The heat of happiness

Ever since I was younger I have always been a fan of Greek mythology. I still remember the countless times my backside fell asleep as I sat on the toilet for hours reading my favorite myths. My despair and pity for Kore; forced to walk between the living and the dead, all because of some measly persimmon seeds! The courage and cunning of the Spartans in the unforgettable battle of troy! The epic tragedy of King Aegeus's fate as he threw himself to be dashed on the rocks, all for naught! It was all too exciting to even consider moving to a more comfortable chair.

One of my favorites is the tale of Icarus and Daedalus as they try to escape their imprisonment from the Island of Crete. Daedalus, a master craftsman, fashioned two pairs of wings out of feathers and wax. Together, flying through the skies, father and son are able to make out over the open seas! Icarus, overcome by the shear glee of flight, soars higher, higher and higher still. His father had warned of the danger of flying too high, for the suns heat could melt the wax holding the wings together.

Daedalus watches in horror, as Icarus climbs to the clouds, only able to shout his warning. The wax, having slowly melted as Icarus climbed inch by inch, finally gives way. A tongue of gravity constricts itself tightly around Icarus, pulling him to the awaiting jaws of the open sea below. Daedalus, making his way to the nearest coast, has won his freedom, but at the cost of his only son.

Grim as it is I think the story of Icarus is, it is a powerful allegory for our obsession with happiness. As Americans we have a great deal of freedoms that we enjoy day to day. We can express our freedom of speech, right to bare arms and freedom of religion. American's struggle for the dream of 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' But I wonder if oftentimes we go to far?

There are many areas in society that I could breach as examples of Americans pursuing happiness to a fault. However, this is a blog about eating and food. Therefore I want to specifically target the way pursuing happiness, above all other things, has impacted our health.

I've talked to many different people who are struggling with their diets in different ways. Some are underweight, scared of what they are becoming. Yet these individuals seem unable to break the gaze of the omnipotent goddesses of cosmo. It's no surprise what the underlying reason for young adults to want to chase after a skinny models figure. Those who are skinny are supposedly happy, ergo the skinnier a person becomes the happier they will eventually be.

Others, much in the same boat, are worried about their diets having made them much too plump to make it to their 60's. However most Hansels would rather chance that the gingerbread witch never cooks them than making the effort to escape their cage. I've heard a straightforward response to my curiousity regarding what makes them continue eating this way.

"James, to be honest I do care about my health, but I just like the food I eat too much. I could never give it up! I've never been someone who 'eat's to live.' Can I help it that I'm more of a 'live to eat' kind of person?" *I'll be tackling this idea in a later post, stay tuned!*

In  our food culture we over emphasize the happiness that we get from eating. We need to learn to understand our motivations for eating and understand how our over consumption, or under consumption, of certain things really effects our bodies. We need to understand societies influence on our consumption habits.

Is it worth the risk of losing everything or winding up in a terrible vice? Like Icarus most of us are flying too close to a sun of happiness, without heading the information and warnings that science and nature around us are trying to communicate. Also like Icarus we can't notice that the wax is, ever so slowly, melting away.

I'm not saying you can't enjoy your favorite foods and become healthier. Healthy people LOVE food as much as the next person! I'm happy to say that since I started eating the foods that I consider healthy the benefits that outweigh the disadvantages are astounding. I sleep better, I have an immense storage of natural energy and I no longer worry about heartburn, indigestion, diarrhea or any other congestive difficulties. That's just scraping the surface!

I'm also not advocating that everyone is in trouble of eminent death or disease. Don't stop eating your favorite foods all together! We have to remember that Daedalus flew with Icarus. Yet he remembered that you have to be cautious of how high you're flying. The purpose of this post is not to stop people from flying at all! It's only a cautious reminder to seek and find a safe medium, to be careful of the elusive warmth and heat of happiness.