{Why the war for your dinner plate is a
war on your spirit : Part 1}
What does your food have to do with your spirituality? Literally everything.
The last 3 years have opened parts of my being that have laid dormant my entire life. Perhaps it was by choice or perhaps it was the plan all along, but whichever way it started, this is where I am now.
Being raised in a Catholic household during the 80’s in communist Poland (which sounds like the start of a bad joke but I assure you it’s just my life) sure had a lot of influence on my early childhood. I remember vividly walking to school and having army officers at the gates to great us in full uniform and guns. Then spending all morning praying at the church where the nuns would walk around and slap your hands should they find you praying incorrectly. As a small child I knew somewhere deep down inside that none of that made any sense. My small mind could not wrap around the concept of a “God” that didn’t care for me or any of my friends but allowed those who spoke his name and acted on his behalf to hurt children. Even if it was just a slap on the hands with wooden rulers. Little did I know back then what that actually meant. It was not until my late 30’s that that rabbit hole uncovered itself to me.
Having been witness to the hypocrisy that was constantly put in front of me meant that I went exploring in search of answers. I tried many different religions and could never find anything that resonated. You can read all about that here in my last blog. Nothing made sense because all religions have one thing in common. And that is placing your faith in a god that lives outside of yourself.
Oh I know. There’s that word again. God. I promise you this isn’t some regurgitated cult like introduction to join some new sect where you have to denounce your genitals and drink blood. (Those types of cults are just saved for Hollywood celebrities and billionaires)This is simply laying the foundation for why your food is in fact a fight for your spirituality. I’m simply filling out my word count because I have OCD…moving on…
The Food Pyramid
Many of us weren’t around when this little gem came on the scene but many of our parents and grandparents were. Back in the 1970’s the US government decided that they needed to start letting it’s citizens know about the ill effects of their food consumption because like we all know governments care about our health. Stop reading into it. I’m just telling you facts because why else would the government care about what you eat?! Before the food pyramid came around people just ate what they always ate. Meat, veggies, dairy and the occasional dessert after a Sunday dinner. But with the introduction of this beautifully laid out food chart we are now being told to curb our meats and dairy and increase our grains and veggies. And why did this happen? Long story short, lobbyists. But also if you want to know the full story I suggest you pick yourself up a copy of Nina Teicholz’s book “The Big Fat Surprise”.
Now I know you’re rolling your eyes by now and wishing you could make me stop writing but like I said before I have OCD so it’s my mission to finish my word count…
Since the 70’s it’s always been a push to move the meat and dairy out and bring the grains and veggies in. Low fat, no fat, low cholesterol, no cholesterol, on and on. Much like the climate change crises which seems to change year to year. One year we were faced with an impeding ice age and a few years later we were facing a massive hole in the ozone and the icebergs are melting because cows are farting too much. However, the celebrities that are gloried in our society (the ones that always claimed it was YOUR fault the poor polar bears were dying because you fly to Mexico once a year) always built million dollar homes on cliffs over looking the ocean. Aren’t the icebergs melting?! I guess they knew more than you did you poor improvised immigrant.
Interestingly enough those same celebrities always wanted me to donate to feed poor malnourished African children while they visited these poor African children in their countries and they themselves never skipped a meal. Or a shower. Or time in a makeup chair. They even flew over on their private jets and had an entourage follow them to snap that “one in a million dollar image” which they later auctioned off for millions of dollars to the tabloids which you later had to pay a pretty penny to gawk at in the tabloids while they begged for you to donate to feed the poor starving African children. Life is very confusing sometimes. But here we are. Content on our hamster wheel.
This is taking forever to get to the point…
Back to spirituality. What is it and why should you care?
Simply put. Your spirituality is your connection to yourself. That is all. You are literally the universe experiencing itself. You are life. You are nature. You are a miracle. You are a creator of your life. You are everything and everyone all at once. From your skin to your intestines, from your thoughts to your dreams. You are the universe. There is no God in the clouds. There is no religion or an identity you have to attach yourself to. You are everything. You are connected to this world more than you may believe simply by being alive. You are here because you are a soul having a human experience with emotions, feelings, ambitions, dreams, triggers, fears and so much more.
It’s hard to summarize a human life. With it’s vast array of experiences we are all unique yet we are all the same. We all breathe the same air. We all bleed the same blood. We all come into this world alone and leave it alone. We all have loves and failures, triumphs and tears. We all laugh and cry and get angry and frustrated. We all have experiences that shape us and we all choose our paths for ourselves.
Spirituality isn’t about a specific belief system. It’s not about being right or wrong. It’s about existing. It’s about being present to your life just as it is. It’s about letting life move you along your own path and no one can determine what that path is. Many religions try, many governments try, many other people in your life try. But once you give that power away to someone else, that is when you are no longer attached to yourself. You allow the outside to dictate your human experience instead of listening to yourself. You are God. You are life. You are the universe. The man in the clouds is not here to judge and destroy. Man does a good enough job of that on their own.
Have you ever just sat and looked around you? Life is a miracle. And that’s not a cheesy tagline for a poster to hang on your cubicle wall while reading the tabloids and crying because polar bears are dying and you can’t afford to feed the African children because you’re working a 9-5 and still can’t fathom why you can’t afford a vacation once a year. Life is truly a fucking magical existence. Your thoughts for example. You can read a book and your mind will actually create images as you read. Have you ever just thought about HOW that works? Everything that is here on this planet was created by someone. Someone thought of books. Someone thought of bed sheets. Someone thought of crème brûlée for fucks sake! All of these did not exist before someone created them. Fucking magic if you ask me.
How about vibes? You know, when you walk into a room and you get those “feelings”? HOW does that work? Dogs can pick up on your energy. Your cat can pick up on your energy, hell, even the neighbour can pick up on your energy and know there’s something going on with you even after you say you’re doing just fine. None of these can be explained. At least not in a way that our tiny human brains can understand. Yet animals and nature know when it’s time to eat and when it’s time to turn the leaves brown. It happens on a daily basis. We are literally nature watching itself and yet we try so desperately to hurry the process because we so desperately want a vacation all while we forget that we are alive and a fucking walking miracle.
Time to get off the hamster wheel
In order for you to want to get off the hamster wheel, first you have to realize you’re on it. Which I would assume you know since you’ve lasted this long on this specific post. So how do you get off? How do you claim back control of your life? How can you make the switch to no longer wanting to partake in that ever nauseating hamster wheel? It all starts with your food.
You may have heard the term “You are what you eat”. Well that is a very true and honest statement but so is “you are what you watch, listen and read” as well. All the mundane things you do on a daily basis, what can be referred to as routine, will either kill you in a slow painful death, or it will ignite your passion and get you off that hamster wheel.
We start with food because if you can begin to understand the control that food and your food habits have on you, you are one step closer to knowing that you have been controlled and manipulated your whole life. Once you uncover the dogma around nutrition and the effects that food has on your physical body and your emotional and spiritual body, you are one step closer to claiming back your spirituality. So buckle up buttercup! The next blog will go deeper into why your dinner plate is in fact a war on your spirituality.
No amount of money gonna take it away
No amount of government gonna make me sway
No amount of dollars and no amount of bills
So no amount of policy gonna fix these ills
Till we awaken and arise
Satsang
