Written by Lorenzo Colombo - Co-founder of Soulful Soundwaves
“Don’t judge a book by its cover."
I was a toddler the first time I heard this phrase and, at that time, I was way too young to understand the meaning of it. Many things our parents tell us are much wiser than they might seem. I remember I thought “Book?! Cover?! I’m playing Lego, what does it have to do with this?”
The fact is, we hear these sayings all the time and it just makes them repetitive and even a bit boring to a child’s ear. However, the deep truth in their words gets unravelled only with time.
Take the “cover” for example. We are so used to judging things by their appearance we don’t even realise it. Think about a first date, an interview, a social situation when you're with people you don’t know very well. Our look is related to identification, self esteem, success, impressing people and sending a message. So we do judge a book by its cover. Why?
Is it because the way you look represents the way you are? No. It is because in western culture the sense of sight is considered way more important than the others. That’s why we say “the look." Think about it. If you had to give up one of your five senses, which one would you choose? Sight?
Our five senses are not equally developed, but equally important in terms of balance. Closing our eyes and focusing on what we perceive through smell, touch, taste and hearing is a common meditation practice that helps us relax, clear our mind and improve focus. And we know that when we are sharper, calmer and more focused, we perform better. So are we fooling ourselves day after day?
Look (oops, I did it again), don’t get me wrong. I know the life we are living in is a frantic circus made of crazy routines and we have to do things because we are requested to do so. I’m not saying we should all become monks and meditate eight hours a day. But what we could do is learn how to dismiss the mind frame requested in our job description together with our work clothes, and to make time everyday to stop thinking and start feeling. We could be better than what we are and we could feel better too.
