Occasionally the teachers at my yoga studio read quotes during the practice. Some resonate, some I just breath in one ear and out the other. But one caught my attention the other day. ‘You cannot force the fruit to ripen, you can only feed the tree‘. Apparently it was said by a famous philosopher but I can’t for the life of me remember who (can anyone help out with this one?) – the quote stuck but the author’s name flew out with an exuberant round of core.
I’ve been trying my best to feed the tree. To put good things in my body. To eliminate the bad. We went unprocessed – years ago now – when we started to see the natural fertility people. We also went off sugar – all sugar – none of these stevia/agave/honey etc substitutes. And alcohol, all alcohol, I wasn’t a big drinker anyway but it meant I couldn’t have a cold hoppy Belgian beer on a hot summer day, or a complex red on a cool autumn evening.
It’s not the unprocessed bit I have an issue with really – I’m actually all for it. But right now all I want is cake. Chocolate cake to be exact. Not healthy, sugar-free, whole grain cake. Gooey, luscious, molten-centred, filled with butter and sugar and white flour cake. But first I want a glass of smooth, rich pinot noir. Served in a beautiful, wide-mouthed goblet, the aroma of spicy fruit and roses wafting up and around. I want to drink it curled up on the lounge, cradling it in two hands.
Then the cake. And with that a dessert wine. Perhaps Botrytis or other appropriately sticky drop. Some decadent vanilla ice cream wouldn’t go astray either. So where is the line between good for me and, well, good for me?