In my first marriage, my husband did all of the cooking, effectively allowing me to arrive, at forty years old, a fully formed adult with zero cooking skills. A year and a half later, I entered a new marriage. My partner and I were on even ground in the kitchen, which was to say, we were starting with the basics. Pasta, jarred sauce, things on a grill, things in cans, prepared things in a bag from Trader Joe’s, meat in a slow-cooker, “Mexican” food, salad and a shitload of hot sauce.
I felt it was a stroke of luck to have a husband who did all of the cooking. We went grocery shopping together or alone and shared the load when it came to dishes, but cooking wasn't something I was interested in. I didn’t care all that much about food (other than needing it to live, that is). I took it for granted and in the process, I took the act of cooking for granted. Someone was in my home, lovingly preparing meals for me daily. I expressed gratitude, but looking back, I don’t believe I was able to feel it. I wasn’t able to feel true gratitude for the food prepared and placed in front of me on the table with no thought on my part as to how it got there. That’s sayin’ somethin’. I couldn’t be authentically grateful because I had no idea what went into the process. It was as though the magic thing my mom did for me was beamed and transmitted right into my husband. I didn’t question it. I was just the lucky asshole getting all of the food.
That whole paragraph is telling of where I was as a human being, in terms of food evolution. I was unable to see the beauty in what my husband was doing. I was entitled to my dinner and the way it got there was not very interesting or useful to me. I was self-centered enough to behave in this way, but not self-aware enough to give any thought to what I was eating or why I was eating it. I didn’t think past the aspect of convenience. Oh, what’s that you say? The Aspect of Convenience. What a big deal! That particular aspect made it possible for me to disregard the very thing that makes up every bloody cell in my body…food (pun intended). The most exposure I have with the outside world comes through my food (not the news), but it wasn’t convenient to think about. I had more important things going in my life.
You may have guessed that since I’m the nutritionist writing this blog, spoiler alert, things changed for me. Let me rephrase that. I changed things. It was, indeed, an evolution. I am not writing to you as a fully enlightened cook and counselor with all of the answers to modern food questions. I am an explorer on a journey to find sustained balance and well-being. I have trained, gone back to school and ultimately looked inside and found something beautiful; and I want to share it with you. That is the goal of my practice. I promise to be honest and listen without judgement to all you might have to tell me. In this way, we enter a partnership.
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