Appetite

When things come to me, I try to get it into a notebook, but sometimes I grab any scrap of paper handy. This one resurfaced today. In case you can’t read my scribbles, it says “Appetite is not the genuine desire of the soul.”

I’m not sure if it was something I was reading, or listening to, or if it found its way to my brain through the aether!

So timely for this season, which for many of us is one of eating and acquisition.

Appetite is a curious thing. It can be easily awakened by external stimuli. We smell good food, hear a bottle open, catch a certain look from a person, see an ad for some new thing or other we never knew we wanted, but now do.

There is, I feel, nearly always a deeper, more true desire beyond the initial appetite. Maybe even clues to what creates meaning and defines who we are in our lives.
Satisfying corporeal desires in a surface way may indicate a deeper need for comfort, security, and love. For what are we truly hungering?

In acquiring objects, we might feel we are making a show of success, status, safety, avoidance of living in a place of scarcity. Of even existing.

By being aware of the first tickles of an appetite for something, sitting with it a minute and asking “is this what I want, or would I rather be…” without overthinking! I’ve been finding I will often choose something else, that in the end, is more gratifying and meaningful to me.

Wants vs. needs

And sometimes I just want that piece of cake/kiss/shiny new thing. The good old “everything in moderation, even moderation!”

My invitation to you this week, is to at least once, when you think “I want” to then ask yourself “what do I need?” And see if a more genuine desire of the soul appears.
Share in the comments below if you like.