On grateful days you notice the coffee. On bitter days you notice the line. Same coffee shop.

REFLECTION

WHAT THIS MEANS

The same five minutes contains the good coffee and the long queue, and which one you come away with was mostly decided before you walked in. That is not a reason to pretend the queue is lovely. It is a reason to know that your account of a day is partly a report on your mood, and that the other half was also there.

Try collecting both on purpose for a few days. One genuinely good thing and one genuinely annoying thing, written down, which stops it being a mood and makes it a list. Most days come out far more mixed than the version you tell people.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Which ordinary place feels different depending on your mood?

MORE IN PERCEPTION & ATTENTION

Free, with nothing to buy inside it.