Every Friday morning in Volcán, something sacred happens between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. The Community Market opens! For me, this has become a weekly habit, a ritual, and most of all, a spiritual experience.
The market is about three or four blocks from my house and takes less than 10 minutes to walk. On my walk, I have a fantastic view of Mt. Baru and a variety of birds flying around. My goal at the market is to buy locally grown organic vegetables and talk to some of the people who work there. Somehow I always come home feeling like I’ve done something good for my body, my mind, and whatever mysterious part of me still enjoys using the word “spiritual.”
This past week, I came home with two bunches of broccoli, two bunches of cauliflower, a large bag of green beans, a huge bunch of purple kale, a very large bunch of green kale, a large head of lettuce, and one purple radish. Total cost: $12.50.
Then, from another vendor who keeps all of his fruits and veggies in the back of a pickup truck, I bought two ripe avocados for $2.00. With my bag full, I smile at the mountains as I walk home.
After arriving home, I grab my chef’s knife, get out the cutting board, and immediately turn the avocados into a bowl of guacamole. I scoop out the avocado into a bowl, add diced red onions, a shot of lime juice, cilantro, tomatoes, a jalapeño, and a dash of salt. Perfecto! We love having guacamole handy to put on toast or as a side snack while watching our nightly Netflix.
Next, I stripped the stems from the purple and green kale and bagged the leaves, ready to be frozen for this week’s meals. I cut up the broccoli and cauliflower, bagged those, and placed them in the freezer. I trimmed the green beans, blanched them, and bagged them for the freezer.
As I am preparing my veggies, I fall into a kind of trance. I become quiet, focused, and present. My hands know what to do. Cut. Rinse. Blanch. Bag. Freeze. Breathe. This ritual feels meditative and prayer-like. It’s my spiritual world and is very sacred to me. It’s a feeling I only experience in the kitchen.
There is something deeply grounding about preparing food that will nourish my wife and me for the week. These vegetables, along with legumes, whole grains, fresh fruits, nuts, and seeds, have become our medicine and our supplements. It’s not a special diet. We don’t count calories or how much protein we’ve eaten throughout the day. It’s a lifestyle that is a habit in our home.
We are so grateful to live in Volcán, where the food is fresh, abundant, and affordable. We eat this way because we hope to live a long, healthy life. A life with energy, clarity, good walks, good coffee, and fewer conversations with doctors. So far, knock on wood, at 72 years old (73 next month), my blood pressure is good, and I have never taken medication for any health problem.
Peace and another cup, por favor!
Hey Panama Vic, Sounds like a good life! Do you consider yourself to be a Panamanian, now? I wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to be associated with the Trumpski regime. I know you used to be religious, but do you feel like you are still christian? Or are you talking about spirituality in a non-religious way? Your Pagan reader
No, I’m not a Panamanian. I barely know the language. And no, I am not a Christian and I don’t subscribe to any religion. I enjoy studying religions but I can’t say that I could adhere to all the dogma, rituals, and doctrines of any. Buddhism is probably the closest I could ever be to a religion but it’s not a united religion. One sect has no god and another does, etc. I can be a good, compassionate person without worshipping any kind of god.
I think the most compassionate people are those who have no religion, because they want to try and help people relieve their suffering, not because their god tells them to, but because they are empathetic on their own.