Our weekly shopping cart can be a great place to observe and practice embracing a pluralistic life. The variety of items we choose can reveal something deeper about how we move through the world. And more importantly, it can shape our experience of life.
Exposure to and engagement with a pluralistic life, in our day-to-day experiences of living, is beneficial for us. A psychological and emotional nutrient, if you will.
A diverse and ever-changing shopping cart can help us:
- Build resilience to change and differences. The more we expose ourselves to novelty, the less threatened we feel by uncertainty. Change becomes less of a disruption and more of an invitation.
- Improves our ability to respond constructively to the unknown. When unfamiliarity becomes familiar, we’re better equipped to meet new situations with creativity rather than fear.
- Exercises curiosity, delight, and surprise. Trying something new, whether it’s a spice we’ve ever used or a fruit we can’t pronounce, keeps our sense of wonder alive. It preserves that child-like openness to possibility that adulthood often dulls.
- Offers fresh perspectives on old habits. Diversity nudges us to question routines we’ve stopped noticing. A new ingredient can alter our perspective on cooking; a new cultural food can transform our understanding of comfort, tradition, or even identity. A new soap can add olfactory richness to the everyday.
