Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Another excerpt from a fear.less email

"...I just noticed today that the trees are sprinkling their leaves on the ground.
It's getting cooler. Autumn is here. This doesn't seem that exciting. It happens 
every year, without fail. And yet, whenever it does, I always feel compelled to 
point it out. It's difficult to make Fear.less's Facebook status anything other 
than "LOOK OUTSIDE GUYS. LOOK. LEAVES."

I had a cup of coffee this morning, as I often do. It wasn't a new flavor. I did 
not experiment with different ratios of cream and sugar. It wasn't a particularly 
notable coffee-drinking experience. But as I was drinking it, I thought, "Man, I'm 
drinking coffee. I like this part of the day. I feel like a real writer."

What I took from these observations is that I am superficially aware that the 
mundane stuff that we (and nature) repeat over and over are actually quite special, 
but not always ready to embrace that. It's the distinction between a routine and a 
ritual. Both are repeated, but rituals are active and sacred celebrations...."

The email continues on but I wanted to comment on how EXACTLY the author has reached into the essence of what we talk about here.  Life isn't about the food we eat.  It's about the experiences we have when we are eating.  Whether that means the social experiences we have associated with a meal or actually experiencing the food we are eating (and in a perfectly mindful world it would be both!). 

We repeat our eating schedules with such regularity that it takes something tremendously out of the ordinary or an intentional burst of conscious thought to move us from our routine and into an appreciation of how blessed we are when we EXPERIENCE mindful eating behaviors.

Maybe that sounds dumb when you're staring down the PBJ that's been sitting on your desk all morning.  But it is an amazing thing that we are blessed enough to have food to eat and loved ones to share it with!

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