A Whiff of Dinner Discontentment
It’s time I share something ridiculous. Or maybe it’s silly. It’s just an inner thought I noticed multiple times that I found interesting.
While riding my onewheel around my neighborhood at dinner time I will inevitably smell someone grilling something! Burgers, BBQ chicken, or something teriyaki.
We could have plans to go to our favorite restaurant or my partner could be making the thing I’d been requesting for weeks…and then some animal part of me gets a whiff of protein being prepared just perfectly. Before I can even have a thought I have a strong feeling that’s something like, “Oooo, I hope we’re having something grilled tonight!”
I literally get sad about whatever it was that we were going to eat in an instant. I am grateful for having learned the tools to help me be aware of emotions popping up like this. It’s funny to imagine me getting home and eating a five star meal and being grumpy just because it wasn’t grilled.
I could poke fun and say it’s the caveman in me saying, “me want hot meat,” and that may be partly true, but I think there may also be other things tied to it for me.
When I was a kid, my family would frequently host family or friend gatherings at our lake house. It had a big back deck overlooking the lake and a dock to swim from.
My childhood had a lot of chaos in it, but during those parties I was safe from the chaos. So many people that I loved were there. Everyone brought a side dish or a dessert to share and, of course, there was almost always someone grilling something.
Maybe that smell linked satisfying a hunger for grilled meat and safety and connection.
