"How to Cook Your Life"

     Yesterday I watched a documentary titled, "How to Cook Your Life." While it was a little different than I expected, it ended up being very good and even inspiring. The camera follows a group of people taking a cooking class from zen chef Edward Espe Brown. He describes how when he was young he wondered where the world went wrong with food. Our food isn't fresh, it sits in packages for weeks. However, at the same time, we throw away perfectly good food just because it's past the serve date printed on the package. Now he is a renowned chef, and in the video he discusses the importance of being present while cooking and wasting as little as possible among other things. It is a very intriguing video, and while I will admit it is not for everyone, I would recommend watching it because it was actually very eye-opening. While listening to the advice of Edward Espe Brown, you may be thinking, "Well, that's obvious." However, how many times in our life do we actually follow the "obvious" advice? Yesterday I finally took the chance to try out exactly what he was saying, and the result was astounding. I found myself, for once, thinking in the present and enjoying what was happening around me. Let me tell you, for someone who is ALWAYS thinking at least a few days ahead, it felt incredible to actually be in the present moment. I will continue to try to follow his advice, and I would recommend that everyone take another good listen to the seemingly obvious advice in life. You might be surprised to find you are not following it.