doing instead of watching

           Cooking shows are really popular these days, as are all kinds of reality shows, and of course sports events. But watching something is a step removed from living.  It's an activity that engages the mind, not the entire body - heart and soul included. Watching doesn't engage the whole you.  It's disengaged, detached. It's like grazing versus digging.  That's why they say that we learn by doing.

            When I sit in front of the screen and watch a cooking show I may ooh and aah, I may be inspired, but I am not deeply engaged because I don't do.  When I stand in the kitchen chopping, sautéing, saucing, tasting, spicing, smelling, creating I'm in the zone because I'm doing.   When I watch a dance routine I may be amazed, but I'm an observer of someone one else having all the fun.  When I dance myself I'm inside myself, I am the action, I am the dancing, I am having the fun - I am living, I am alive.

            Enjoying life and creating meaning is about more doing and less watching.  Here a related post on playing more, because playing is pure doing.

extreme culinary art

          My husband and I are currently watching the Netflix series Chef's Table, one episode a night after dinner, a true dessert, and I am in awe.  All these super chefs from around the world have several things in common.  

         First of all they are true artists with an extremely high sense of esthetics - every one of their creations is art at its best, both esthetically as well as gustatorily.   These chefs don't use recipes, they create recipes, and it's from a different planet than what you and I are cooking for dinner.  Second, they are all local food frontiers people, whether foraged or farmed.  Third, most of them have a deep connection to the land and either have their own farms or work closely with farmers to cultivate, develop, and grow food with deep and authentic flavor.  Many of them did not go to cooking school, but apprenticed with France's luminaries to learn traditional French techniques, before developing their individual geographical and cultural spins and striking out on their own.  All had difficult beginnings, attesting to their struggles in finding their unique mode of expression.  Of course, they are all perfectionists.

            Perhaps the most important take away from watching these culinary geniuses is that their life is their profession, or their profession is their life.  Their occupation is who they are.  Their art expresses their soul.  They don't go about their job from nine to five and live for the week-end in order to finally do what they like best.  They followed their passion and live it - all the time.

color your life

Car colors used to be fairly standardized, mostly white and gray, silver, some blue, and then that rare and daring red every once in a while.  Now I see some frog green cars, all shades of orange, from spice to bright, yellows, light dusty blue, cream green - fun fun fun.  Coloring your hair used to mean dying it a different standard hair color, from brown to blond, from blond to brown.  Now teens, adults, gals and even some guys, incorporated funky color into hair in the form of streaks, ends or whole heads.  Finger nails used to be painted in solid colors, mostly in the warm spectrum, neutral to reds.  Now nail polish comes in all colors under the rainbow and some finger nails truly display works of art.  Restaurant foods and desserts have also become an ever more amazing outlet for artful and whimsy display as well as color. 

      Are millenials more colorful?  What drives this increase in joyful coloration?  I love color in my life.  Here is a previous blog post on eye candy to delect your senses further, as well as a recent post on eating a rainbow.  Do you have enough color in your life?

the pleasures of food textures

          Food texture is as important to our gustatory pleasure as taste and appearance.  Without chunks and cubes, strings and shreds, chewy versus soft sensations, the food experience is less complex.  The juxtaposition of crunchy versus puréed, or raw versus cooked, makes food more enjoyable.  When all colors on the plate are beige and brown, the food experience lacks vibrancy.   And when all tastes on the plate are mild and in the same taste range the meal is bland.  Each one of these food sensations merits a post in itself, but today's is about texture. 

          I love a salad of raw shredded carrots, sometimes with added shredded red cabbage, or any other shreddable vegetable - makes for beautiful color combinations.  The texture of it is very important to me.  When the shreds are large, bordering on chunky, the experience is less pleasant.  It feels rough and coarse.  The finer the shreds, the more subtle it feels, and the better the shreds are able to meld with the dressing, adding to a more subtle overall experience.

          Mirepoix is a French vegetable mix of onions, celery and carrots that is often used as a base for roasts. The texture is all important.  The dice have to be just the right size.  Small enough so the tastes of all three vegetables meld together, but not too small to mush together, still almost distinguishable as small individual taste bursts, but not so you taste the chunks side-by-side. 

            When I grew up my dad used to emphasize the importance of cutting shallots for vinaigrette into super small dice so you would never bite on a sharp oniony bit.  I love spaghetti squash for its fine stringy texture.  Yet, a ratatouille, that Provençal vegetable combination of eggplant, zucchini, tomato, bell pepper and onion, needs to remain chunky so the soft vegetables don't disintegrate into a brown glop.  Sourdough bread can be chewy and I find that very satisfying, and I love to hear and feel crispiness.  Soft French fries are simply not worth it, while half of what makes kale chips so much fun to eat is the crispy crunch under your teeth.   Cherries are soft to bite into, while I enjoy a crispy apple that cracks when I bite into it - and when apples become mushy they go into the juicer, no mushy apples for me.  What food textures do you enjoy?

a sense of community

             Much research has been conducted on the positive influence of a good social network.  In a nutshell, good friends are much more important to happiness than money, and even promote longevity.    That is also one of the big messages we took away from our recent trip to Alaska. 

