Gluten is joy

Don’t let the title fool you. This is not a post about gluten. It’s a post about joy, or lack thereof.

I couldn’t sleep last night, so I started thinking. And that’s often when the trouble begins.

Anyway, I looked back at the past months, trying to summon up precious moments of joy and happiness that would stand out from all the exhausting days spent working tirelessly for my higher purpose.

I have spent the past 300 days working really hard. I haven’t stopped a second.  As a matter of fact, I think I haven’t had a proper break in four years.

My life is not that much fun these days. Hence the need to find comfort in recent memories that may distract me from the dullness of these dark days made of Sainsbury’s meal deals and Harvard referencing. It took me five minutes to find something… and believe you me, I had to dig really deep before I got there.

I have found a few moments, in the end. Luckily, I am not that miserable. But the more I thought about it the more I was able to identify a fascinating pattern. The common denominator of all my happy days, funnily enough, is the key protein found in wheat: good old gluten.

Let me explain: the only moments of pure joy of the past few months involved some sort of baked/deep-fried, wheat-based treat. Or a considerable amount of sparkling wine… but that story’s for another day.  

A very sad state of affairs, indeed. It’s April, Sia’s Christmas album is playing and I am relishing in the sugary pleasure this cherry danish is generously giving me.

I do wonder, however, if all this is unhealthy. I mean, food is obviously an important and enjoyable part of life. But is it supposed to be the only one?

I don’t think so. Firstly, because I am not always going to have the metabolism of a twelve-year-old and, honestly, I don’t care for a double-chin.

Secondly, because food is something you build your life around, it should not be your life.  An episode of Friends come to mind, when Phoebe’s psychiatrist boyfriend looks at Monica as she eats her biscuits and says: “Mon, uh, easy on those cookies, okay? Remember, they're just food; they're not love. “

Well, my friends, as unhealthy as it is I do believe one should find pleasure and joy in the little things. Life is wonderful for a number of reasons that may or may not be there at any given time. Food is always going to be there. And if you're sensible about it, you will realise that gluten is, indeed, the purest form of joy. I would go as far as to say that gluten is love. And if the Beatles were right and love is actually all you need, then you might as well open the cupboard and knock yourself out. I know I will!