I occasionally wonder what cave people ate. I mean, they would have had the ultimate healthier diet, would not they? It would have been required to be totally free of any artificial, packed, processed or chemically modified foods. Eating healthy would not have been a notion to them, they would have only… eaten, and from the very nature of what had been available, it would have been new, local, and seasonal.
Look At The Menu
I’m sitting at a restaurant. Glancing down the posh menu, I notice five, no six individual options which are dedicated to wild food themes. They comprise a chanterelle omelet, loin of venison, salad with wild berries, and even one with a nettle reduction. I’m struck with a strange irony that these dishes are especially more expensive than others. And this crazy food (possibly with the exception of the meat), in concept, is free for the taking! I’m drawn in by the lure of something so refreshing, so crude, it can be called “crazy” Despite the fact that I had been walking through the forests that very morning, gathering edibles, I order that the mushroom starter and I can not resist trying the nettle reduction.
I frequently find myself musing the way we are living in such odd times. A huge number of us, in the Western world, pay huge amounts of cash to sit in an artificially created environment, and consume something which epitomizes nature. We spend large amounts of time sitting at computers, then pay to use a gym for exercise. How did we get so far away from an easy, wholesome lifestyle?
A Look Around
I live in an intentional community in Northern Scotland. The reasons for moving here were numerous, but one of them was my intense yearning to live , simply, and healthfully. Even here, it’s easy to fall into the all-too-familiar cycle of work too much, not have spare time, pay somebody to perform outside work & child-minding, etc.. But I’m here for a different manner. And so I push through the exhaustion, strap my baby daughter in my back, and start hoeing in the garden. She’s enthralled and shortly the rhythmic movement lulls her to sleep.
Back at home, I start washing some freshly harvested carrots to make a soup. My daughter wakes while I’m chopping, and I sing a song to her. She’s entranced by the carrots moving into the large pot. She giggles at something I don’t see. I feed her while the soup simmers, engulfed by the sweet earthy glow and herby aromas coming from the stove. Lunch is as straightforward as it gets, a carrot and fresh herb soup directly from the garden, followed by a chunk of fresh bread that a friend made. I feel fulfilled, content, healthy.
Keep it going
Not all days are like this, of course. This is one of those great ones. It’s one of those times I’ve wanted to make in my life for a long time. More of my days are like this recently – I’d love all of them to be, but I’m still working on balancing my Western mindset and upbringing with living a really simple lifestyle. Healthy living and eating incorporate all this. I’m conscious that my obstacles are in my mind, as far as they’re entrenched in society. And so I plug , striving to manifest a growing number of simplicity in my life.
When I returned from a walk on the beach yesterday, I discovered a council tax bill waiting for me in my mailbox. Oy, another #800 to cover, only for the right to live, it seems. Some days I feel the desire to pack it in and find a corporate job. But I shake myself awake, count my boundless blessings, and take a deep breath. The Universe will provide. It always has. Later that day, I get a phone call from a friend. She’s ready to start eating healthy, and she would like some help. Could she hire me, she asks, to teach her to cook healthful food for her loved ones, and inventory her freezer with healthy dinners? She’s got it all planned out – how many sessions, which days would work best, and just how much she’d like to pay me more than 4 months — #800.
Conclusion
Yes, living a simple lifestyle and eating healthy on a daily basis IS possible. It appears to me the more I believe in it, the more authentic it is. But then, is not the way with everything in life? I remind myself daily to keep breathing, keep singing, cooking, keep living with fire and with love. Because, to put it simply, there’s nothing else. Now I’ve realized that, it just feels easy. I feel clear. It’s the healthy thing to do.
