“I stumble down the street, searching for whatever it is that’s supposed to happen next.”
Reading: Read chapters 11 – 13.
Kind Action: For this week I encourage you to try experiencing some aspect of your life as a stranger may experience it. To explain what I mean, consider these possibilities:
- Spend the night in a hotel. Check in during the late afternoon as if you’ve just arrived from a long distance. Try to experience the familiarity of your city through the eyes of a stranger.
- If that is too difficult, trade houses with a friend for the night. Imagine yourself to be a stranger invited to sleep on his/her couch. Become aware of your actions, how you have to think about every one of them because your familiarity has been replaced by strangeness.
- If that is too difficult, try taking a different route to work (or to the store, wherever…). In so doing, make yourself aware of the sensations you feel that are different. Imagine you are a stranger in your city.
Hopefully, you can get at the gist of this exercise which is to remove you from the normal routine of your day in an attempt to get you to see what a stranger may see.
Reflection Exercise: Please consider how the many references to religion are impacting you. McIntyre is meeting a lot of people who are strong believers in their particular faiths. Identify, if you can, your reactions to these people. Is this conjuring up any of your own stereotypes?
Kind Living 