January was for putting systems into place. I organized and tossed, in my pantry and fridge. I bought fresh and organic. I scoured vegetarian and vegan cookbooks. I tried so many new recipes I got cross-eyed, but found some keepers. Still want to write a book with lots of food in it. Made notes.
Routine has been my friend in January. Oh, how I have missed it. I decided very quickly that I still hate schedules, but I could embrace a routine. Just establishing these routines has taken most of my energy, it seems. But now I've got it down.
I rise every weekday and head for the page while I'm fresh. I break at some point to begin(or join in making) the midday meal. I cook slowly and mindfully. We eat together. I go back to work. We walk the park. Evenings are for reading and knitting and being with friends and family. Who knew how soothing this could be?
I did. I've always known it. Lived it for a long time, then didn't for a long time, and now I have that chance again.
I've been thinking about how to measure success, or what that even means, when we look at our days and our work. How do YOU measure success? I would like to know.
I didn't make much headway on book two, if you measure success by numbers of new words or chapters or breakthroughs. If I measure by the yardstick of creating a safe, comfortable place to write, researching, going down blind alleys with a new chapter, and sticking with it no matter what... well, that's a big success. I think. My undermind is at work. I can't push the river. I can show up. Something like that.
Nevertheless, I feel vaguely like a failure. Maybe that's why I bought this old flour sack quilt from
Kudzu this week. It has been my only indulgence this year, although the year is young. How lucky is it that Kudzu is practically next door to
Your DeKalb Farmer's Market?
I found this quilt at the back of a booth at Kudzu, and I spent some time extracting it from its half-hidden corner. As soon as I touched it, I knew I had to have it. Its softness, suppleness, colors and patterns
My go-to vegetarian cookbooks are:
Vegetarian Nights: Fresh From Hawaii, sadly out of print but a wonderful resource for super-healthy recipes: http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Nights-Hawaii-Bonnie-Mandoe/dp/0890877122 The salad recipes in particular have been in my repertoire for years and are always wildly popular at parties. SALADS! At PARTIES!
The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, which isn't new-wavey or hippie in any way, but rather awesome reciepes that don't happen to have meat or dairy. http://www.amazon.com/Mediterranean-Vegan-Kitchen-Donna-Klein/dp/1557883599/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328376189&sr=1-1
Looking at your photo of kale makes me want kale. My favorite way to eat it is to saute it, then serve with simple tahini-garlic-lemon sauce. Yum!
Between my full-time day job and working at the bookstore, I don't have time for all the things that are important to me. I've struggled to find balance. I've discovered, however, that sometimes we just need to go with the flow, so to speak, and quit resisting. Sometimes life takes us down what initially seem to be rabbit holes, yet turn out to be corners of respite with pots of
Oh, and haha -- we're going to a party tonight and bring SALAD! To the PARTY! hee.
Hey, you. Thanks so much for these titles. I'll bet my library has them, and I'll look for 'em. I was a vegetarian until I got so thickly on the road. Then it was too hard to eat well. So now I'm mostly vegetarian, and have given up dairy because I feel better, and so. Always looking for new ways to cook. That's a massaged kale salad you're looking at. I love kale like
Jef, you're wise. I love this. One of my intentions for this year is to be present. Present for my life. Present to the work. Present to the day, to the moment. Finding joy in it is icing on the cake. Right now, It's so interesting to hear you talk about respite. I seem to need a lot of respite right now. It helps if I look at it that way (the way you mention) instead of thinking (in some
My recipe for sucess + living as compassionately and with as much integrity as I can. There are other details of course, but them's the basics.
I think a nice quilt and a cup of tea can go a long way towards settling a person into writing. I hope they serve you well as you venture into February.
Thanks, y'all. I'm hoping you're right. xo
Hi Debbie,<br />I just came across your blog and can relate so well to what you describe. I also recently gave myself a year (or two) to focus full time on writing. Finding balance has been hard. I also cook a lot and have re-read the Vogler book on the Hero's Journey to help me outline my current work in progress. Success, well, I think it is connected to writing. And that makes it so hard
Love everything about this post! The cooking, the January routine, the resolves, the quilt, Kudzu (my favorite place in all of Decatur, with the possible exception of Little Shop :-), the Farmer's Market, the writing process, Comfort and Ruby's posters in the background. "I can't push the river" reminds me of AAMilne's wonderful quote via Pooh: "Rivers know this.
Hi, Monika. Thanks for your kind words. Success is such a difficult word with so many meanings, depending on who you are the situation, I guess. I am feeling better about it all, as I read folks' comments and let go of preconceived notions about success, and as I let it be what it is and keep going. If that makes sense. Good luck to you!
hey Deb! How's Vermont? I love that Milne quote! Thanks for sharing it. Some time we'll have to plan a meet-up at Kudzu. Wish they had a cafe... but they have everything else under the sun, so I'm not complaining. :>