Keeping things simple

I don’t know how it’s been for you, but life has seemed very complicated over the last year and a half. We have been faced with many decisions which previously would not have been an issue: Should I go into that shop? Can I meet my friend? Will having a coffee outside be safe? These are issues that wouldn’t have crossed our minds, pre-covid.

To counter the seemingly endless decisions we have had to make, I have found it useful to try and keep all other things as simple as possible, even as we emerge from the worst (hopefully) of the pandemic. In terms of social life, I have stuck with two or three really close friends and we have been each others support system. I know them, they know me. We don’t have to pretend to be anything other that what we truly are. Many patients are saying the same thing. It’s been a time for cutting away the things we don’t need and looking at what we want to maintain and cultivate in our lives.

Looking at the food I eat, I see that I have stuck to the same principles. Now that my household has gone almost totally veggie (for environmental and compassion reasons), our food options initially seemed limited but we have expanded our repertoire to include so much more - aubergines, mushrooms, loads of beans and lentils, different spices and herbs and a far greater portion of fresh food. Simple things like the lovely vine tomatoes I had on rye toast this morning splodged with olive oil and some gritty salty bits for crunch.

I am very aware of how lucky I am to have the time to buy locally and I also to chuck fresh ingredients together to make something reasonably tasty. I don’t have fussy eaters in the family and we’re happy to eat a lot of one-pot ‘experiments’. Not everyone has that privilege, I know. But there is something very satisfying to sticking to simple, well grown and, most importantly, non-processed foods. It doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy. Just tasty and fresh.

And I have been thinking about our supplements and how pleased I am that they also reflect this principle. There is nothing in them except what’s necessary. No bulking agents, no sugar or any of the other strange things that are often added to supposedly ‘healthy’ supplements. Because of this, there is no extra for your body to deal with. Every ingredient in each supplement is beneficial, useable and necessary. Maybe those the three measuring tools we could use for all aspects of our lives from now on? If nothing else, it seems like a good place to start for our new post-covid lives.