16 October, 2011

Food: My Passion and My Conscience.


FOOD is my passion . I am obsessed with food ; I am addicted.  Food controls me. I think about food all the time. What will I have for breakfast lunch or dinner ? What am I craving ? Hungry thoughts find me wandering round the local market or food halls allowing myself to be guided and seduced by all the scents of the produce on offer. My tasteuds are tickled and all my senses awaken. I even look forward to my daily food supplement - a shot of friendly bacteria flavoured with vanilla or blue and red berries. Oh the orgasmic pleasure derived from the thought of all the good bacteria in my gut  fighting the good fight on my behalf . Yeah !   Even though I have a mind that is suspicious , discerning and curious I know for a fact it is also prone to seduction.

My respect for food is passionate too. I know that food is primarily fuel for the body but it is also important to fuel the body with food that is compatible with the body, heart, mind and soul.  It is important to respect the source of food; the animal or the plant it came from and VITALLY  important not to waste food . Only take what you need because food is life. Life needs food.

I am deeply disturbed and concerned that while I have the pleasure of eating till my belly is full there are millions of people around the world that are starving and the answer to the problem is not simply to send your leftovers to the starving children in Africa . It is for this reason I am grateful that my limited finances promote respect and do not encourage waste. There is no real reason why there should be starvation around the world.  I believe there  are answers and solutions. We have the technology . Great minds exist. We , collectively and individually  need to ask the pertinent questions and the answers and solutions will follow - as the saying goes " Where there is a will there is a way ". We need to WANT a change in order to bring about a change.

Food is always on my conscience. I am forever asking myself questions. Is it organic ? Is it locally produced ? Is it ecologically friendly ? Is it free from additives and preservatives? Is it produced without suffering ?  It bothers me that animals suffer and are mistreated. It bothers me that lobsters scream in pain. I used to adore the taste of lobster, it was a rare treat.  Lobster I've eaten  usually came out of tin and later savoured fresh at a restaurant in Athens if memory serves me. Nowadays , my conscience will not allow it . With awareness comes responsibility and choice. Apparently the only humane way to kill a lobster is with a swift and strategic chop. Twenty seconds in boiling hot water is a brutally long time if you happen to be a lobster


I stopped eating meat nearly 40 years ago. It all started when I started to meditate and consciously think about what it was that I was eating. Meat rapidly lost its attraction and very soon it felt as repulsive as eating someone's  arm or leg or other plump body part. I do still eat fish , which  makes me a pescatorian rather than vegetarian. Not long ago I heard about the devastation caused by the farming off tiger prawns.



Will  the video clip above help keep tiger prawns off your plate ?  My passion  enjoyment tiger prawns was significantly reduced with this awareness . I cannot bring myself to eat tiger prawns now without torturing my soul.

Sharing food with friends who appreciate my lovingly prepared food from scratch is probably my biggest passion. Sometimes a meal can be the result of considerable effort in planning and preparation . Other times a meal or snack can be a spontaneous affair when hunger strikes after lovemaking ; intimate meals or snacks , miraculously created from the contents of fridge , washed down with a bottle of fine wine and consumed half naked by candlelight or how about freshly made deliciously greasy beer- battered fish and chips eaten straight out of paper with your fingers ?

Simple unadulterated food is often the best: crusty homemade bread straight from the oven dipped in virgin olive oil with a spot of balsamic vinegar ? or  port and blue castello cheese or goat's cheese ? or  homemade chips dipped in garlic and tomato sauce.? Or new potatoes or baby beetroot served with butter, and sprinkled with sea salt ?







Bon appetite, with a clear conscience  !

01 October, 2011

May You Be Blessed Movie - Virtual Therapy for the Soul

May You Be Blessed Movie - Virtual Therapy for the Soul

Beautiful !


May you be blessed today !

Symeon Rodger

Symeon Rodger


Dr. Symeon Rodger, “The Warrior Coach”, is arguably the world’s top expert in the ancient world’s amazing systems of personal development through spiritual practice, health maintenance and martial arts.
Combining his vast knowledge of these ancient systems with modern science and rigorous attention to historical fact, Symeon specializes in creating liberating and life-transforming paradigm shifts in audiences of all kinds.
Symeon has distilled his 35 years of research and experience into his new book, The 5 Pillars of Life: Reclaiming Ownership of Your Mind, Body and Future. He is currently using his book launch to raise money to help World Vision fund medical supplies desperately needed in developing countries.
Symeon is a married priest and spiritual father in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a university professor, a martial arts expert and used to run Top Secret intelligence operations for the Canadian government. He is the founder of Rock Solid Life Systems and Warrior Coaching International, companies dedicated to researching all levels of human potential.
He has taught everything from ancient Christian theology and spiritual life, to Chinese energy arts (Qi Gong), to intelligence analysis. He has had his own radio show and been a guest on many others, being interviewed on the same programs as world famous authors such as Dr. M. Scott Peck.
As founder of the phenomenally successful Mindset Mastery Virtual Bootcamp, an ongoing teleseminar series on various aspects of mindset and peak performance


Waking up this morning , I smile


“Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to go through them in mindfulness.
And look on all beings with eyes of compassion.”

~Thich Nhat Hahn