Increasing your sense of taste through darkness

In the US, part of our collective weight problem may be that we are on the consumerist treadmill and can't slow down. If something's really good we make an "mmmmm" sound and then we chow down and drift off to thinking about what we will do later. We watch too much TV, talk on the cell phone incessantly as we rush from place to place, so we forget how to lose ourselves in the sensation of eating, from the first bite through to the last, each lifting of the fork part of the poetry, even the dab of a napkin becomes transcendental if done with one's full attention.

Maybe I'm just speaking for myself here. Lately I've taken a vow of no TV and no electric lights in my apartment after work, and it's amazing how much sharper my senses are, eating by candlelight without all the distractions.

Of course the trend of completely dark restaurants is not exactly new, but it seems to me it's still yet to catch on in the US the way it has in Germany, Canada and London. But I say it's time we here in the US began to slow ourselves down a little bit, stop to smell the roses, taste the wine, unplug the TV, and relax... we may not need dark restaurants if we can darken our own living rooms. Now, opening yourself up to the intensity of food and music is a risky undertaking. To truly experience the world means to risk getting hurt. Once you open the door, all sorts of weird things can rush in. Eating a delicious stew might make you actually cry because it's so good -- I mean weep and get on your knees in gratitude to some higher power for allowing such beauteous food to have been made, realizing the sheer force of energy channeled through the food itself via the creator of the food, the whole process from seed to flame to digestion, a twirling miracle, each step of the way a beauteous process. This feeling may cause a sort of melancholy sadness for awhile as you let go of all the toxic brainwashing fluid -- the relentless commercials and Brangelina, who's having Jessica Simpsons' baby nonsense. You were clutching onto it for a reason, and as you let it go you will realize what that reason is, and it may hurt, but let it hurt, and then you will be able to truly experience your senses, and the tastes of the foods of the world will drive you insane with pleasure!

There's a whole world of sensory deprivation eateries out there, especially in , which has the Unsicht Bar and the Essen im Dunkeln. In Canada this is a great cause for celebration as these restaurants are employing the blind as waiters, so finally there is a cool job where it's actually a benefit to be blind, this as reported in the CBC News .

But it seems to me that just sitting in the dark for a few seconds before the food comes is not really enough time to get your senses sharp. Here's my path: I come home and act like Mr. Rogers, taking my shoes off real slow, talking to my imaginary television neighbors, then I spend at least a few hours at home without any electric lights on, just candles, at night, without music and without television. I advise you to take your television and throw a blanket over it, turn it to the wall, just for a week. Make a vow to only check your emails at work, and if you want to write at home, do so in a paper journal. Drink herbal teas and cut down on cakes and empty calories; be aware of everything you put into your body. Do this and even in a few days you will be shocked at how intensely your senses sharpen. Smells and tastes will begin to affect your emotions the way treacly endings of lifetime soap operas used to, only for real. Music will touch your soul and stir it to heights of feeling of which you may never have known you were capable. And the food! Tastes will astound you with their richness. Eat very slowly, savoring each morsel, with no TV on, no conversation.

Electric light, processed food, TV, internet, all these things lure us from the basics, so we end up having to go camping or on some wild adventure to try and escape from it, but now we can bring our cell phones anyway, and our laptops, and soon even the Mojave desert will have wireless. So if there's going to be an escape, it will have to come from you. You don't need a blacked out restaurant to cure you of the civilized blues. Just take your life into your hands, root yourself back to the earth, and let your taste buds expand.

If you are reading this and are having a hostile reaction, "How dare this blogger suggest I miss Project Runway?!" Well, ease up, buddy! No need to give up your life inside the cozy world of the Matrix, but whenever you are ready, whenever you are pale and miserable enough to listen to reason, to take the red pill, just shut all the stuff off, take a few deep breaths, and let the real world come visit you at last. You may be surprised at just how intense it is.

If you are reading this and are already free of TV and are into the intensity of the senses, then excuse my excitement, por favor. I just made the transition myself, and so am preaching it from the rooftops like any good convert to the faith: "I can taste again!" Project Runway be damned, I'm free! Free!

And of course, you can always go back... when it's winter.