I’ve shared this within this blog before, about an interesting pattern that I’ve noticed over the decades.
Whenever I judge a certain aspect of Life, I end up experiencing it in further detail.
Why?
I trust this is due to our Soul’s desire to integrate and balance into multidimensional, whole self these neutral—not wrong, bad, or evil—unknown/shadow aspects within us that have been misunderstood, feared, judged, denied, ridiculed, criticized, condemned, repressed, suppressed, and/or oppressed by general society through the ages.
Well, one of the things that I’ve judged was the mukbang—which apparently started from Korea—and understandably so from at least several limited, human perspectives.
I initially had judgments like, “Why the hell would anyone in their right state of mind want to eat up to six bowls of noodles or more, or eat 300+ pieces of sushi in one sitting?”
But then I had a flashback of when I was attending a DoDDS high school—a Department of Defense Dependents Schools for U.S. military and civilian children—while living in South Korea.
My mother would often want me to call her as soon as lunch period started, and she would excitedly ask if I wanted her to make me two or three packages of ramen for lunch (something an aware, educated, and healthy mother wouldn’t ask her child since ramen isn’t exactly nutritious).
Unlike small packages of American Top ramen, Korean ramen packages were and are still bigger; and to this day, I still can’t believe I was able to eat up to three packages, when I get full from just one.
Throughout childhood, I often witnessed my Korean mother and relatives praise myself, my cousins, and my uncle for eating a lot.
It wasn’t until my later adult years that I realized this stemmed from the Korean people having experienced much poverty back in the day—like many humans throughout the world—-so being able to eat a lot of food was considered a blessing, and even something to get excited about.
Since I didn’t feel that I received much love from my mother during childhood, and often witnessed her unhappy and non-sober state, seeing her happy was probably an adequate reason to over indulge when it comes to food.
Throughout childhood—while often spending my summer and winter breaks at my Korean grandmother’s home—I had also learned not to waste food, to include not leaving a single grain of rice in my bowl for every meal (even if I was full, since it was frowned upon).
So the non-beneficial habits that stem from poverty consciousness and lack of unconditional love for self were challenging to break at first—whether it was eating everything in the bowl (or on the plate at home) to prevent waste, eating a lot to receive approval from others (though feeling full), and/or often eating unhealthy fully aware of the consequences (welcoming death via heart attack, stroke, cancer, etc.).
It wasn’t until my mid-forties that I decided to discontinue eating before I became full—since I learned that the food would expand later—regardless of how much food was left in the bowl or on the plate.
My current husband helped alleviate the deeply conditioned guilt by sharing the fact that whether the extra food ends up as leftovers, in my already full stomach, or in the toilet, it’s all the same excess.
I also started putting less food in a bowl or on a plate, and even started eating slower, rather than devour the food like a ravenous animal who hasn’t eaten in days.
So what is another perspective for being energetically attracted to mukbang?
Like I’ve learned from the video, “Transfoming the Female Wounded Warrior to the Divine Goddess´¯`·.¸.ღƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ,” years ago, our Soul desires to heal old wounds within us by attracting like energies in order to trigger us; hence, giving us the opportunity to SEE the resurfacing of the old—as a mirror reflected by another—and release that which no longer serves/benefits us.
If we continue to judge what’s revealed to us, we will prolong this back and forth game of separation between self and the perceived “other.”
However, when we choose to realize the interconnected Oneness of this “other” aspect, then we can integrate it into whole self, have compassion for self/others, and truly SEE Life, with clarity, from a neutral perspective
We can then realize that we don’t ever have to get lost within a non-beneficial aspect, but simply enjoy its higher version state.
I trust this state is the ability to simply enjoy and savor the deliciousness of Life in moderation (without going overboard), and even sharing these delightful experiences—especially full presence, soul connection—with interconnected others in an authentic way.
I recently came upon a Korean mukbang video of a couple who slowly enjoyed and savored a small amount of food at a restaurant, and I felt grateful that they introduced this mukbang style that I had never seen before but would be more beneficial to society (especially when it comes to health).
I noticed that I still enjoy briefly watching what a few creators of Korean mukbang videos eat various foods; but after a few minutes or so, I lose interest since it’s basically a repeat of previous actions, so I stop the video.
It does get old pretty quick. Plus, I don’t enjoy watching anyone go overboard stuffing their face, since it doesn’t seem pleasant, and it’s also apparent that they’re not really enjoying the forced experience as well.
In one of the Korean mukbang videos that was live at the time it was recorded, some guy requested that the young female eat jjajangmyun noodles with her hands, and she politely declined.
I sensed this seemingly sleazy guy wanted to control her to experience having power (since he didn’t know how to reconnect with his Soul’s inner power).
I thought it was sad that she (and like others) had to have such experiences that seemed so degrading, just because they want to make money.
But then again, I’ve let go of my judgment of strippers a while back—who also seemed to have a degrading job at times—since we don’t know the number of factors than can influence why we humans do what we do.
It’s way too easy to say things like, “I could NEVER be, say, and/or do that,” but you never know unless we’ve walked many miles in another’s shoes.
