cities) or the one of your culture (your butcher offers different kinds of sausages than in a foreign country, also presented differently).

We are surrounded by a unique beauty in the things we take for granted in our life!

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