Appetites

Pull up a pretty gold chair at Dots Cafe in Pasadena and grab an adorable cupcake and let’s chat. First of all, isn’t this wallpaper so darling? If you haven’t been there yet, Dots Cafe is the sweetest little coffee shop in Pasadena. How many different fruits and vegetables can you spot?

Secondly, do you like vegetables? I grew up loathing the things. My mom used to serve those frozen vegetable medleys with corn, red pepper chunks, and lima beans, and I would spread them around my plate to make it look like I had eaten more than I had (and hopefully still be allowed to have dessert).

But as I’ve grown older, my appetite is growing for all the beautiful nutrients God has put into simple, natural food. A few weeks ago I actually threw together a simple yummy chicken barley soup with red bell peppers, onions, celery, radishes, carrots, squash, and eggplant! And I’m learning something: we can change our appetites.

You see, I still have an appetite for chocolate cheesecake and ruffles chips with sour cream and onion dip. And besides that, my spirit craves entertainment that is nutritionally empty – fashion blogs, silly youtube videos, shopping online for things I can’t afford. We know that what we put into our bodies can give us vigor, or make us sick. Too many ruffles leads to lethargy and drains our vitality. In a similar way, if I spend all my time watching netflix series, I’m cultivating a certain emptiness of soul and white bread spirituality that is likely to lead to purposelessness, self centeredness, and worship of HAPPY as the highest goal. Ironically living for HAPPY does quite the opposite of making me a happy person. One of the biggest causes of anxiety and depression is forgetting what our purpose is, and losing sight of how we are meant to make a difference and love others. We can quickly become all about ourselves, numbing our own pain through entertainment and social media. It’s easy to do – I’m not judging you…I am preaching to myself! I want to start consuming activities that will nourish my spirit and not just make me happy, but make me a person who loves well.