Delia Smith - You Matter: The Human Solution

YOU MATTER

Mensch Publishing

51 Northchurch Road, London N1 4EE, United Kingdom

First published in Great Britain 2022 Copyright Delia Smith 2022

This electronic edition first published in 2021

Edited by Karen Buchanan

Cover design by Philip Beresford. Front cover image Greg Rakozy

Delia Smith has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: HB 978-1-912914-35-7; PB 978-1-912914-33-3; EBOOK 978-1-912914-34-0

In memory of Etty Smith, who launched me on this journey.

The challenge of conscious self-awareness is unlike anything that has occurred for millions of years. We are finding ourselves in the midst of a vast transition. How are we to respond? With respect to the universe itself, is there a reason for our existence? Is there a great work required of us?

Brian Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker,
Journey of the Universe

Contents

If you know me, or know of me, you might be thinking, Whats going on here? If you dont know me, let me explain: my former day job was an attempt to teach a generation the basics of cooking, via books and TV. Apart from a thriving website, thats now history, yet I have many unknown friends everywhere, and their warm responses and comments still give me a lift.

What, then, is going on here? Its something thats been on the back-burner for most of my life, with a long-held intention that it might one day become a book. Put another way, You Matter represents my burning desire to communicate something Im now even more certain needs to be said, given the times we are living in.

It all began with me, aged about five, being put to bed too early. I knew it was too early because I could hear other children still out playing. So, wide awake, I began to think and reflect and daydream, quite naturally and contentedly, so much so that it became a routine thing. I was a bit of a tearaway and, much to my parents great disappointment, not a success at school, but I always loved having time and space for quiet thought, and being sent to my room for doing something wrong was never the punishment it was intended to be. Fast forward through the years, always needing quiet time, and I now have a name for it: spirituality. Let me quickly say that its nothing esoteric but, very simply, the result of an accidental prelude to a long life of reflective thought. What it involves is stillness, silence or quiet time. There are many ways of describing it, but in essence, its having time and space in your life exclusively for yourself, to become more aware of a natural part of human existence that expands and invigorates your view of life.

After a lifetime of thought, I am now certain this is a crucial, yet much neglected, part of human nature. The presence of the human spirit, or the term spirituality, tends to be wrongly thought of as something otherworldly, and it is sometimes even made to seem that way. It can also be wrongly written off as something that is exclusive to religion. Mostly, though, this very natural spiritual dimension gets drowned out by surface life and its frantic overload. Yet with or without religion, when a natural dimension of human nature is not fully utilised it can leave a void, which sometimes leads to mental issues or inhibits the development of inner strengths we didnt know we had.

My thinking is that this vital, natural dimension in human life needs to be re-examined and revived. In neglecting the deeper aspects of life, we are missing out on what is probably the most important thing we should know: what an amazing thing it is to be a person and to be part of the collective human venture. This I now know with certainty, and it will be the central theme in all that follows.

Dissatisfaction with the status quo has increased since I started this project. The world and its precious consignment of life is in danger of becoming unhinged. There is no place to hide from the grave threat of climate change, as the deadly Covid-19 pandemic has reminded us. A wake-up call? Certainly, but in effect something far more I see it as a call to arms. If things are not as they should be in our world, isnt now the time for a new human spirit to emerge? Shouldnt we engage in bigger, more ambitious thinking and become more aware of our roles as humans? We are at the helm, in control of how everything is to evolve and progress. We have to relearn how its possible for our world to progress, while at the same time cooperating with nature in preserving our precious planet. How else can we ensure that our childrens children, and beyond, have a future? If extinction is the unthinkable, well, it needs thinking about.

I have known or met some extremely talented people some successful, some famous who, in spite of their achievements, have not really known how good or talented they are; something blocks that inside knowledge and certainty of themselves. This also applies to humanity as a whole. The common malaise is that we underestimate ourselves and lack belief in our collective power and potential. As a result, the world is in chaos: we are decimating the planet that sustains and nurtures all forms of life. The deadly Covid-19 is, I repeat, not just a wake-up call, but a call to arms. After many years of reflection, I am certain that if enough of us buy into that call and are willing to explore the deeper inner dimensions in our own lives and the world, then a new dynamic spiritual energy can emerge. It is my firm belief that, in unity with one another, human beings can achieve anything . All the wars, factions and turmoil in the world come from not sensing this reality, yet that inherent sense exists in everyone, and can be found in silence, away from the noise, in the still, small voice of the human spirit.

I have divided what follows into what I call reflections, each with its own theme. They are meant to be read individually, perhaps over time, hopefully to encourage your own thinking. I have also included writings from great minds throughout the ages, as well as an eclectic collection of thoughts from all areas of life. What I had hoped to do, back when I was writing recipes, was to help and guide people through the basics, so they could eventually move on to more ambitious things. Its precisely the same here. There are far greater minds and writers on the following subjects, and I have included some suggestions for further reading at the end.

Spirituality is not confined to silence, but that silence permeates the whole of life and reveals new perspectives. We have much to learn and my hope is that you, like me, will discover that the challenge can be exhilarating. What follows is intended to be about you. Just as the universe is reflected in a flower, it is also reflected in you. My only goal in writing this is for you to know that you matter and are a unique part of this amazing human venture what the biologist and conservationist Thomas Berry referred to as the greatest beauty in the known universe.

Delia Smith, August 2021

Hope is like a path

in the countryside.

Originally there is

nothing but as people

walk this way again and

again , a path appears.