Searching for God in the Garbage (Bracha Goetz)

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Bracha Goetz walks us through her journey to finding purpose in her life. Her search began at age 12 when she started wondering what the point of anything was and feeling very empty inside. She thought there must be more to life than what those around her do and expected her to do. She began her struggle with food, experimented with drugs and sought out religions and philosophical schools of thought.

As an adult in medical school, Bracha came upon a Jewish school in Israel for those searching for truth and clarity. It was there she encountered the Almighty and found true fulfillment for the first time. Her desire for junk food diminished drastically.

Her transformation lay in teachings by Rabbi Noah Weinberg, of Aish HaTorah, called the 5 Pleasures. We must first understand the core truth of creation, that humans were created to find the most pleasure they can on this planet. There are five basic levels of pleasure in the human experience.

(1) The physical five senses, the most basic level of pleasure – food, nature, music , etc.
(2) Love – appreciation for other human beings.
(3) Meaning– having a reason behind what you do and connecting to your community in a deeper way.
(4) Creativity – the joy of creative freedom and using our natural gifts for a purpose.
(5) Transcendence, or clarity. When you can perceive and understand truths about God, people and the world around you and about yourself.

We typically dwell in levels one through three. Levels four and five are rare, but when we experience them, we never forget them and continue to pursue them. Many people turn to addiction, including disordered eating, because they have not reached higher levels of pleasure and purpose. Almost all addiction is seated in the first level – the physical. When not fulfilled in the higher levels or not finding spiritual connection in the physical world, we seek more and more pleasure in the lower levels. Unfortunately, those pursuits can never provide what we seek.

If you have trouble finding joy and purpose in your life, try some of the exercises suggested by Bracha. Try noticing small things that are pleasurable to you. For instance, focus on an orange and notice its color, fragrance, texture, flavor – and any other pleasurable details. Connecting to what you eat the way it was intended, is a spiritual experience, which will deeply connect you to the universe and to your creator. If you have experienced emotional trauma, it will be challenging, but don’t give up.

If you find yourself doing something unhealthy, pause. Try switching activities. Dance around the house. Interact with other humans. Go outside. Then come back to that bag of chips and see if you still desire them as strongly. Oftentimes, you will find you were not truly feeding your soul, only your temporary, physical pleasure sensors. If you do finish that bag of chips, observe how you feel afterwards. Do you feel more whole? More clear and purposeful? Grateful? Or did it make you feel bad about yourself?

We hope you take the time to find pleasure in the “small things”. What do you do? We’d love to hear. Share your thoughts with us in our private Facebook group.

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Connect with Bracha:

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Quotes:

“The big bag of potato chips stops calling your name when you fill up with other pleasures.” @Bracha Goetz @MatanaJacobs #HopetoRecharge

“Comfort is the opposite of pleasure… pain is not the opposite of pleasure. There could be pain involved in pleasure… but comfort stops us for reaching for pleasure when I’m stuffing my face.” @Bracha Goetz @MatanaJacobs #HopetoRecharge

“Hope is the part of your soul, that spark that nobody could cover up completely… it’s the resilience. It’s an eternal light inside of every person… And it’s still there. No matter what. So the whole thing is to nourish your soul and remove the garbage. Your soul is still shining there so that you’ll be able to feel it and see it and experience it… it’s the part of you that’s a part of God. It is infinite.” @Bracha Goetz @MatanaJacobs #HopetoRecharge

“[The addiction to joy] doesn’t make your life unmanageable at all because you keep it up from a source of understanding with spirituality.” @Bracha Goetz @MatanaJacobs #HopetoRecharge

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Topics Discussed

The search for purpose and joy
5 Levels of Pleasure
Finding spiritual connection through pleasure

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Suicide Hotlines:

USA: 1-800-273-8255
USA Crisis (Text): 741-741
Canada: 1-833-456-4566
United Kingdom: 116-123
Australia: 13-11-14
International Suicide Hotlines:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines

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