On Wed Sep 24, 2003  8:27 am, I wrote: "Re: [LessIsMore] Cutting back (Was: LessIsMore membership graph.) {at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/11698 after signing-in} :-

At 09:47 AM 2003-09-23 +0530, Nandita wrote:

David,
I have two cups of cafe au lait everyday. But your post inspired me to
reduce it to one cup (in the morning.) My afternoon coffee was a 'vice'
only a few month old, which I am glad to say goodbye to!
Now if only I can kick the habit entirely! Especially as the only decent
coffee I can get here is by Nestlé :-(
Thank you, and the rest of the list, for being an inspiration.
Regards,
Nandita.

· Here's a bit of background, for my (03:55 PM 2003-09-21 +1200) {at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/11669 }:
"for the mext two or three months _I_ will be living on less; as of yester-
day, I'm cutting my bread (main starch) intake to 3/4; 1.1/2 slices/meal
instead of the usual 2 per meal ..."

· I don't do it as 'vice' vs. 'virtue'. I intentionally add a layer of fat
in the Autumn to help me ward off the cold of Winter.

· What I said above was what I do every year in the Spring: I take off the
4 or 5 kg (about 10 lb.) I had started putting on 6 months earlier.

· If there's any 'virtue' involved, it's that it takes a certain amount of
willpower to ensure my larger goal is maintained in the face of the hunger
I feel during the one or two hours before every meal in those 2-3 months.
It's a bit like my walking barefoot; a small "mortifying the flesh" every
day, as the monks, nuns and sadhus are supposed to do. 'Mind over matter'
maybe, getting my whole person (not just my mind) to accept as normal, that
the world and its attractions are transitory (not to be trusted), to be
sampled but not splurged.

· This isn't religious in the Western sense (I know too little of Eastern
religions, to comment); I believe in nothing other than in the high value of
the whole complex world I have lived in and would want to continue in spite
of humans' attacks on it. (It is a thing, not a Gaia. I need no god.)

· I am expanding on this now (c.f. my Aug 26 LIM post: "little luxuries,
like an excellent croissant & coffee":
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/11376 ),
because Nandita can perhaps understand better than Americans this attitude I
have, since there are a proper range of beliefs and ethnic groups in India,
not like the monoculture (ghetto-like) of all except a few places in the USA

David.
(David MacClement) Civis Mundi davd @ ihug.co.nz
http://www.geocities.com/davd.geo/ ZL1ASX
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