What may reveal itself to you, if you approach the coming days like this tulip, with a humble, yet brave openness and vulnerability?

Food and eating are a glorious, sensual part of life.  Food appeals to our sense of touch, taste, and smell.  Many even enjoy the sounds associated with food: sizzling, a wooden spoon running across the sauté pan, the water rushing over the vegetables in the colander, or the knife against the cutting board in it’s percussive precision.

I don’t know about you, but I love to eat!! I like the entire creative process.  I like to organize, chop, cook or bake, present, and then sit down to eat and enjoy!

With all of this love of food buzzing around inside of me, I find that it can be directed in one of two ways – towards indulgence or towards mindfulness.  Both are pleasurable for different reasons and with different outcomes depending on the measures taken to balance the two.

I like to embrace whichever direction I’ve taken and also listen to my body so that I can balance with mindfulness if I’ve too long enjoyed indulgence.  When you find it’s time to reset, a cleansing soup can be a helpful tool.  You can go head on, committing yourself to eating this primarily and drinking the broth for two to three days or you can go lightly and replace a meal or two in this fashion.  If you go head on but find yourself needing something additional, consider adding whole fruits, vegetables, and perhaps almonds and cashews.  In the past, I have cut caffeine when cleansing, but would at this time leave it in place.  A cup of coffee in the morning is one of life’s treasures!

The soup can be made of leeks, onions, celery, fennel, garlic, lemons, or spinach.  You can use any combination of nonstartchy greens and alliums covered in water and set to simmer.

Begin by drinking the broth, and when you are hungry take out the greens and alliums to eat.  A drizzle of olive oil on top of the vegetables may help to stay solo with the soup for a longer time period. In the photo below I added herbs for flavor and avocado for a midday boost in nutrients, fiber, and protein.  Some herbs I would recommend are thyme, oregano, and rosemary.

This soup is good for the mind, body, and soul!

I am currently reading a text entitled “Cognitive Coaching” by Arthur L. Costa and Robert J. Garmston.  This aims at creating self-directed leaders and learners in the field of education, however, I feel that the passages apply to us all and our life choices.

Quotes from Cognitive Coaching on Behavior, Values, and Identity:

• “under certain conditions, repeated behaviors may affect beliefs.”
• “values, beliefs, and behaviors are related to identities, which reinforce and sustain identity adjustments.”
• “identity is always a moving target”
• “as we transcend the self and become part of the whole, we do not lose our individuality but rather our egocentricity.”

I especially like thinking of identity as a moving target, for the position that offers in making desired improvements to ourselves and not being confined to a narrow existence.  We can always adopt a new way of thinking, choose to nurture positive internal lingo, and honor the best parts of ourselves.  In this, we can evolve to become more fully who we are at the core and integrate our unique individuality into the whole thoughtfully.

Last week a local storyteller came to my daughter’s school to share tales from different cultures.  In between the two performances she gave at the school to accommodate all six grade levels in a relatively small gathering space, she spoke to me personally about why she does what she does.  A storyteller is a person who shares tales to draw on the commonalities of humanity, to learn from the wisdom of others, and feel connected within our communities.  I felt such kinship with her intention, her purpose, and the importance of her words soaked into me.  She felt that if she could release her ego to allow a story to work through her that she could be a conduit for humor, life lessons, and binding the threads of our humanness. 

I walked away from the conversation carrying a lot of questions and solidifying some truths as well.  She told stories that reinforced thinking already present in me.  One was of a man who was a pot maker, had a few exciting adventures, gained wealth and fame, and after a short time of enjoying all of that – went back to being a pot maker because he enjoyed his work.  I liked this so much for the point of tasks that may be seen as menial by some bringing a great satisfaction to others.  Each task is needed.  Each job calls for fulfillment.  I think the most important question is, how is the work being approached?  Is it done well?  Is there love in the labor?

With the focus on positivity for Wednesdays, I am asking you to think on this with me:  If your heart did not lead you to your work, can your heart lead you to find the value in the task at hand?  Can you approach it with love and care?  If your heart did lead you there, is it a constant guide?

Here’s to loving what you do everyday!

I find myself thinking, ‘Oh these times are so uncertain.  These times feel so dissonant’.  Yet ALL times have always been uncertain.  Hugely so!  Yes, there are phases in history with beautiful ‘safe’ and ‘privileged’ groups, but phases are just that.  Temporary experiences that rise and fall, and the bigger or higher they are, the harder they fall.

This large picture of life is uncertain, however, this present moment, is certain.  We are in it right now and it is exactly what it is.  Breathe in it.  Sit with it.  Love in it.  SEE people right this very moment.  Make change now whether it be a tiny offering or a large community effort.  No worry for tomorrow or next week, breathe in, soak up and bring your complete kindness to this very moment.

On any given week or weekend we usually have a list of ‘To-Do’s’.  The simple workings of life; the cleaning, the shopping and the obligations can begin to feel like an authoritarian Task Master.  This Task Master can rule all and make the days to come feel more like a dread than a gift.

What if, instead of focusing on what we HAVE to do, we focus on what we GET to do.  I want to share a paragraph from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book ‘Fear’ that explains this simple idea very well.  

So along with the obligations, make time and note this weekend what you are privileged to do here in this day by day life of yours.  Plan a few little pieces of your day that are obvious gifts for simple and pure enjoyment.  Then look at your To-Do list with eyes of appreciation that another week or weekend has come to connect with others, to serve and to soak IT up.

I live my life with the same focus as I make pottery.

Imagine your day as being a lump of wet clay. 

Post and Photograph by: Cindy Weaver         

http://www.clwpottery.com/       

When you’re looking for a way to bring more positivity into your life, it’s easiest to place your attention on one thing that’s really good.  Find one thing that you’re pleased with and talk about it a lot.  This will spread the feeling and help it to grow larger within you.  As this becomes your practice and you create conversation about things you are grateful for that bring happiness, it will become second nature to find the good things in your life.

Tell everyone what’s good about today!

Something to ponder as the calendar year comes to it’s close, and the sun bestows more light upon us, gathering momentum for new cycles & growth…

“You are what your deepest desire is.
As your desire is, so is your intention.
As your intention is, so is your will.
As your will is, so is your deed.
As your deed is, so is your destiny.”

–The Upanishads