Well, I very seldom give up an invitation to dinner . . . whenever someone else is doing the cook and I am able to accept the invitation - I'M IN!

First of all, my physical body attends . . . and that is the part of me that really enjoys the meal!  Mmmm . . . I like to eat.  Generally the food is great!  My hunger is satiated and I feel good.

Second of all, my emotional self attends . . . and that part of me is as varied as is the host/hostess who invited me.  When my parents (especially my mom) was alive, when I was invited to her dinner table, I came as a daughter . . . coming home - to familiarity in the dishes and the table setting, the way of cooking, the being taken care of with that special mother's love.  When my mil was alive I came as a dil . . . feasting at the table of the woman who nurtured, taught, and raised my husband, and at whose table he spent many hours.  Sometimes now, I am a niece, a cousin, a sister (or sil), a mother, a friend, and sometimes even a stranger.  Depending on my relationship with the host/hostess I may present myself in different ways - if I go to my sister's I am more relaxed and myself than if I were at the table of a stranger for the first time.

And of course, my spiritual self attends . . . there is something prescious and spiritual about sharing a meal - "breaking bread" together - a special type of bonding, companionship, and sharing.

In your question, inanna, you used the analogy of a dinner invitation in desribing our "self".  For me the above described me - myself - I am a physical being, an emotional being, and a spiritual being.

Beloved,

thank you for joining in and for the discussion :3

Now I notice that you have written certain things.  I will point them out to you:

"I like to eat"
"Generally the food is great!"
"My hunger is satiated and I feel good."

What do you think it is that notices liking eating, that notices that generally the food is great, that calls the body's hunger 'my hunger' and that categorizes/notices the feeling good as feeling good?

"my parents"
What does this mean?  Who is the "my" in this case?

"coming home - to familiarity in the dishes and the table setting..."
Try to take this apart, who or what notices the familiarity?

"if I go to my sister's I am more relaxed and myself..."

What do you mean by you are more relaxed and yourself?  What is/are feeling this way?

You are asking hard questions Ianna :)

Well, what it is that notices I like food, and that it makes me feel good, is that part of me that allows myself to be comforted and pleasured by food - which is my emotional self.  And therefore, I probably "emotionally" eat.  Over the last few years I have struggled with a few (10-20 extra pounds) and over the last six months I have seriously been doing something about that.  What I learned about myself is that I have very childish eating habits and eating wants.  I want, what I want, when I want it.  I've been writing down everything I eat and have learned that I have been eating WAY TOO MUCH.  As I have eaten healthy over the last while I have lost some of my "addiction" to sugar and fat, and no longer crave it as I have.  So, for me, my relationship with food has, for the most part (until most recently) been immature.  Therefore it is the "child" part of me that has the struggle and battle with food.  Hopefully what I have learned the last few months has caused me to mature and I am learning to eat to live, not live to eat.

When I mention "my parents", the "my" in this situation is also the child in me.  I think for many adult children "going home" places them somewhat into a "child".  I was always my mother's child.  Now that she is gone, I am still her child, but on this earth I am a child of no one.

As for feeling relaxed and myself in my sister's presence - compared to a stranger I know that my sister knows me . . . and if I screw up or say something wrong, she knows me - and therefore accepts me and loves me (versus a stranger who might not be so forgiving on a first meeting).  The part of me that feels relaxed is the part of me that knows I am in a place and with a person who loves me unconditionally.

I, am just . . . ME!

Easy to answer.-

Ya wanna country hick to come to dinner?...... Invite me.

Thank you, Beloved.

I will stick with this part that you wrote, so as not to get too confusing or all over the place:

"Well, what it is that notices I like food, and that it makes me feel good, is that part of me that allows myself to be comforted and pleasured by food - which is my emotional self."

Ok, I am going to focus here on your notion of your emotional self:  I will start with a "simpler" questioning of, does your emotional self notice itself?  Or is there something else that notices the emotional self?  What is able to help you discern your emotional self from your spiritual self?  Is it just your memory?

Ba dum dum!

Join in if you want from the OP -- the water is fine, m'dear.

Beloved,

let me try something a bit more understandable.  You seemed to indicate that you were thinking of yourself as 3 selves -- your physical body, your emotional self and your spiritual self?

Ok, so why do you think you use the term "I" when someone asks you who came to dinner in the OP?  Wouldn't it be more accurate to say "We"?

When you write on WC, which of the 3 is writing/involved in it?

I say "I" because it is just "me" . . . "I" am made up of all these facets (physical, spiritual, emotional), but there is just one self.

All 3.  My physical body does the typing, my emotional and spiritual parts (along with intellect) generate the thoughts.

So you're a Trinity ;3

So now I see you've added the intellect.  What does that mean, to you?  Is that another self?

Hi Inanna:

Thank you for the invitation. Is it going to be something like "Plato's Dinner?"

What comes to dinner in the person of Arminius von Welterod is an individually unique personification of the eternal cosmos.

Hi Inanna, hello again.

