So, this post will be my journal of thoughts for fast #2 (part of the whole my ninemillion project). If you may recall, fast #1 was quite a day. I started off eating my eyemask in my sleep, getting crankier and crankier as the hours went by, and then ending a couple hours before reaching the 24 hr point (all in the name of “needing to have dinner with my wife” – an important thing to do, yet lame excuse for me).
This time around I’m going to go the full 24 hours – seriously. The format has changed a little too – it will go from noon to noon. Let the journal begin:
Monday, Oct 20th
12:15pm - Well, I’m eating lunch a little late. Will officially start @ 1:15pm. Out of fear of dying of starvation, I bought a big hearty lunch from Specialty Bakery. I just finished my southwest chicken and rice soup, now working on my sicilian sandwich, and will momentarily dive into my wheatgerm chocolate chip cookie (probably the best store-bought cookie in the world – in fact the Specialty has a warm cookie radar application – check it out). It’s embarrassing to admit that I’m treating this as my “last meal” before my death sentence. This isn’t how the rest of the world gets to deal with hunger.
1:15pm – The fast has officially begun.
3:30pm- Work is keeping me focused. No problems yet.
4:45 - Heading home and then to meet some folks at the Wing Dome (hot wings & cool beer). Am I insane? ….(Crazy note: on the way out of the office, I absent-mindedly grabbed a small Reese’s cup from someones treat dish. I unwrapped it and had it 3 inches from my mouth before I realized I was fasting. Just proves how much we take food for granted)
7:00pm- Survived the Wing Dome. Now at home seeing all the food in the kitchen. Got to stay occupied. Read for a bit then watch some Scrubs, The Office, or Seinfeld (these are the only TV shows I really watch).
11:32pm- Kept myself busy without any major urges. Now heading to bed. It will be weird to see how this goes – I’ve never gone to bed without dinner.
Tuesday, Oct 21st
8:05am- Did someone feed me while I was sleeping? Sure, I dreamed about food (cream-filled donuts, etc.), but I’m now awake and not really feeling crazy hungry or anything. Note: my normal routine is to first thing when I wake up go to the kitchen and knock back a couple handfuls of chocolate chips!
9:55am- Drove to a meeting today and noticed a person sitting at an I-5exit ramp. His sign said “homeless and hungry…“ For some reason (probably because I was hungry), I paid more attention that normal. It was a strange experience to actually connect with his sign. I had a green light, so didn’t stop or do anything. Not sure if I would have – it’s always been a hard thing for me to get my arms around – making sense of asking for change at the on/off ramps. You hear stories of people who make a good living doing that, but I’m sure there are also people who truly are in need. Today didn’t solve any of my questions on this topic, but it did bring things closer to home.
1:14pm- Well, this has been a very different fasting experience this time around. Irritable Personality Syndrome “I.P.S” only kicked in once at around noon (victim was unfortunately Mary). I’m actually feeling o.k. and could physically go longer without a problem, but mentally I’m ready to eat. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m getting used to fasting or because it was noon too noon and sleep gave me a break, but this time around was definitely easier.
1:52pm-In closing, I’m also noticing that my reflections on being hungry don’t start to really happen until later in the process. That may partly be due to the fact that I often skip meals because I get too busy doing something. Anyway, while driving home from my meeting I went past the new location for nickelsville. This is the first time I’ve seen tent city. It’s remarkable to me that these folks are getting bounced from location to location. I guess not really though. They’re homeless
– and most of the time they are hidden from view. It reminded me in only the vaguest sense of the kibura slums in kenya. Now, of course, those are real slums. Heartbreaking stuff. The pink tents and blue tarps of nickelsville is a completely different picture, but we’re still dealing with this contrast between distribution and living standards. I remember visiting the slums in Kenya and then five minutes later being at a fancy latte shop and being unable to even order anything – it just didn’t make any sense. Well, I probably wouldn’t have made that connection if I hadn’t fasted, so I’m glad I did. It’s good to keep your eyes open – and if it takes an empty stomach to do it – well, that’s just what I have to do. O.K. time to eat.
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beats today: 93,600
my beats to date: 473,800
