Sometimes, while riding the subway i try to look at each person and imagine what they look like to someone who is in love with them. I think everyone has had someone look at them that way, whether it is a lover, or a parent, or a friend, whether they know it or not. It’s a wonderful thing, to look at someone to whom i would never be attracted and think about what looking at him or her would feel like to someone who is devouring every part of his or her image, who has invisible strings that connect to every part of his or her body. I think this is a fun way of cultivating compassion. It feels good to think about people that way and to use a part of my mind that is traditionally reserved for a tiny portion of people I’ll meet in my life to appreciate the general public. I wish i could think about people like this more often. I think it’s the opposite of what our culture teaches us to do.