To Eat or Not to Eat – that is the question

Here is my take on eating…

Eating is the most extreme relationship I can think of. If we have a fight, we come together, get violent and hit each other. But then we separate and go our different ways to heal up. If we kill someone, they are buried and we go to jail or try to move on in life if was accidental. If we have a lover, we come together in deep physical intimacy, and may even join momentarily in intercourse. But then we separate again. But with food, it is extreme. We kill it. And then we take it to a step further by totally ingesting it, taking all of it into our being to be processed and made a permanent part of us.

There are other relationships I can think of with the same dynamic, but they are far less tangible. We take in knowledge. We take in inspiration. We take in sensation. These go deep into our being and become part of us as well. But none of these examples are as clear as the eating of food. In reality, physical food isn’t all that different from mental and spiritual food. An apple is the pure creativity expressed from the inspiration of an apple tree. The song of a bard really isn’t all that different from the apple. It is pure energy or “spirit” at the core of it all. And it is all the creative result of the expression of inspiration.

With eating, it is easy for us to see, hear, touch, taste and smell the food. Yet, we constantly do this without any consciousness involved. We mindlessly munch our food as we are involved with other things. I think it is vital that we begin to listen to our food, to acknowledge that we are taking part of another soul into our being. We are making it part of us. I want to take in living healthy food that is humming with nutrition and beauty. I want to be aware of how that food feels inside of me. I want to acknowledge its creativity and honor its sacrifice. I need to remind myself to do this everyday.