AW Write Blogchain #11
The Absolute Write Blogchain is an unpredictable beastie. A group of writers each taking their prompt from the previous writer in the chain means that the topics can go anywhere. Normally food makes an appearance - and it did early on - but just before the chain reached me, it turned philosophical. Jim at the DeathWizard Chronicles has given me a hard act to follow. I sometimes talk about the higher meaning of food (you don’t have to click on this link, it’s basically to show that I occasionally have a brain and can almost reach platforms of higher thought) but to link from someone else’s discussion of mindful meditation to food history is a stretch.
Or it ought to be a stretch. Maybe. But maybe not.
The way we eat reflects who we are. What we eat also says a great deal about us. I once met a Buddhist monk who told me to be aware of living as I ate and to be aware of all the different moments and actions and sensations involved in the eating. This awareness of such a fundamental activity as eating might just be a variant of mindful meditation.
Judaism has something similar. Kashruth has many functions and one of them is to keep us aware of who we are as Jews, all the time.
Maybe that’s why I’m so obsessed wth food. For me, food is how I reach those higher planes.
Jim gave us this lovely quote:
“In the end
these things matter most:
How well did you love?
How fully did you live?
How deeply did you let go?�
Living in your own body, appreciating the sensations, experiencing the precise moment you are living in - all this can be part of eating. Whether you use the food to cling to experience or to live it to the fullest and then let it go is a matter of cultural background as well as personal choice. It most certainly is part of our food history.
Monks had their fast days in the Middle Ages to remind them not to focus on corporeal matters - they used food as a tool for heightening an understanding of reality through denial. One Ancient Roman philosophy did exactly the opposite: you live every moment and you eat and have sex and generally enjoy life as proof of it.
There are so many ways of reaching the same goal. That goal is an experience of life. Of making the most of every moment.
I think this calls for chocolate. Eat it while fully focussed and aware of every microsecond of smooth richness, then breeze on over to A View From The Waterfront, to see where this chain goes next.
awchain, mindful meditation, food history
October 6th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Nice choice on chocolate: the ultimate symbol of culinary hedonism!
Off-topic: this is one of the most interesting food blogs I’ve ever read. It’s interesting how we’ve viewed food(s) over time, and how our cultural backgrounds influence not just our psychological, but our biological reactions to it, as well.
October 6th, 2007 at 10:22 am
For most people, food holds one of two places, comfort or sustenance, sometimes both at the same time. I love to cook, but I don’t love to eat.
October 6th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Well typed, Gillian! I had no idea how you’d tie to Jim’s post but you did a beautiful job. Great chocolate segue too!
I’ve been fascinated by how food ties in with faith for many years. Also, in how one’s dietary choices reflect your personal philosophy. For example, I very much want to become a full-on vegetarian, but it’s very difficult for me to do so because I cannot eat many soy products due to having had a cancer that was hormonal-based. The natural plant estrogens in soy are a no-no. And really, a body can stand only so many meals of legumes and rice!
Oh, and Gillian, thanks to you I have my new printer. If I hadn’t visited your blog and commented in August, I wouldn’t have won $300 from 451 Press in a comment contest that I didn’t even know was going on. Thanks, Gillian! XOXO
October 6th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Gillian:
You bring up some good points. There’s no doubt that eating can be a form of mindful meditation. In fact, not only can it be, but it should be. All of us eat mindlessly, for the most part, gobbling down our food like warriors afraid that the next battle will start before we can finish the meal. But if you take a bite of your favorite food and really savor it, chewing very slowly and for a long time while paying close attention to the sensations the flavors inspire, this is indeed a form of meditation — and also very pleasurable.
October 7th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
This could be a fascinating book, a separate chapter for different religions and their views/relationship with food.
I know Buddhist monks in Japan are supposed to eat only plain, natural foods that don’t excite the body. Julyan told me too that after you finish your okayu (rice porridge) in the morning you pour in hot water, swish it around, and drink it. To further clean the bowl you take a piece of pickled plum and carefully wipe away (and eat) all the remaining grains of rice.
October 8th, 2007 at 7:22 am
Thank you for the compliment Sam - I love doing the blog, so it’s good when the enjoyment spills over to other people.
Mary Lynn, I would argue that there are many more places in our lives for food. Life is much more exciting and complex than comfort vs sustenance. Think of its social functions and its ritual functions, for instance. Think of the way it helps us hold our past on a plate and to keep memories alive. Think of the pleasure of taste - it’s can be so much more than simple comfort.
Virginia Lee - I’m *so* pleased it was you who won that prize.
Jim - all my points were carefully adapted from yours, so they are (of course) perfect :).
Terrie - there are books on specific cultures (I’ve got a cool Indian food history book that goes into these things for all the different parts of India and religions of India). I’ve enver thought of a single book covering more than that, though. Intersting thought.
October 8th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
G, You left me with some interesting material to craft a response! At least you mentioned chocolate. I think we’ve had this conversation before, there is definitely a link to me between food and the quality of life. It also seems that the closer you are to its source, the more you appreciate it.
Thanks for the comments and participating in the chain.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:54 am
Great post!
I just love how food becomes such a part of who we are. I have the best memories of food from childhood. And each time I make these recipes as an adult, it brings back a flood of feelings from my younger days. Simply wonderful. (Oh.. and nice job bringing up the chocolate! It certainly is the food of life!)
November 8th, 2007 at 3:29 am
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