Cooking and loneliness

I think Haruki Murakami's descriptions of loneliness are always connected with cooking. Before I explain, let me first define what loneliness means to me. To me, loneliness mainly refers to moments when I'm alone and free to think. For example, nobody feels lonely when sleeping, because that's unconscious, or during busy work hours. Actually, I used to enjoy cooking a lot, so I deeply relate to this. In "The Year of Spaghetti," Murakami mentions that most people think cooking is something you do for multiple people. That's true, and such thinking comes from ideas about efficiency. Cooking takes a lot of time—buying groceries, washing vegetables, cooking, and then cleaning dishes afterward. Each step takes considerable time, and cooking for more people doesn't really increase that time significantly. Therefore, cooking only for oneself seems like a luxurious waste of time in our fast-paced society. Speaking of cooking, much of the time is spent waiting or not thinking too much, especially after becoming skilled. You wait for oil to heat, water to boil, pasta to cook, etc. Unfortunately, during these times, you often can't leave the stove to do something else, so I spend a lot of time zoning out or thinking. I think these long periods of contemplation make a person seem even lonelier.

(Attachment: a picture I saw online that I found kind of interesting)

Mingyuan Sun