Finding My Way with Food
Food is the nemesis of many women and girls. We crave it, we need it, we avoid it, we hate what it does to us, and we think about it much of the time. When we cook, grocery shop, eat, plan parties, worry about what our family members are eating…we are also drawing on our own memories of the role food has played in our lives….
I remember looking through a Betty Crocker cookbook as a child. It had photos of glorius birthday cakes, each one frosted and decorated, each one tantalizing an exciting. I made a SoulCollage(R) card for the little girl who fantasized about her birthday and asked Mom every day to make a cake just like the one in her favorite picture in the cookbook. One year Mom actually created the cake that was in the photo! It was a white frosted cake with candy canes and cherries on it, making it look like a drum in a marching band. How exciting to have my dream come true! I wanted to have it all to myself, never wanted to cut it, but of course….it had to be eaten. I can still taste the white icing–and the maraschino cherries. I can still feel the soft cake crumbs on my fingers. I feel the special feeling of being a kid who has been celebrated. ….Could I eat that cake today with complete abandon as I did when I was five? Could I enjoy every bite, and savor the special moment? Maybe, if I could eat like my five year old, without the anxiety that goes with enjoying something sweet, I could enjoy my food instead of fearing it, and then craving the satisfaction that I missed later…..maybe really being in the moment with each bite would change the way I approach my food…..
Wow! You reminded me of all the cakes my mother made us. I loved the angel food with the little dots in it that made it pink/green/blue etc and the chocolate iced, yellow cake. We always got our favorites for our birthday. That’s one of the only good memories I have of my mother. At least she did that for us. This stirs up so many memories – her fried chicken was fabulous and so were her pies. I think she put a lot of love in her cooking that she couldn’t express in anything else in her life. Thank you Audrey.
What a wonderful way to put it, Patty: your mother was expressing her love in her cooking. No wonder you remember those special foods she made.
Oh that we all could more in the Now moment. How sweet life would be.
This was beautiful Audrey Chachi!!! I love reading your blog!!! especially when its been a rough day at work… makes me smile!
Cake as describedhere in relation to sweetness, color and beauty reminds me of the essentials of life: food is nourishment, survival, caring for the body temple in which we live while onthis Earth to serve, to fullfill our soul missions in the time we are allotted to do so. Without “cake” can one put sweetness, color and beauty on the table in the forms of other healthy foods and build a better body? Spirit has been telling me every time I eat a meal for several months here in 2012, “Enjoy your food.” As I reflect deeper why the Holy Spirit says this, I finally realize It is talking about the Spiritual Food, not just the mortal food. Then after reading about your work, it awakens and reconfirms my soul mission to “Feed the Masses,” as I started my career as an art teacher, K-12, combined that with spiritual development, and “Voila!” I am on my way, so THANK YOU and Godspeed! We are One/Won in the One.