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I ate some bugs the other day.
This wasn’t a Bear Grylls tacti-cool experience in the woods; I’ve had that experience and it wasn’t fun. This was different. It was a deliberate choice I made while at the office. I didn’t just eat bugs, I ate bugs with a purpose.
Now when you started reading this post, you may have thought, “Ewww gross! Why would anyone do that?”
And you know, I understand that response. It’s a knee-jerk reaction that most people would have without even having to think about it. Which is exactly why I decided to munch on some insects. Because while we generally think of eating bugs as gross, it’s fairly common elsewhere in the world. We have a preconceived notion and I wanted to smash right through it.
So I hopped on amazon, ordered up some quality bug snacks, and got to munching.
And you know what? They weren’t too shabby.
I’m not writing this to convince you to eat bugs. I’m writing this because we all have preconceived notions of one kind or another. We think certain things are gross, uncool, boring, embarrassing, or lame without ever having experienced them. Then once we have developed our opinions we stick to them. Half the time, we don’t really know if we’d like something or not because we’ve always been unwilling to try. I’m not immune to this. I’m as guilty as the next man or woman.
But I don’t want to be held prisoner by my preconceived notions or uniformed opinions. I want to be open to trying new things, having new experiences, and considering new ideas. I don’t want to limit myself to things with which I’m already comfortable. So I ate some bugs.
Now, of course there are things that we don’t need to try for the sake of safety and sanity, but this isn’t about that. This is about the things that we don’t open ourselves up to for silly reasons.
I’m not going to run that race because I’ve never run one and I won’t do very well.
I’m not going to go sing karaoke because I’m a terrible singer and I’ll be embarrassed.
I’m not going to go camping because I don’t like the idea of pissing in the woods.
I’m not going to build things myself because everyone else I know just buys it.
I’m not going to eat a bug because it’s gross.
You can’t say no to every new experience and still hope for exciting new things. If you’re passing on stuff like this, then I hate to break it to you, you’re not bored, you’re boring.
Don’t be boring. Break through your preconceived notions and try new things. Embrace the weird. Maybe you won’t like it, but you won’t really know until you give it a try. So stop making excuses, and eat the bug already.
And hell, if you think you’d like to try the bugs I ate, here you go!
OK. You would never catch me eating a spider. Why? Because I like them. Crickets? Well, maybe. Let’s face it, I eat shrimp and prawns. They’ve got shells and legs.
Huhu grubs? (A local speciality.) I’ve never tried one. And I hear they’re not all that tasty.
Worms? No. Yet I’m not averse to smoked eel.
Ordinary oysters? Of course. Along with any shellfish. Mountain oysters, i.e. lambs’ testicles? No. Yet I’ve eaten other parts of lamb.
Plus, I’ve never done much foraging, other than picking wild blackberries for a pie.
These days the challenge for me is: Don’t eat anything you wouldn’t kill yourself. Which takes me pretty much back to nuts, fruit, veg and shellfish. Plus bread etc. And possibly the occasional old hen who’s well past laying.
I try to be open to most foods (and new experiences), but I’ll admit that I have to get outside of my head to make it happen sometimes. Your example of mountain oysters is a good one; I know plenty of people who eat them without a second thought, but the thought doesn’t exactly make me salivate with hunger. Still, like yourself, I have several other cuts of lamb. And ordinary oysters? Yes, please!
“Don’t eat anything you wouldn’t kill yourself.” That sounds like a pretty sensible approach.