Monday’s Muse: The Shared Meal

“The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture.” ― Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.

There is also the idea of food as being a medium for the transferal of emotional energy. Some can choose to use high quality ingredients and professional techniques in the kitchen, but also follow the belief that what mood you are in, the amount of effort and awareness you give the cooking process, and the love and gratitude that you feel for the ability to eat is imperative to making a good meal. Hari Krishna cookbooks as well as Taoist teachings talk of how the actual emotions that the cook feels when making a meal is transmitted into the food via chi energy. Feelings and food are both forms of energy. Native Americans believe that all thoughts and emotions are ‘alive’.

Eat good food with those you love. Share food, share drinks and share your stories. Yes, we’re all very busy, very “needed” and highly stressed, I get it, but this may be the only time in the day when you are not distracted by the phone, the computer or (heaven forbid) the television. Make time for yourself and the people you love at least once during your day. I promise it will become the highlight.