An Eater's Agreement
Filed Under: Anti-Diet
17 June 2015 | Written by Xenia Ayiotis
I would like to share an excerpt from Marc David’s book “Nourishing Wisdom – A Mind Body Approach to Nutrition and Well-Being”. This passage in his wonderful book really touched me and I hope it will leave you with some food for thought.
I hereby agree, from this day forward, to fully participate in life on earth. I agree to inhabit the appropriate vehicle for such participation – a body. As a requisite for the sustaining of that body, and of the life that dwell within it, I agree to be an eater. This agreement fully binds me for the duration of my stay on earth.
As an eater, I agree to hunger. I agree to have a body that needs food. I agree to eat food. I recognise that as the biological need to eat is fulfilled with greater awareness and efficiency, the benefits of my well-being will increase. (…)
Because the essence of my participation in life is one of learning and exploration, I agree to experience uncertainty as an eater. I recognise there are a great variety of foods to choose from, and I may not know which to eat. I may have a choice of different nutritional approaches, and not know which to follow. I may have an assortment of habits, and not know how to manage them. I recognise that my relationship to food is a learning process, and I will inevitably make mistakes. Therefore, as an eater, I agree to accept my humanness and learn as I go along. (…)
I further agree to accept a body that is imperfect and vulnerable, that naturally decays with the passage of time. I recognise there will be moments when I am incapable of caring for myself. I agree then that to live in a body is to need the help of others. I also agree to be vulnerable as an eater. I acknowledge that I will be helpless as an infant and will need to be fed. I may be equally helpless when I am old and unwell. I further recognise that even when I am fully capable, I may still need the warmth and care of someone who can feed me. Therefore as an eater, I agree to be nourished by others.
If I have a woman’s body, I acknowledge that I have a special relationship to eating and nourishment. I recognise that as a giver of life, I am the nourisher of life as well. Whether through my cooking or the milk of my body, I acknowledge that the union of food and love is a quality that marks my womanhood and has profound effect on humankind.
As an eater, I acknowledge the domain of the sacred. I recognise that the act of eating may be ritualized and inspired. It may be given symbolic meanings that are religious or spiritual by nature. It may even be joyous.
I further agree that eating is an activity that joins me with all humanity. I recognise that to be an eater is to be accountable for the care of the earth and its resources. I acknowledge that despite our differences, we are all ultimately nourished by the same source. As such, I agree to share.
I recognise that at its deepest level eating is an affirmation of life. Each time I eat I agree somewhere inside to continue life one earth.. I acknowledge that this choice to eat is a fundamental act of love and nourishment, a true celebration of my existence. As a human being on earth, I agree to be an eater. I choose life again and again and again…
Wise words – thank you Marc David!
Eat Mindfully!
Xen
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