The other day I had an errand in town that took me past the McDonalds “family restaurant”. There was a sign outside depicting a special hamburger they had this week, California something. Â It looked very tasty. Â But I remember last time I bought a hamburger. I opened the box and the stench of dead animals hit me square in the face. No, it was properly cooked, and the hygiene at Norwegian McDonalds is almost like a clinic. It is just that this is how meat smells and tastes to me now in my older years. At that time, I remembered that it had been like that, only not quite as intense, when last I tried, a few months before. It is probably more than a year now. I have no doubt that it is stronger now.
In fact, almost every ready-made food I buy seems so intense these days. Are people just amping up the taste for each passing year? Â Probably not. Â It has affected cola too – some days I find it hard to drink without mixing it with water, as I routinely do at home. It is just so intense. Â I can eat a small amount of chocolate if I don’t eat anything else that contains fat within a few hours. But even those taste so strong, I wish I had some milk to swallow them with.
Somehow, I doubt the whole food and snacks industry has sneakily worked together to suddenly make everything taste more intensely. I mean, I can see them doing that over time. I don’t think it is a secret that they are working constantly at “improving” the taste of snacks to make them more addictive. But I doubt it happens that fast. And I don’t hear anyone else complain.
My tastes are changing. That is the most likely explanation.
I suppose it could be some sneaking illness of the brain. Or I suppose it could be a result of my spiritual practices the last couple years. Â In fact, there are probably people who think these two may be one and the same. Â I don’t think so, but it is an interesting observation. Â Perhaps I will look back at this and understand it, later in life. Or if there is no such later, perhaps historians of the future, or relatives or some other curious person.
Just by American McDonalds “standards”, finding their burgers unpleasant is probably a good evolutionary trait to possess! A shame you can’t add to the population of the non-McDonalds clientele! I understand that in other countries McDonalds is better, though.
As for the overwhelming taste and smell stimuli, I think that is a normal reaction to forgoing such things in favor of relatively bland, digestive system-friendly foods most of the time. If you were constantly in a situation where you only were exposed to whispering, a regular speaking voice would also seem like a shout . . . ???
You mean I may NOT be developing spiritual superpowers? OH NOES! ^_^
Yeah, I think it is a kind of adjustment to a less intense lifestyle overall. It is almost certainly not a product of old age, though. From what I have seen, even non-smokers become less and less sensitive to taste over the years.
The spiritual superpowers are a given! I sit and read your posts, e-mails, and even arguments with the llama and think, “How did he manage to express this so well?!” Which speaks not only to the spiritual, but to the superpower of articulate communication!
Same way Michael Angelo plays ridiculously fast.
Practice, practice, practice.
Pour enough energy into anything you want, and you’ll eventually get it.
Practice does indeed make better! ^_^
With enough practice, you can pull off things that would look like miracles and impossible stunts to others.
An example of what I’m talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb5QaCfm7bg&feature=related
Terrible showman though.