Most people have heard about the food that you crave is probably the food your body finds most harmful. (ie....people with hypertension crave salt, diabetics crave sugar) Not to say this is set in stone, but most comfort foods are the ones that have "turned on us". How dare a food become bad for my body! Lets talk about "the how". Food when it is broken down by the gut goes through some fancy chemical reactions and then introduction into the blood stream is made. Once in the blood stream, the different food types (protein, carb, fat) can induce a hormone wave to be released. The blood stream has delicate sensors that essentially tell the brain/body life is good so rejoice, relax and procreate or life is bad, fight, flee or scavenge. The take home point is that the body/mind can be coersed into creating an altered environment "inside" just by manipulation of hormones.
At a conference we presented saturday on Depression, it was cool to see some dynamics of communications with strangers. Most people have been taught to not open up too much to new aquaintances as part of a ritual in society of "getting to know others". Others will have some idiosyncratic habits of jumping into a conversation with very intense and saddening or argumentative personal revelation. And this would be in a first meeting! Most people would usually start to move away from the conversation, some will stay and engage. Aaahhaaaa! When the boistrous or codependant person gets an audience, the emotional stories begin... (both extrememly saddening or annoyingly involving-like the joke teller who laughs so loud one would be expected to also join in on the laugh for fear that you "don't get it")
Some people feel so comfortable in their diagnosis of depression or bipolar disorder that life seems stable when in tears or in argument with others. There will seem to be comfort in going back an environment that may be bad for health and socializing but it is what they are used to. There will be a talent of creating a tornado of emotion around the individual that you either get pushed away or get sucked into the conversation. The feeling or emotion thats evoked in a listener or innocent bystander to the tornado is called counter-transference. Those folks that can change the emotional feeling of a conversation to "depressing" or "defensive engaging arguments".....are creating a local climate change all around them- the saddened person will have everyon weeping with them or the argumentative person will always through out a new debate to keep one constantly defending another point. Either way, they feel comfortable having that type of "feel" within their mind/body and it is more empowering when others around them are involved with the feeling. It may not be your way of thinking/being but if allowed to engage, the force will be strong not to get involved emotionally. If not well grounded, the chance meeting with someone like this can subconsciously impact your actions the rest of the day.
Although my religious upbringing tells me I have to reach out to these folks, my actions has a healer are to help others first; engaging a tornado of emotion will hinder my ability to do this, so I confidently will respond with a simple answer and move on without guilt. If anything, I would reach out to the person supporting this tornado epicenter because they are exposed to this type of engagement every day.
......“If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive it,” the master replied, “to whom does the gift belong?”
