Eat this and be wildly grateful, By Mark Morford

[madokie]

Hey! See those people sitting next to you at that restaurant? That café? That food court juice bar sushi joint? Ever notice what happens when their food order arrives?

...Food, mind you, that has (usually) been carefully planned, meticulously prepared, perfectly cooked, beautifully presented, food that has been sourced from the finest or at least most fascinating array of growers, butchers, manufacturers, tastemakers, plants and animals from all over the world?

Watch and be sort of... depressed. Many, even most Americans will barely glance at their plates when they land in front of them. It's true. From casual café fare to the fanciest gourmet meal, most will simply take one glimpse to make sure everything appears tolerable and not moldy, and then plow right into it, devour it, perhaps barely chewing, not even noticing what they're doing.

Have you ever noticed? It's sort of tragically rare to see anyone pause for more than a split second to offer deeper thanks, to appreciate any level of beauty, bounty, artistry, nourishment in their food as it hovers near their mouths and prepares to enter the human system. All too often, we just take it all for granted and devour. Hey, I do it, too. I'm trying to do it far less. Aiming for never. Aiming, in fact, for the exact opposite approach. ...

(Full URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/05/02/notes050212.DTL&nl=fix)

[kentuck]

1. It's true and a statement on our society...

We don't have time to be grateful..

[magical thyme]

2. best I've read from Morford...and I thank him for the reminder

When I remember to be grateful, I feel so, soooo much better. And I don't just mean emotionally.

This morning I woke up feeling ill again. Sinus headache, tired and achy body. I'm sitting alone in my kitchen with laptop on my knees eating my regular breakfast of oatmeal with soy milk and blueberries, cooked in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes.

Thanks to his reminder, I am again enjoying the chewy texture of the oats, along with the creamy goodness of the juicy and the sweet-tart blueberries. Usually I wish I had high speed internet, but dialup gives me time to focus on my mouthful of pleasure and to feel grateful.

And in the few minutes it took me to switch between reading the article,, meditating on the message and feeling the goodness, my headache has subsided somewhat and the achy tiredness in my limbs has been replaced with tingling relief.

A memory has surfaced, and now I'm crying, but that gives further relief to the sinus headache.

On February 9th, I had to euthanize my beloved pony, I rescued him from starvation 22 years ago. He was almost 27, very sick and he made it clear to me that it was time.

I wanted to hold him for the euthanasia, but vet policy and the need to also care for his companion made that impossible. So after I hugged him goodbye, as I led her back to the barn, I felt compelled to turn for one last look. He stood tall, head raised and pride, watching his herd leave him.

I will never forget his look of peace and joy...but mostly he radiated gratitude. They are so much smarter and wiser than we are. I saw that clearly then. I see it now. I love you, pony.

[madokie]

3. KIck