Day One

Yesterday was the first day of my fast; it proved to be quite interesting.

I drank only juice and water and felt fine. Sometime around 5 PM, my stomach began to feel very hot, like I had just swallowed some hot tea (I hadn’t). It lasted for five minutes and then growled. It felt good, like a morning yawn.

My energy level was fine throughout the day and I didn’t feel too hungry. What was more fascinating to me was the confluence of the beginning of this fast with some unusual turn of events. Perhaps they aren’t unusual, but rather I simply notice things more or sense them more deeply when fasting. At any rate…

The Contrasts:

• I planned to get plenty of rest before starting the fast. I received a call Monday night from a friend who is getting divorced and asked to come over to talk. It had been a year since we had hung out and at least five months since we had last spoken, so it was surprising but cool to be together. We stayed up very late talking in bed.


• I planned to drink only water the day before. My friend and I shared two bottles of wine Monday night--not exactly the liquid intended for fasting!


• I planned to use the fast to focus inward, to explore the life of the spirit. My friend is headed in exactly the opposite direction, enjoying his newly found freedom of being single again and wanting us to get more involved in the community of arts.


• I planned to soak up my quiet singleness and the silence of home. My friend may need a place to stay for the next couple of weeks.


• I planned to monitor carefully my activities carefully to get enough rest as possible to sustain the energy for fasting. I got a call to add a Monday night “stay awake” overnight health care assignment.
  

I took the assignment. My friend is welcome to stay. I am continuing the fast. I am accepting the contrasts as part of the challenge of this particular fast.