If social media is anything to go by, the flavour of today’s lifestyle is high in protein and gluten-free. This is what will happen if you get rid of sugar! Skip those carbs and use cauliflower instead! Fit is the new skinny! These messages are thrown at us daily, and for the most part, we kind of know them to be true. There is merit to changing your diet and increasing your mobility. These changes equal better health, more energy, and – let’s face it – a better sense of self image. It is a subject that many of us take quite seriously. We are aware of the dangers of sugar and saturated fats. We are aware that we need to bombard our bodies with fewer simple carbs and more leafy greens. Even when we fail in practice, we keep the theory of our bodily health in mind and we make an effort to employ balance. We know that junk food is bad for our bodies, and so, within reason, we try to keep it out. And hopefully, as a measure of self-love, we combat the damages when we fail. Balance.
And yet…do we apply the same logic to the food we feed our minds? For every hour we spend scrolling through our Facebook timelines, reading and re-reading the same old tired posts that popped up the last time we were mindlessly scrolling through our timelines, do we make the effort to consume something mindful by an author or a teacher who we trust to edify us? For every article we read on the latest celebrity or political scandal, forgotten as soon as the page closes, do we try to pick something up with the potential to cause a positive and permanent change to our selves? Do we match the time we spend at our computers or in front of the television with time spent engrossed in a good book, a nourishing read? Do we pay any mind at all? Pause. Think about it. What do we really get from that instant gratification fix? It is all but fleeting and we’re onto the next. And the next. Men and women who have studied the brain maintain that it can become an all-consuming addiction. And nothing good can come of addiction. Balance remember?
As autumn begins to take us into winter, we find ourselves faced with the time of year where sloth and indifference can take over. The energy and determination with which we began our New Year’s Resolutions are fading into the distance and winter’s grip has us reaching for damaging comfort foods instead of making nourishing choices. But we urge you to make the latter. Don’t impulse purchase the next item on your e-reader. Don’t walk away from the bookstore with the first shiny cover that caught your eye on display. Peruse your options. Ask yourself, What do I truly need in my life right now? What is missing? Pick up an old favourite that has stood the test of time and read it a-new. Start a Commonplace Book, a file or a scrapbook filled with your favourite quotes and passages and poems. Go there when you feel a little soul-weary, when you need to find the right kind of inspiration to forge onwards. Remember that your mind is as deserving as your body of the right kind of attention. Nurture them both. As the famous biographer and philosopher, Plutarch, once said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
Date Published: 09 May 2016
