Recipe for Discovery

I have always loved to eat. Coming from a Southern family where food was often front and center (and not just any old food, GOOD FOOD), I learned early in life that food has many meanings. After all, eating is a centerpiece of our culture - one of the key ways we share our love, laughter, and friendship with others.

And yet, for many of us, eating can also morph into something more. Since it is the primary way we nourish ourselves, it can easily become the way we seek to meet other needs which food, for all its wonderful qualities, just can't touch. I have to confess, this is an issue I have struggled with my whole life and am still trying to get in balance.

Because I love to cook, and because food has such a central place in my life, I eat for a variety of reasons - mainly because it tastes good. But sometimes I also eat because I feel bored, lonely, tired, discouraged, happy, or fill in the blank with any other feeling I want to enhance or numb in the moment. Am I aware I do this? Of course... at least, in theory. What I want to do is become more conscious that I am doing it IN THE MOMENT. I know that when I am aware of what I am doing, I am less likely to use food in a way that won't truly nourish me. Being conscious allows me to enjoy the wonder of food without expecting it to fill some other need.

I suppose that's why I am writing this blog. I want to explore the wonder of food and the many ways it nourishes us. And I want to become more conscious of other ways to nourish myself when it's not food I am really needing. So I guess, when all is said and done, it's really a search for what will truly feed me - body and soul. Anyone else out there hungry?