Hegemony

Once a year I make up my mind again. A moment followed on a period defined by a feeling I cannot describe. Like you can’t change anything in the situation. Till that day, the day you wake up and make a change in your mentality. Hegemony is the concept that is applicable to this and almost every other situation; also in your eating habits. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein describes this as: ‘One is unable to notice something because it is always right before one’s eyes.’

Now we are travelling we have the possibility to have a look in many different lives. We explore lots of different cultures and meet different people. It is interesting to see how every culture and every person is defined with its own eating habits. But I have to admit that I found some similarities in having breakfast; two of our couch surf hosts, one in France and one in Italy have the same daily routine in having breakfast as my Dutch friend. Coffee and a cigarette. A wide known phenomenon.

Seeing all this differences make it possible to notice the something of the sentence of Wittgenstein. This something which is your daily routine. After noticing this something you can change it, which you couldn’t do when you were not aware of it. An example. Since last year I drank just normal milk, till a friend asked me why I didn’t drink organic milk. I couldn’t tell her why not, so since that moment I changed my routine and buy only organic milk.

Another similarity I found was eating fruit and vegetables. Everybody eats it, even though it is prepared in different ways. Cooked, baked, raw, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is the source of these products, just like the milk. Probably you go most of the time to the same shop and buy the same products. But just switch your mind and make a difference in your routine. Try to switch from the cucumber to the organic one and just buy the faire trade chocolate of Tony Chocolony. It wouldn’t take a long time before it is your new routine. It is just a mind switch.