On a normal day, I check ten to fifteen food blogs for new posts. I scour the big online cooking forums and instagram feeds for the next food trend. I take pictures of my lunch and post with hash tags like #putaneggonit and #brooklynmade. But today I will not stare at pictures of food. Mounds of saucy pasta and bubbling cheese, steaming soups and Chinese New year dumplings don’t seem like enough.
The world is scary and my appetite is gone.
When did everyone become so afraid? Once upon a time we worshipped one god or many who brought floods and droughts. We prayed for safety and made sacrifices of the flesh and of the heart to the greater good. We fought because we felt we had to defend that which was threatened.
So why are we still fighting?
Now, I am angry and scared, trapped and afraid. Because the people who think they know what’s best for us want to take away our choices. They want to decide for us who is good and who is evil.
They have encouraged us to think like two-dimensional comic book characters battling over turf when, really, we are just people with blurred lines of hurts and desires. Yes, we are scared but we are also hopeful.
What do we have to lose? There is food for the hungry and space for the needy. There is plenty to share but we watch families torn apart and stand by helplessly asking, “why? What did they do to deserve this?”
In a Cherokee proverb, a grandfather is asked about two wolves, one who is good and one who is evil. The grandson wants to know, “which one will win?”
The grandfather replies, “the one you feed.”
So today, I won’t look at pictures of food. I won’t write about ten new uses for avocado or how to chop kale stems. But I will cook a meal for my family and sit at a table with them discussing our days. I will cherish the time I have to be with the ones I love. And tomorrow, I will donate to the ACLU. I will call my congress-people and senators. I will smile at my neighbors and laugh with their children. I will do whatever I can tomorrow, and every day after, to help those who only wish to do the same, to be with the ones they love.
I will feed the good.
Originally published at iloveitiloveit.wordpress.com on January 30, 2017.
Originally published at medium.com