Creative Inspiration
Ciao Tutti,
Watching raindrops fall outside the window, beyond the seedlings growing in their clay pots and the fire flickering in the wood stove...
I munch on crackers dipped in rutabaga hummus (or swede depending what part of the world you are from), and a soup of carrot, parsnip, and ginger...both created from recipes where I was missing half the ingredients. There was a brief moment where I thought to myself... "I'll have to make something else, I don't have everything listed in the instructions"...have you ever felt this way...really wanted to create something, but just didn't have all the pieces you needed to do it perfectly?
I paused...looked around, opened the cupboards and the fridge, and shifted the question to "what do I have?"...coming from a place of abundance rather than lack. I realized I had can of butter beans that could substitute for the garbanzos (chick peas) in the hummus, and that carrots would combine beautifully with the single parsnip...and so a soup that was called parsnip ginger, became carrot, parsnip, and ginger.
I most often use recipes as a guide to inspire rather than as a set of rules that have to be followed perfectly...but sometimes there are moments where a little voice sneaks in and says "you can't" because you don't have everything you need. It is in these moments that I am reminded to let go of the voices in my head and sink back into my body. That I always have everything I need, that my perspective just needs to shift so that I am able to see again through an abundant set of eyes.
For me cooking is my daily meditation...a practice, where I create and am inspired. Where I am able to explore and find beauty in the ways flavors swirl together and colors combine on a plate. It is also a place where I am reminded to let go...that deliciousness can come from mistakes and my best inspiration comes when I am missing ingredients and everything is not perfect.
What do you love to create? Where in your life to you choose to see abundance rather than lack?