I had shared the following side note in this year’s April post, “Not Mind OR Heart, But Amazing Powerful Unstoppable Team of Integrated Mind/Heart,” followed by an update of insights:
Side Note: Granted, I respect and admire Hamzy’s BOLD, Korean gangsta-like, “I don’t give a $h!+ who’s watching” attitude, that I’d love to integrate into my whole self if I’m still interested in creating my own You Tube channel in the future; plus, this empowering attitude would be helpful for open-mic comedy performances as well.
Her channel is Real Mukbang Hamzy, which I enjoy watching whenever I miss certain Korean foods that I love, that I don’t have access to nearby.
[Plus, I like her intuitive style of cooking where she doesn’t need to use measurements, and I also like to experience new recipe ideas, as well as whatever’s new in Korea when it comes to food. Update from 8/22/20]
Though she eats more than the average female, she doesn’t go WAY overboard—like the typical mukbangs that I very briefly checked out due to curiosity—to include eating servings like six bowls of noodles, plus other meals, in one seating.
This is riDONKulous and sad, because even though they may start out enjoying the food, at a certain point, you can tell that they’re basically forcing themselves to eat for the audience.
I shared a comment for a young girl who said she didn’t like eating six bowls of jjanjangmyeon, but she was doing so anyway.
So I basically asked her (via a comment) why she even bothers then. I also suggested to her, why not be and do what she truly enjoys since no one’s forcing her to eat so much.
[Update 7/19/2020: I’m grateful for the life lesson that mukbangs, in general, have mirrored to me; and this contrast has helped me to more deeply appreciate the savoring of food and drinks in moderation, rather than eating and drinking large quantities in a compulsive manner—what I used to do during high school and early twenties—since it’s more about quality than quantity.
But I can understand why interconnected others choose to do this, to include: wanting attention, acceptance, and approval from others, stress relief, desiring to be stimulated by an external source, [curiosity], emotional eating, depression, wanting to feel alive, [seriously enjoying lots of food], food and/or drink addiction, and/or wanting [to make money (in order to survive, or to have extra money)], as Hamzy mentioned about the latter reason in one of her videos.]
Note: Artwork poster on right by:
The Void In My Heart by TimeLordJikan on DeviantArt
I shared the following comment for this YouTube video, “겨울맞이 김장 김치 만드는 전 과정!! (How to make Heungsam Kimchi!!) 요리&먹방!! – Mukbang eating show“:
I’ve been enjoying only the first and last couple of minutes of these YouTube videos by this lovable, trio, country family (parents and their son).
I like the mother’s back in the day, intuitive style of cooking where she doesn’t need to use measurements, and I also like to experience new recipe ideas since the mother cooks in ways I’ve never seen or heard of before.
Though I can’t taste the food she makes, I bet she’s a great cook/chef; and I’m sure her experiences of running various restaurants in the past contributes as well.
I also like watching this family show the audience, at times, how they go out to their farm, and pick certain, fresh vegetables for their upcoming meal.
They can also be very thoughtful, often sharing with one another food, compliments, upliftment, suggestions, and other forms of unconditional love.
I also like they seem very simple, yet, refreshingly honest and sincere, in their interactions and communication.
Granted, I don’t prefer watching the videos of the son himself, since he seems overly concerned with the audiences’ approval, and he tries too hard to stuff his face in order to be like some of his competitors who are known to go WAY OVERBOARD.
I’ve watched one of their kimbop videos where him and his mother incorporated humor via a funny clip they created, and they did a great job! Perhaps more of that as well.
A message for the son: Just be authentic you. You seem to have some great skills, abilities, talents, and character, to include: having keen observations, providing well-described food and drinks, giving honest feedback, having great respect for your parents and the community, having interpersonal skills, etc.
There’s no need to compare yourself with others, and try to compete with them. I’m reminded of one of the empowering songs from the K-drama series soundtrack, Itaewon Class, of simply Being you and living your life.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
By the way, I’ve also gained a lot of weight recently—more than my usual fluctuating body weight—though my eating habits and amount of physical activity have been pretty consistent.
After watching the very helpful video below, I realized this was probably due to the fact that our mind is unable to differentiate between what’s being personally experienced, what we watch another experience (via TV and movies), and what’s imagined by us (all three proven by science via brain scans, and in video below).
Another reason that I resonate with looking into this odd, sudden weight gain stems from accelerated ascension symptoms, which I’ve been experiencing for years now.
I shared the following comment for this very important video that I fully trust is a major game-changer in Life, “Gregg Braden: Unleashing the Power of the New – Conscious Life Expo 2020 FULL SHOW“:
- Gregg Braden, thank you so much for sharing wonderful You, and your invaluable gifts/abilities/skills/talents. I’m so grateful for your precious existence, and I have no doubt that our world and beyond is in a much higher vibrational state due to your full Presence and amazing contributions. I trust that you are a Master Teacher/Master Builder/Master Healer/Master of Frequencies/Master Alchemist.
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