one world

comfartable crisp fall weather, a 12 mile run, finding deals at the d.i., and lunch at one world cafe http://www.oneworldeverybodyeats.com/ filled my saturday a few weekends ago. enz, stacie, and i decided we wanted a day of physical exhasution followed by delectable and healthy whole foods. we were all extremely pleased by the events of the day. one world was not just good food, but a thought provoking experience which i have referred back to many times since. when we walked into the cafe, a nice man asked us if we had been to the restaurant before. he could probably tell by stacie and my deer-in-headlights look, that we didn't really know what to do. he proceeded to tell us that they will give us an envelope to put our money in. it was up to us to decide how much we felt like the meal was worth. he was sure to address the fact that he sometimes we can do more than other times, but it is the idea and hope that everything will even out as we all give what we can. as they served up the food that i wanted and as i sat at the table and ate, i was very humbled. my ideas turned to the thoughts of wants and needs. how much do i want vs. how much do i really need filled my head. i also started thinking about how much i could give vs. how much did i want to give. the idea of how much it was worth morphed into an idea of not only how much was the food worth, but how much was the time of the people preparing the food and the work to grow the food. the whole experience reminded me that we are all in this together. there are so many differences in this beautiful world, yet so many similarities. it reminded me of time i spent in taiwan, when i battled the feelings of culture shock - everything and everyone seemed so different. as i began to assimilate into the asian culture and society, the process of recognition of my similarities and commanalities with all the people and things around me became apparent and tangible. i recognized in such a real way that with all the differences around us, we as a human race live in this world together. if we strip down the differences, the recognition of physical needs are there for each of us. our experiences shape and mold us into different people, however as i came to open up to the people of taiwan, the realization that we all have love inside of us, and all of us want to share that love with others is there, sometimes we just don't know how to share it. as i have been working through this thought in my head, the idea that has stuck is that the best way to share love is to give love in the way those around us need it. figuring out how people around us need it and then giving in that way is then the challenge. so, while i had $7 to spend on my meal at one world that day, my feeling was that the experience was priceless.