售貨員

那個下午街上熱得像個蒸籠，我想避一下暑便隨意走進一間小小的服裝店胡亂逛逛，卻在售貨員的慫恿下拿了一襲衣裳進更衣室，試上身後對售貨員的跨獎信以為真，迷迷糊糊的拿了信用卡出來簽賬，竟又給售貨員讚美我的簽名優雅 -- 真要命，讚穿衣好看還好，簽名卻是很個人的一回事，一讚還得了-- 我說不，敝簽名太簡單，太容易被冒簽啦，她再說一遍但真的很優雅啊，好像很由衷的樣子，教天真的我歡喜了一個下午。許久沒遇過這麼棒的售貨員了；今時今日，其實很需要這樣令人賓至如歸的服務態度呢。

Bells

Bells in Hallgrimskirkja, a church in Iceland


I often find it interesting how different civilizations, without communicating with each other in their early stages, came up with more or less the same concepts - for example, marriage as an institution, family as a unit of society; fairy tales, ghost stories; kings, slaves...

But it was only until recently that I realized how bells enjoy a similar sort of universal existence. Bells, I have discovered, are found in churches in the West as much as they appear in temples in the East. Indeed, bells are often connected with religion in different cultures. I find that rather intriguing.

Perhaps a common use of bells is to summon the congregation at the hours of worship. They therefore also serve as reminders of the time, like in clock towers. However, I have also read that chimes from bells are also supposed to make us mindful of the moment as we hear them - to pause, and perhaps to think, but more importantly just to pause - so often are we carried away by our troubles, our desires and the quick pace of life that we are not mindful of our own existence or of the moment.

The purity and simplicity of chimes help us crystallize our thoughts and feel for an instant of inner peace. These days, "mindful living" is becoming chic. There are even "mindfulness bells", downloadable from the web - essentially an audio clock that can be set to chime at regular intervals or randomly, and can be used in the office or at home. It is used to aid meditation and the practice of mindful living by reminding us to pause on the chime.