Have you eaten?

In Taiwan, it’s common to ask how someone is doing by saying “chia̍h pá bōe”.

This does not directly translate to “How are you” but instead roughly translates to “Have you eaten yet?”

I love that these two phrases are synonymous with each other. This way of inquiring into the well-being of others is not just common in Taiwan, but other cultures as well.

The question, “Have you eaten?”, seems to carry with it the notion of fullness and fulfillment — not just of the body, but of one’s subjective experience:

Do you feel nourished? Have you found things in life that make you feel fulfilled?

If anything, the takeaway here is that there are many nuanced ways in which we might care about the well-being of others that transcend the blanket, catch-all statement “How are you?”

And as I think about a world worth living in, it is one in which we mutually invest in pondering & supporting the well-being — in all its vast & diverse meanings — of one another.