In the past few months, my walks in Seattle mostly revolve around the South Lake Union. These begin from my home and almost always end at the Wholefoods Market store on Westlake.
What do I do at Wholefoods Market? A store for the presumably pompous and elite? Allow me to change your perception about this place (If I may). Firstly, I do like the quality of produce and meat. I enjoy their gourmet bakery and cheese section. But most importantly, I like the availability of a variety of 'relatively' sustainably sourced food items, including local products which I can happily purchase in small quantities. Please note, small quantity is key in the previous sentence. While, I appreciate the abundance the United States of America stands for, I am unable to grasp my head around shopping oversized quantity of food in this country. How do I enjoy more variety of good quality products with less? That is what this store allows me to do.
Anyway, I enjoy browsing through new products, especially the fruits, vegetables and fish of the season. This allows me to stay close to the order of nature and how we should consume food. It also inspires to me cook unique dishes at home once in a while. Challenge myself, mix up my routine. I have also recently moved to buying the locally baked bread(sourdough, loaves etc) instead of the packaged ones. This keeps. me excited to look out for what's new every other week. I also enjoy an occasional purchase of gourmet cheese blocks. They cost 3-7 $ typically for a block. But this way, I can have my own cheese tasting at home, and try a variety of cheeses imported from different parts of the world. Their dairy section, especially, yogurts have a variety of local farm options which are fun to try too. I do want to call out all these items are sparsely bought in limited quantities over the month. This helps me eliminate waste from overbuying "large " quantities of yogurt, cheese bread from larger stores such as a Costco or some such. In case you haven't guessed, I love cooking at home. My need to eat 'fancy' food at restaurants has reduced significantly as a lot of them ( esp. in Seattle) struggle to keep up with my own standards of cooking at home. Yes, I can cook most of the food we get outside at home or even better. Yes, we are becoming our moms.
Now, let's talk about why I even started writing this post. It was not to advertise WholeFoods. Nope they are offering me nothing. Infact, my schedule is more about spending time with yourself, taking it slow and enjoying the little things that you can create for your own life , if only you took the time and were intentional. I could do the same , if that WholeFoods on my walking route was replaced by Pike Place Market or any other store.
Just a few days ago, after my walk, I was craving a pastry. I walked into WholeFoods and bought a slice of their delicious Tres Leches cake. I decided to sit by their community table and savour the cake in the store itself. It was 5:00 pm in the evening. The sun had just set and the light was fading away. As I was staring into nothingness, enjoying my pastry, a lady sat down beside me. She had bought a packet of an energy bar which she was enjoying. A man, with disheveled, clearly tired after a long day's of work, kept his large bag on the floor and gobbled his sandwich. 2 construction workers were eating a combination of rice and veggies. In that moment, I realized that everyone around me had let down their guard. There was no pretense. No one was out to a fancy brunch or restaurant, or preparing to put on a facade at work. The world around me had paused, slowed down. People consumed in their own thoughts, with nothing to hide, so present in the moment or perhaps not? In that moment, I had a realization of how we are all just people. Dealing with our own lives Hustling and living as we can. Who are we to judge? We should only spend time to love and be compassionate.
I have rarely felt this way, ever since I moved to the United States. A place with so much privilege. So much privilege in this post -about me shopping at WholeFoods. Yet privilege should not cause you to lose sense of reality, taking the time to pause or reflect.
Go take a walk. Who knows what you may find or realize on your way? Perhaps yourself.
