And Raw to Grow On!

It's been a while since I had a traditional birthday spanking, but these past few years have certainly whipped me into shape in a beautiful way, both spiritually and physically, that I didn't even know to look for. This last year, especially, has been like icing on the birthday cake. It's been the most awesome, progressive twelve months of my life so far, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate that than by ditching the cake altogether... for some Raw chocolate birthday mousse with friends!

On Tuesday of this week, I met several of my dearest friends at our neighborhood Raw restaurant for a birthday dinner to remember. The nine of us in attendance were coming from very different backgrounds; still, we all share a fundamental interest in health and healing. I was particularly giddy and aglow that evening, for several reasons: First, half the people in attendance were actually new friends to me, our meeting having been the direct result of my deliberate shift in life direction over the course of
the last year. Second, in most cases, these dear friends were all meeting each other for the first time and seemed to become fast friends themselves. And finally, for the first time ever, I got to participate in a discussion on the benefits of Raw foods with a group of like-minded individuals... How revolutionary! How progressive! Both Raw foods and the subject of Raw foods were on the table!

One of my favorite moments of the evening came after the meal, when I looked to a friend across from me who seemed to be expressing surprise at how full he was. It reminded me of my reaction to my first-ever prepared Raw meal, and how I had felt cheated at the small amount of food there seemed to be, compared with how much I had just paid for it. As hungry as I was at the time, I sunk my fork in and began eating at an impatient pace. I was only about half way finished, however, when I noticed my feeding frenzy was slowing. Suddenly, the food on my plate seemed too much for me. I was filling up on considerably less food than I normally required.

With this in mind, I posed a question to my full friend, and to the table in general: "Who of you who don't normally eat raw foods noticed that you felt fuller sooner than you expected?"

They all had. It seemed my own experience hadn't been so subjective after all. The quality of the foods we were eating was now speaking for itself. It seemed clear, again, that our bodies react differently to nutrient-dense, enzyme-rich foods than they do to all that other stuff. Apparently, they require less mass than they do meaningful substance. 

It was a revealing observation I was thrilled to be making among dear friends. But more than that, it was an evening as rich in love and community as it was dense in nutrients, and that's about the best birthday gift I could ever hope to receive.