Food for Thought

I am feeling inspired. As I understand it books have that effect on people. What book you ask? A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg. You can find her at Orangette. I find her nothing short of amazing. I find myself on a sort of...self discovery. Reading her descriptions of food is like reading a romance novel, for me. My immediate defense on the subject of my weight is- I LOVE food! Do I? Do I really? Molly loves food. In that sense, food and I are merely acquaintances. If I really loved food what would I be eating? I am sure that it would not be the likes of frozen, plastic containers of low-calorie microwavable food! Is this a sign? A sign of the times? (I don't know where that came from but I liked it!) Some magical way of the world telling me if I don't want to be fat anymore maybe I should slow down. Why, day after day, do I torture myself with these frozen diet meals that don't appear to do me any good anyway. Wouldn't I be just as satisfied if I took an extra ten minutes and made something delectable like Molly's recipe for Bread Salad with cherries, goat cheese and arugula? (Not on her blog, but in her book.) It sounds divine! Goat cheese, balsamic vinegar, cherries! Honestly, aside from the cheese and the bread where are the calories?

All of the aforementioned has got me thinking, what do you love so much about food? Analyze it! I have been trying! Thinking about most everything that goes in my mouth the last two days. (Having reached a turning point in the book in the last few days.) I have even gone so far as to analyze my consumption of coffee. What is it? I am hardly some connoisseur like Jack Nicholson's character in the Bucket List, going so far as to consume coffee from beans excreted from a wild cat! I can only generally tell you the difference in the "roast" of the coffee. For all of those details, I don't particularly care. Coffee a prescription given to those who have given birth and sleep with one ear open will for the next 18 years (or longer) wake at the crack of dawn to savor every waking moment with their children. I drank coffee early on because I was from the Pacific Northwest and that was what we were supposed to drink. I was young, it was cool. I knew the lingo, even moreso now! After a stint of stomach problems I stopped drinking it from upwards of 6-8 years. Picked it up again when I was pregnant because it was hot and I could get it decaf! Coffee drinking is almost like a coming of age. Grandma did it, mom does it, doesn't that mean I am supposed to? No, I have no great snobbery about coffee. I enjoy the taste and flavors I get to add to it. I have even started making it myself. (That was a HUGE step for me!) It is what I drink on my way to work to wash away the daily grind and a good cup will last me until at least two in the afternoon.

I suppose the long and the short of it is, as a way to get back in touch with my "blog" you could be seeing more posts. This could be a good avenue to discover what exactly my food issues are. I have several more damned frozen lunches to consume so not to waste money. But, I think that food needs to start getting more interesting. I am sure that tonight, maybe even tomorrow I will have aother discovery to share. Hopefully something more exciting than my thoughts on coffee. In fact there are more, but this entry would turn into a book. So let's take it, one day at a time! Maybe tomorrow we will examine even further into the frozen wasteland that so often makes up my lunch!

Creativity

(Another blog entry for work that I thought I would share. Soon I will get back to writing them for this site!)


“It is our very nature to create.” –Matthew Fox

It is definitely in my very nature to create. When I see an object, I wonder, “how was that made?” That is how our society has matured. It is the nature of humans to create. As a society we are constantly looking for was to make things faster, better, stronger. While there are those that are looking to expedite life, there are those of us that work in reverse, the crafters and creators of the world. When I am in that creative state I want life to slow down. I want to start from scratch. If I want instant gratification, I can go buy a basket or a sweater. But, isn’t it much more gratifying to use your own hands? Making it yourself you can produce it to your own specifications. What material will you use? A basket, made of reed? Wood? Pine needles? What yarn do you favor? Are you allergic to wool, but like the pattern? Create the item to your liking. The key is simply to create. I hear some of you saying that you aren’t artistic or creative. Hafiz tells us that “all the talents of God are within you.” Maybe you can’t knit in a straight line, or weave with reed or wool. But maybe you are the best baker on the block. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. says “If you are called to be a street sweeper, sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.” So what I say to you is find your street sweeper. Find your art, your craft, find that passion that keeps you going. For me, it is creating all things. I always have to have my hands in the pot of creation. Currently it is still knitting. But, my loom has been calling to me for some time now. So, perhaps it is time for more cloth. Whatever it will be, I know it will be made by me!

“Only creating can make us happy. For in creating we tap into the deepest powers of self and universe and the Divine Self.” –Matthew Fox