I notice that I am far more relaxed now in just being myself and so much less fretful about reactions and such from others. It’s not even so much the wanting people to like me – more, that fear of being too much and too intense. Putting it to rest is mostly done now – and I can see all the work I’ve done up to this point, but I can still see that the practising being *done* with it is a work in progress.

I appreciate how you notice the markers that mean your perceptions have shifted with how you feel in your skin and it was such a lovely thing to read – I know how much time and effort you’ve put into this space over the years I’ve known you and to hear you make such comments is just fantastic – and is encouraging to me for the work I’m doing there myself.

On the subject of trying to like things. There are a few reasons you might do this, and some of them are less useful than others in my experience. I think that learning to like something because you appreciate it, or because it would make eating more convenient has some merit. Liking something just because others do is less useful and less about your awesome experience of the world and your life. I have found it rewarding and enjoyable to learn to like both tea and fish.

Currently I’m working on cucumber and avocado. I love the idea of the foods, I love a whole bunch of the things food wise they’re related to and I’d love to not be avoiding those things because of those foods. And, it would make buying sandwiches easier when there are times for buying sandwiches. There have been enough buying sandwich times that have been disappointing/hard that liking either of these things will help.

With tea, I just loved the idea of tea pots, and loose leaf wonderful smelling tea, tea cups and saucers and that making and sharing and drinking a pot of tea. Liking tea has brought a lot of pleasure to my life. With fish, there are so many interesting dishes that I love the sound of and just wished I could appreciate, and now on the occasions where I do choose to eat fish, it is a pleasure instead of something I avoid at all cost.

It’s up to us as individuals to consider why we might be trying to like something and our reasoning behind it, but trying to do so inherently isn’t always a terrible thing. It can be, but doesn’t have to be. Of course, everyone’s experience is there own and I don’t intend to be prescriptive with anything I’m saying. Just sharing

*loves*