Day three of Hungry for Change — you're probably feeling pretty hungry by now. Last night, I dreamt about eating a warm, cheesy slice of pepperoni pizza. I woke up with a raging hunger and then soberly proceeded to the kitchen to put the kettle on for my oatmeal.

As you start to experience the deprivation more and more, try to see what else might be lying there under the surface of your physical hunger. Where do your thoughts go? What are you dreaming about? When I ate my oatmeal this morning, I was, for a couple hours, physically full. But there was a deeper yearning, a deeper hunger inside of me. I longed for flavor, I longed for choice. I longed for freedom, I longed to walk into a restaurant and have a four page brunch menu placed in front of me (with a cup of coffee) to salivate over. Independence. Comfort. Adventure. Creativity. Sensation. These are some of the deeper hungers that might arise as you satisfy your physical hunger and realize that you are still, well, hungry for more.

One thing I've missed greatly this week is going out to eat with friends. I love filling my days with brunch dates, coffee dates, happy hour meetings and dinner adventures around a city that is enamored with the gourmet. Food has become so synonymous with relationship in my mind that I've realized in times of loneliness, sometimes I reach for food to fill my need for company. It's so easy to start using cheap substitutes, like food, to satisfy the deeper hunger. What would it look like to reach for what we truly desire? Or alternatively, allow ourselves to sit still in the deprivation and longing.