【いただきます】
Pronunciation:itadaki ma su
Meaning:Japanese greeting to say before a meal
Hello☺
Recently, on my way home from my morning walk, I have been buying and eating vegetables from a nearby field. So I have been active and energetic during this rainy season☺
In Japan, before eating, we greet each other with this word by clasping our hands together.
The origin of the word is a humble expression for "to receive“. Itadakimasu is a expression of gratitude for the food, the person who made it, and the environment in which the food is grown.
Recently, I have been purchasing vegetables from nearby farms, so I can concretely picture the farmers who grow the vegetables and the fields where the vegetables are grown.
The shape may be not so good, but they are filled with nutrients, rough and wild, and every day I feel as if the cells in my body are being revitalized.
I myself have always had a hard time facing food. As a child, I was affected by my inability to have a healthy relationship with my mother, who provided me with food. So I had a difficulty or aversion to facing food.
For many years, I honestly did not know what exactly it meant “to love myself”.
Over the past few years, I have become more solid in my core self by reevaluating my diet and facing myself while cooking for myself.
I realized that taking in the proper nutrition for myself is about “loving myself”.
If I do not love ourselves, I will not be able to maintain a good distance from others and society. When I look at a field, I see vegetables growing next to each other at an appropriate distance, and then they interact with each other. I feel that since human beings are part of nature, they must be based on the same principles of life.
I learn important things from the fields and vegetables every day. It is true that what is important is nearby.
I have come to love this expression of gratitude.
Now, it is time for lunch. Today I will have rice, natto and miso soup with summer vegetables, plus one more dish to make now.
Have a good meal everyone and have a wonderful week☺
Shin Ei