07/02/2023
Today I was at the beach with some friends, and we saw some beautiful fish in the water, and a story from my teen years came up.
I was at a restaurant with my parents- we had been out to see a play and it was quite late and we were really hungry and tired- I ordered some fish to eat for dinner. It arrived on a plate with the head and scales and everything still intact, and I literally started crying. I didn't know how to deal with it. The attentive waiter whisked it away and said, "Let me fillet this for you."
This was before I really knew much about vegetarianism, but I wasn't able to eat that fish with its head still intact. However, I'm pretty sure I did eat the fish after it came back to the table deboned and looking like a piece of fish.
It's interesting to me how we as humans can be disconnected from the source of our food, but when we get a reminder (oh yeah, a fillet of fish belongs to a living being) it can bring about a visceral reaction.
As a vegan now, I try to remember or think about where my food comes from. Someone grew the vegetables that I'm eating in my salad. A tree bore those beautiful cherries in the bowl on my table. Someone made the effort to bake vegan cookies for me.
I'm trying to do what I can to be grateful and non-harming to others. In yoga, non-harming is called Ahimsa, and it's one of the ethical guidelines called the Yamas. (Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.)
If you'd like to move toward being more connected to the food you eat, and live more of a "yogic" lifestyle, stick around.
