Pumpkin Spice Madness

It is Pumpkin Spice season in America!! Woohoo!!
Does this statement trigger you? I’ve been amazed by how certain foods can polarize people. Cilantro haters I’m looking at you too. What is it about the mere mention of certain foods that causes people to rise up with such a strong opinion? This is what we’re going to explore in today’s blog.

Call me “basic,” I don’t care. One of the things I look forward to most about Fall is pumpkin spice flavored everything. I’ve already had several pumpkin spice lattes and it’s not even October yet! I’m a summertime girl and I have a real, personal struggle letting go of summer sunshine and all that goes along with it. One of the things that helps me embrace the inevitable change of season is pumpkin spice comfort foods. When I clutch that first PSL in my hand and take a sip, I feel as though I’m softly, lovingly allowing myself to let go of my beloved summer’s warm embrace. With each sip, like a lover looking back and waving goodbye to their beloved, I slowly sink into acceptance of what the new season has for me. This is why we have the term “comfort food.” As long as we are inside these earthly bodies, we can use simple things like this to help us feel warm and grounded during times of change.

Whether you love pumpkin spice or hate it, I’m sure you have an opinion. Cilantro, coconut….love ’em or hate ’em? If you have a favorite sports team, I bet there’s another sports team that you dislike. If you have a favorite musical artist, I bet you have a few that you passionately dislike too….yes? Where do such strong opinions about personal preferences come from?

Identity. It is deeply engrained in our human nature and necessary for our well-being to be part of a community, part of a tribe. We identify with certain groups of people that share a common value and find a sense of belonging there. This is healthy! It is a requirement for mental wellness! Since the pandemic occurred, there is an unprecedented epidemic of isolation. The extreme results of this are some young people joining lawless street gangs to fill the void and others completely withdrawing from connection to the world and committing suicide. I’m not here to address these deep societal wounds but rather to use these examples to help you think about your own self and your identity in the world. Where do you fit in? Who is your community?

There is a real good chance that if you find yourself being triggered by the mere mention of pumpkin spice lattes or cilantro, that you are struggling somewhere with your sense of identity. When you have a secure, grounded, confident place of knowing within yourself of who you are and whose you are, you are not moved by others’ expressions of personal taste in sports teams, rock bands or food choices. Just as you wish to be accepted and acknowledged for being your true self, others desire the same respect.

It’s when the opposing personal tastes of others offend or trigger you that you have let the basic human need of belonging go awry. The root is insecurity.

Can you see how aligning yourself with the hating of a personal food or entertainment preference….or even worse, finding yourself polarized against a fellow human being whom you’ve identified as having an opposing preference, can be considered an unhealthy mental state? There is a big difference here between standing up for your values or faith and taking such an extreme stance about basic personal preferences. If you find yourself clinging so tightly to something as trivial as a food preference that it makes your eyes roll with judgement, take a moment to explore within yourself what it is that could be triggering this.

If you see yourself in this description and now find yourself questioning it, please reach out to me here to book a $30 SunRay Consult. The cure for this is quite simple and I’d love to share it with you!

In the meantime, I also have an incredible recipe for my favorite soft pumpkin spice cookies with cream cheese frosting to share with you! I save the leftover pumpkin puree and use it to make a few batches of pumpkin pancakes. They are out of this world when you add some pecans to the batter!
The cookie and pancake recipes can both be found here:
Cari’s Soft Pumpkin Spice Cookies