Are we too busy living life, being steered down paths we didn’t necessarily choose, to take a step back and examine our core values and whether we are living lives congruent with them?

Forgive me. I am in a philosophical mood today. I find myself questioning everything, as I do from time to time. The last time I did this with any depth or feeling was in the ‘lockdowns’ – that period of forced isolation where I found myself with less work and more time on my hands than I’d been used to. At that point, to the backdrop of various personal crises, it seemed timelier than ever to search for meaning. So, I walked. And walked. And recorded my thoughts in some form or another. And walked again.

And at some point in that process, I came up with a short list of five values that were core to my life. These were:

• Connection
• Love
• Beauty
• Freedom
• Nature

I look at that list now and I pretty much stand by every single one. Am I living a life in congruence with all five right now? I’ve had a bit of an audit. I can make a case for both ‘no’ and ‘yes’.

At the time of creating this list, I felt so strongly about them, I drew a picture and liked it so much I put it on a t-shirt and wore it. I wear those values still but I don’t know if I retain the vividity of them in my soul when I move around this planet. I think I’ve forgotten what is important to me because, like so many of us, I’ve become fractured and distracted again.

I don’t blame myself entirely. Technology has moved along at such a breakneck speed that it dazzles and bemuses every day. AI arrived. I have used AI to help me write the last two blog posts. It was, no doubt, quicker. But it wasn’t me. And I didn’t like that it wasn’t my voice. We all have a unique voice, like a fingerprint, and not to use it is a terrible shame.

And what am I doing with my life? Is it in congruence with my core values? What of nutritional therapy – where does that fit?

Potentially, yes. It can connect me to others, help me guide others to greater connectivity with nature, and their own true natures. Can we find freedom in natural health? Again, there is a wealth of possibility in taking responsibility for one’s own health, unshackling ourselves from the strictures of a medical system designed to treat symptoms, not causes.

Is there beauty in this? One thing I encourage clients to do is feed their souls with creativity. There, true beauty can be found. The beauty in the natural world, the beauty in the simplicity of small things, of the every day that moves us towards our essential selves. Anything that cannot be sold to us has a different, and in many cases, higher value. Coming back to the breath, the present, the birdsong, the grass beneath our feet, eating slowly and mindfully with gratitude for the flavours and the textures and the nutrition the earth provides us. These things are priceless and they are a balm for our beleaguered modern souls.

What about love? If we love ourselves enough to nourish ourselves in the right ways, and we take care of our bodies, minds and spirits as if we actually, individually and collectively, matter, this is an expression of love. To share the delicious, nourishing food we create. To share our knowledge too, is love.

When I am able to help another person, I feel nourished. My desire to help comes from the same place we can all access – it is in our human nature to derive value from acts of service. We need to be needed, to have an identity, to feel like we have purpose, to have a fulfilled life.

There are many things I have to be grateful for. There are certainly other periods of history, and many places currently on this planet, where my choices as a woman would be a fraction of what they are now. I am in relative health, and the nutrition and lifestyle plan I came up with for myself is moving things in the right direction (see ‘Nutritionist, heal thyself’). I have made a conscious move to somewhere greener and quieter. I have a very supportive and loving partner. All of these things are resolutely GOOD things.

So, I await the potentiality of my new role as a Nutritional Therapist to come into full bloom, while moving things along incrementally. I have seen my first clients. I have made a start. To quote a line from the movie ‘The Commitments’, the rest is inevitable.

If you would like to share your core values, or talk about this stuff we called life, the unique challenges of our times, or offer any sage words of advice, please comment below. I’d love to hear from you.