America is …

From the BodySoul perspective,

body image,

body truth,

body distortion,

is,

heavily weighted.

No puns intended.

I write this, while I am supposed to be away–a mini-vacation of sorts.

Some business to do.

Awoke this morning in the hotel to the aromas of breakfast

(mostly sugary ones)

and made my way to breakfast buffet offered and included as part of the package.

Coming to, over my coffee, and without myPhone to distract,

I awoke to an extraordinary scene!

I was surrounded by hundreds (not exaggerating) of obese American tourists.

All ages, all kinds.

Buzzing in and out of the buffet, with plates filled with foods of little or no nutritional value.

(fruit loops, pancakes, and ice cream)

Fellini-esque.

Appalling.

And I was just as struck by the strength of my own reaction.

Because of this, I waited to post this piece, to give some time and thought to

what I observed, and witnessed.

As one who has had her own ups-and-downs with weight:

Starving to be thinner at 5’8″ and 130 lbs.

A love/hate relationship with any measurement device.

Abandonment of nutritional norms during a phase in my psychotherapy process where I was feeding the neglected child.

And then there was menopause–pre, during, and post.

(you get the idea)

After some reflection,

I propose that what we are dealing with here is a Collective problem.

What does this mean in terms of BodySoul?

I will borrow from Marion Woodman

(surprise!)

the idea that addiction, is concretized in a specific behavior.

Therefore symbolic;  the metaphor for the “problem”.

Ok.

Upon my return home, my radar is up and attuned.

Yesterday at the local grocery, carts loaded, yes, loaded with boxes of fruity-0s

and things like

Loads of fat, sugar, sweets…Ah SWEETS!

“The longing for sweets is really a yearning for love or “sweetness.”

~ Marion Woodman

A psycho-logical conclusion:

The longing for sweets is the longing for Mother, the Great Mother.

I would add that the longing for fat, is a longing for richness in a Soul starved world.

The Sacred has become Profaned.

Now, dear reader, it does come to mind that there are political explanations for this epidemic.

But that is not the purpose of this blog post.

Here,

the purpose is the Voice of the Feminine.

Jung said that God/dess needs us as much as we need her.

Reciprocity.

Could it be that our Soul starved state reflects the condition of the God image?

Thin.

Scarce.

When for all time, She has been ample, sufficient, and more?

Maybe she needs us as much as we need her.

 I offer this post as a little paean to her.

Vox Anima, SDM

Art and Image Credit:  Tumblr