Tell me, what does this thread have to do with "Health and Aging"?

Is it because those of us who identify ourselves as the eternal cosmos are ageless and ultimately well?

Hmmm. I wonder.

Health and aging are opposites,,,,

I think it very possible that I am the oldest poster at the WonderCafe (83)

and what continually surprises me is that I am literally having the best of times:

A state in which I have no ambition to 'succeed' no desire for wealth or power or position....

I think I enjoy every day more than ever.

I just cant bring myself to believe in an after-life. After life there is death,

I do not believe in heaven or hell (other than that which occurs on earth in the now of existence.

Hoping for a heaven fearing a hell seems to me to lessen awareness of life NOW.

Oooops gotta go someone at the door...

later...

I don't go to a lot of dinner parties. My mind body and soul come to dinner...and how much all depends on the dinner party.  The atmosphere and situation. Truly, in most cases my mind and body are engaged in eating the dinner (and I love eating too much and appreciate a good meal) and all the social graces that go with it, trying hard to make sure everything goes smoothly for everyone and that I don't make a faux pas. My soul would be most engaged if it were a free spirited event, with no particular dress code or etiquette required....with music and singing, maybe a game, and open minded discussion--my intellect is engaged as much as the "protocol"  and mood in the room allows...but in my experience most planned dinner parties feel pretty soul restrictive. It's not a communal event usually, but a show.  At Christmas, for example, my extended family all tries to pretend we're close, and we go through all the motions... but unfortunately my family is not naturally close, is politically polarized and from different socio-economic world views , and it's an awkward situation oftentimes. It sounds awful, I know.  I love them but we're not close like the ideal Judeo Christian nuclear family is "supposed to be" (divorces and  separations and petty grudges that everyone brushes under the carpet for Christmas)...so, it's harder for me to be fully engaged, mind, body and soul. I know many people have that in common these days though. I have a better time, for example, and feel more connected and fully engaged inviting a couple of close friends to my apartment and having a casual dinner and I can say and act completely myself, they can also, and we can all have a good time... mind body and soul are into that...or alternatively going to a good friend's house for dinner (one particular friend's whole family is creative, eccentric and hilarious) where my mind body and soul feel at ease.

I love this question, inanna, but I have to think about it for a bit.

Indeed it does, Arminius.  Dining on ideas.  Commiserating on notions.  Riffing with friends.

So this personification that comes to dinner, what is the nature of its awareness?  Is it a singular awareness or a plural awareness?

Kimmio,

These parts I'd like to focus on right now with you.

What do you mean when you write "My" here?  Mind, body and soul.  So what is the "my" in this case and can you locate it?

Take your time.  We have at least till 2012 ;3

Lol...those are the parts you'd like to focus on with me right now, are they? That kind of makes you sound like a therapist ;) Oh, boy. Deep breath. Sit up straight, feet on the floor. Okay.

"My" are all of what I perceive or imagine.

*chuckle*  Don't worry, there are no wrong answers (you've probably heard that one as well before).

So what or who is this "I" that you write aboot?  Where is it located?

Lol...aaah...Another mind bender post Inanna. I'm not sure how far I can go with it tonight. I have to make dinner that's hopefully edible for humans.  ;)

My perception "I", my self awareness, is perceived by my mind via my senses...a function of my brain. I think I am here on earth ;) and by perceiving that others also perceive that they are on earth, that leads me to believe we're right about that. 

Take your time.  Don't rush yourself, don't forget to spend your time on more important things.  I started this thread back in June.  So don't worry aboot it.  Think of this being like Jamaica, we've got time :3

Where is this 'self-awarness' feel like it is located?  Is it a singular feeling (like looking out of a camera?) or is a plural feeling (say being able to look through multiple tv screens at once that are hooked up to various cameras scattered around your home town).

My answer depends on when I was asked to dinner.

As a small child I was raised in "The Era Of Good Manners".

This meant that if there were adults present I ate with my mouth closed, said "please" and "thank you" and concentrated on "being good".

That wasn't really me - it was this sweet little kid that magically appeared in my place.

I do remember once being me at a kid's birthday party. I was told that it was polite to not eat the last cake etc.

There was one chocolate crackle left on a plate.

Would "me" get rid of this polite kid?

You betcha! 

I ate greedily - "I" had arrived at long last!

From teen-age years to middle-age the "I" that came to dinner was whatever I thought you wanted me to be.

Thus, with my "serious" friends I discussed at length my thoughts on politics, philosophy and psychology.

This was "sort of" me - but with edited highlights.

In this company it meant I had to have a humour bypass.

Humour was something I shared with my woman friends - but we seldom discussed the "big" issues. We did have heaps of fun, though.

I guess you could say that in these middle years parts of "me" were in evidence - but it was rather fractured and there was a longing to be whole.

Now in old age "I" have finally arrived.

What you see is what you get.

As with my body, parts of my personality others may prefer to see hidden, but - too late - I've finally become, what Zorba described as "the full catastrophe".

ME!  (And it's been worth the struggle).