I have just come back from seeing the world for the first time. A little over two hours ago by watch time I went out to eat dinner and I'll be damned if life isn't beautiful. 

I sat in the restaurant just enjoying living. Everything seemed so clear and beautiful. It was like looking at the world for the very, very first time and thinking to yourself, how beautiful, how sensuous! 

The people in the restuarant must really have thought me queer. I watched the ice in the ice water, the water on the counter top, the reflection of the ceiling in the water. I watched the waitresses, the busboys, and above all else, I watched the cheese melt on top of my hamburger. 

Have you ever watched the foam on a glass of beer? What a world of delight can exist in such a common thing. I looked at the people sitting around, all grouchy and grumpy, and felt sorry for them. Can't they see how beuatiful life is? I remember looking down the street and thinking to myself how many lights there are in the city and nobody to look at them. 

I think that I'm coming back to being myself now, whatever that means, but I hope that some of the joy which I have felt in just existing can stay with me and help me through the humdrum world which I fear I am going to fall back into shortly.

Sydney Cohen, The Beyond Within, page 6.