It’s said that the desire for sweet food can mask a deeper desire for “sweetness” itself. But what is this sweet?
Without consciously knowing it, many yearn for a Warm Mother’s Lap to crawl into or curl up beside, to be held, fully seen, and loved unconditionally. As children,
without the love and mirroring of the mother or maternal figure, the child does not know how they are, how they’re feeling, or even have a sense of who they are.
Fast forward, much later, a troubling email comes in. Or the pants fit snugly today. Or there’s a disagreement. Or a major transition.
The person is unable to give words to or acknowledge their true feelings, or wo
rries, or pain yet the psyche is still flooded by the truth. There’s no presence to see the whole of the situation, to name the distress, let alone hold it and care for it. Within moments, the hands are in the bag of candy or reaching for someTHING.
Some call it “a sugar problem” and feel the solution is to just stop eating it. But in these situations, the invitation is not simply a superficial abstinence from sugar, but to let Love in, and to finally know what it really is to love and care for oneself, for better or worse.
(c) Laura Burkett 2021