            We spoke to many non-indigenous people who had chosen to come live in this unforgiving territory for the love of nature and the majestic outdoors.  Distances are enormous, the state is sparsely populated, it's nature over culture, and winters can be dark and lonely.  Yet, the common thread in our conversations was community.  Time and again people said that one of the reasons they loved living in Alaska was the strong sense of community.  

            Friends are so important when there are no restaurants around, no movie theatres, no libraries, no cultural events.  You rely on friends and neighbors for entertainment, especially during the long dark winter months. So people get together for tea, for knitting, for story telling, for potlucks, for helping to repair things, to go shopping together, you name it - any excuse is good to get together.

            Please follow this link to another post on the power of social relationships.

life is good

             Not many things are better than breakfast outside while listening to a bird chirping concert.  Even if brief because on a weekday, it frames my day, it grounds me, it sets a positive tone, and it reminds me how perfect, how beautiful life can be when I look at it from a positive perspective. 

            What experiences reboot your mind?

going deep

      The message about my blog and upcoming book is to live deeply, slowly, with awareness and thoughtfulness, instead of skipping the surface.  By going fast we tend to miss understanding the significance of things, or make mistakes, or simply overlook the beauty of things.

            It seems to have taken some Brits by surprise that the Brexit vote actually went through.  It seems that many Brits only wondered about the consequences of the vote after the fact.  It seems that many Brits would opt for a do-over if they could. 

            Slowing down allows us to think a bit more, a bit deeper, weighing and anticipating the consequences ahead of time.  Spontaneousness has its charm in certain instances - when there are no major consequences either way.  "The weather is beautiful, I was going to do the laundry, but let's go for a walk instead."  But decisions with big consequences require several deep breaths, a looooong pause, a bit of research, taking a look from all sides, maybe sleeping over the quandary, then considering things with fresh eyes the next morning - before deciding.  Things with big consequences can't always be undone.  Take a look at an earlier post on slowing down. And another one.  

shut them off

          Oh boy is it easy to look for entertainment and distraction on your computer or cellphone.  Facebook, my email in box or Instagram can seem quite interesting when I'm supposed to be working.  Just a quick look, maybe something fun or important came in, I'll go right back to work.  Or a quick phone check while you're with friends, or before bed, or God forbid at the dinner table.  You never know, emergencies do happen, maybe someone really needs to reach me right now.  It drives me nuts when I see a party around a restaurant table all staring into their phones instead of enjoying each others' company.  Or a parent at the playground more interested in their phone than their toddler.  Or a ringing cellphone in the middle of yoga class, and worse during savasana.

            Recently a woman was killed in Manhattan when she walked across the street tapping away on her phone and failed to see the oncoming car.  Shut them off every once in a while, those devices, and enjoy your kids, your dinner partners or your yoga class.   Close your email and internet while you're working.   Here a related former blog post on being in the moment.  One last thought - your behavior is a model for your children.  

sloooooow yoga

           Slow anything is beneficial as an antidote to our fast paced lives, whether Slow Food, Slow Yoga, or Slow Something Else.  Slowing an activity delves deeper because there is more time to be attentive and reflective and experience what you are doing more deeply.  I go to both Slow/Gentle  Yoga and Yin Yoga classes and they are wildly different from the yang oriented vinyasa, power yoga or hot yoga practices that are currently so popular as an extension of the frenetic gym culture.   In Yin Yoga, which is floor based, poses  are held for longer periods of time, usually 3-5 minutes, and up to 10 minutes.  The connective tissues have time to relax and stretch, encouraging energy flow and releasing blockages.  Slow or Gentle Yoga, as its name indicates, takes it slowly and gently, and can be compared to a moving meditation.  Breath is important in this practice.  Both are calming and I usually come back feeling like I've had a spa session.  Also check out this comprehensive beginner's guide to Yin Yoga.

            You can slow any activity to experience a different spin on things.  Try Slow Cooking, Slow Eating, Slow Teeth Brushing, Slow Showering, Slow Reading. 

it's all about the pleasure

         Guilty pleasure is an uncomfortable term and particular to this country.  I didn't grow up with the notion of "guilty pleasure." But here many people feel guilty about indulging because it is perceived as unvirtuous.  This kind of belief goes back to this country's puritanical roots and makes for a twisted relationship with food.  The result is that many feel guilty about fat (bad bad butter, bad bad whipped cream), about dessert, about chocolate.  From it came the further belief that what we enjoy tastes good, but must be forbidden and bad, and what's good and healthy must taste bad (or else it couldn't possibly be good for you).

            Hence the French Paradox.  For the longest time Americans couldn't understand that French people eat fat (butter, triple crème brie or crème fraîche), but are not necessarily fat.  Of course it's not about excess and gluttony but about quality over quantity ( a great little read on the subject is Mireille Guiliano's French Women Don't Get Fat).  Maybe the recent revelations that we actually need fat in our diet and that chocolate releases endorphins will help to turn the tables for our enjoyment.

            All that pseudo virtuousness is not healthy for the mind.  In a recent NY Times interview famed French chef Eric Ripert said about food and eating: "I do not understand the idea of guilty pleasure.  It's all about pleasure."  Live a little - it's better for your mind, it's better for your body.