10 years ago, if someone had told me that I would be voluntarily making marmite on toast in the wee hours of the morning, I would have said, “No way!”. I was firmly in the hate it camp, and totally thought the ‘Love it, Hate it‘ ad campaign launched in October 1996, was spot on. But things change…
As time rolls on, and contexts change, things that you previously wouldn’t be into, can become appealing. Now I’m not saying that I’d now call my self a lover of Marmite, but living as I currently do in Asia, it has become a welcome savoury antidote to the plethora of sweet tastes I can encounter in the everyday.
Somewhat related to this, some years ago I learnt to adopt the perspective that,
“It’s not wrong, it’s not strange, it’s just different.”
This perspective has been helpful. Especially as over the last few years, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to travel and spend time in different countries. Eating different foods; living, and working with people from different cultures; leading cross-cultural teams; adapting to new daily rhythms, world-views, customs and so on. Aiming to hold the tension between not losing the core of who I am, what I know, what I believe and value, with an openness to the ‘much more’, that I can learn, experience, and incorporate into my ways of being, thinking, and doing, from the ‘different’.
So from hate to like of Marmite to the ‘much more’, here’s hoping you too can expand your tastes, see things from a new perspective, and learn from the ‘different’.
Ha ha, just seen this! Glad you enjoyed it. And re Marmite, I once was like you, but you never know how things can change!
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I enjoyed the read. The concept of Marmite in anything…nah!