Spoiled by Abundance

 This week's quotation, by German-language writer, Elias Canetti, has me puzzled: "You cannot live in a really beautiful city in the long run - it drives out all longing."

Does it? Really? It sounds as though he is saying people become jaded and cynical if they are surrounded by too much beauty, and begin to take it for granted. But I don't agree. It is true that close familarity can stale the sense of wonder, but only if we let it.

I believe it is always possible to recapture our sense of wonder, through sacred living - by weaving moments of attention into our days. We've lived near Northampton for the last thirty plus years, but I still sometimes look up beyond the banal shop fronts and admire the architecture of the buildings. I can think of four, both ancient and modern, straight away. First, the glorious Charles Rennie Mackintosh building that is 78, Derngate; I couldn't find a licensable photo on Google, but it is a spectacular example of Mackintosh's attention to detail. 

Second, the Victorian gothic splendour of the Guildhall, 

(photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Third, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sheep Street, which is a Norman round church (again I couldn't find an image), and the pointing finger of the National Lifts Tower (better known to locals as the Northampton Lighthouse) which is visible for miles around in all directions, the sight of which means that they are nearly home to generations of Northamptonians.

(photo: Wikimedia Commons)

And that is only the ones I thought of straight away. So no, Mr Canetti, I do not believe that familiarity stales our sense of wonder and longing, unless we wander around in a state of distraction, our eyes looking downwards to our mobile phones and forget to look up and see the beauty all around us.