Cooking is therapy to the soul, reviving the self-image
Oh my, one of my favorite subjects to write about…. cooking!
As a health and wellness coach, I deal with the topic of food all the time. We are a product of what we eat, and having been now on the Ketogenic diet for nearly 4 years, the importance of food as medicine means more to me now, than ever. Most people look at food as pleasure or nutrition, which leads many into a love-hate relationship with food, if they think that good nutrition means that food cannot be pleasurable.
People love eating what makes them “feel good.” However, if we are emotional eaters, our feeding will be motivated as a psychological crutch, keeping us co-dependent on foods that provide momentary pleasures, which distorts how we perceive our relationship with food, and ultimately our own self-image.
Having been a single mother for 4 1/2 years between 1997-2001, I can tell you that although I cooked for my two young boys, I allowed the pressures of my schedule to stress me out when it came to cooking. Don’t get me wrong; I have fond memories in cooking for them, and remember doing tons of homemade pizzas, taco salads, grilled cheese, etc.
However now, being 52 years-old, one of the things I wish I would have enjoyed more was cooking for my family. As I have switched to the Ketogenic lifestyle and stocked up on cookbooks, YouTube channels, and websites, I have learned that cooking is part of life, and usually it is during times of eating and fellowshipping that we have the most enjoyable moments.
Here is an interesting fact: it is hard to be mad at someone you eat or cook with? Try it; you cannot stay mad at anyone you sit down and eat with. Whether we realize it or not, more is going on physiologically and mentally, as we spend time cooking and eating with one another.
Usually, the stress of the present age and hectic schedules make us feel pressure to where we see cooking as a chore. Instead, we need to slow down and relax, and enjoy the cooking process, realizing what it does to the body and mind.
There is a “connection” that happens when you are cooking with others, setting the atmosphere for expectation and excitement, of the palatable food that will soon be served. Schedules fall away, stress from the job melts off of our mind, and our conscious mind becomes coherent at the moment by moment process of spending time with those we love, prepping and cooking a meal that causes time to cease.
Our bodies become more relaxed, oxytocin is released in the brain giving us more trust and love, and suddenly we have been transported from one world to a completely different other dimension. Smells tumble inside of the atmosphere, like a fragrance making a helicopter path to our nose. Our eyes are delighted looking at food through the viewpoint of language, crossing international barriers, bridging souls together for a moment in time, to be still and enjoy life.
Food, like the language of love, needs no words; the expression of cooking is enough to say more than 1,000 words. Thoughts of love, care, joy, delight, desire, health, goodness, and more go through our emotional filing cabinet, providing something we distinguish as “FOOD FOR THE SOUL!”
We smile and realize a culture exists, which we had forgotten just for a brief second in time. One that is therapy to the soul, making you feel loved, valued and reviving your self-image, where you feel as though in a dry and thirsty land, your soul is now at rest, you are good, all is well. No bills, no phone calls, merely you with those whom you are with enjoying the momentary pleasures of Life.
It is therapy to bring you an identity you have forgotten about. Therapy comes from the Greek word therapeia, which means “healing.” This comes from the word therapeuein, which means “to minister to, and treat medically.” This is what food does, when we cook and eat with one another. The negative volume of your past regrets wash away, as your soul is revived to know who you are.
We see this beautifully depicted with Peter, once Jesus restored him to his rightful place in ministry. This one meal changed Peter’s Self-Image, it was food to his soul; he could receive a message that came from a different culture, one of care and nurture, one of feeling valued, when he felt like such a failure.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord! Simon Peter, hearing him say that it was the Lord, put (girded) on his upper garment (his fisherman’s coat, his outer tunic)—for he was stripped [for work]—and sprang into the sea.
8 And the other disciples came in the small boat, for they were not far from shore, only some hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.
9 When they got out on land (the beach), they saw a fire of coals there and fish lying on it [cooking], and bread.
10 Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.
11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net to land, full of large fish, 153 of them; and [though] there were so many of them, the net was not torn.
12 Jesus said to them, Come [and] have breakfast. But none of the disciples ventured or dared to ask Him, Who are You? because they [well] knew that it was the Lord.
13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so also [with] the fish.
14 This was now the third time that Jesus revealed Himself (appeared, was manifest) to the disciples after He had risen from the dead.
15 When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these [others do—with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Feed My lambs.
16 Again He said to him the second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion, as one loves the Father]? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. He said to him, Shepherd (tend) My sheep.
17 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me [with a deep, instinctive, personal affection for Me, as for a close friend]? Peter was grieved (was saddened and hurt) that He should ask him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You [that I have a deep, instinctive, personal affection for You, as for a close friend]. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep. John 21:7-17 AMPC
Peter had denied Christ three times before the crucifixion. He had been sorely sifted by satan, who caused Peter to feel depressed, defeated and distressed. The volume of Peter’s past regret and the stress of his failed self-image caused him to return to fishing and leave ministry. He was clouded by his own judgments, leaving him confused and dysfunctional. However, all of this changed after one meal.
One meal changed his identity, as Jesus cooked fish for Peter, assuring Peter that he had obtained more strength than he had known from the dark night of the soul. What seemed to Peter as a betrayal was instead fashioned as a preparation to take watch over the sheep, as Jesus asked him 3 times if he loved Him. Imagine what the language of cooking did to Peter, while he watched Jesus cook the fish. What could he have been thinking?
Thoughts that come to my mind are, “How can Christ cook this fish for me, does He know what I did? Does He still love me in spite of my own failure? JUST WOW, the language of cooking and love go hand in hand. Never dismiss the power of cooking a meal for someone.
Make it a point to share the joys of life in cooking, by taking time to slow down during the week, carefully cooking a meal for those you love, not seeing it as a chore but a labor of love, a joy and a delight!
Bon Appetit!