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Attachment...
Wow I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged. A lot of stuff has happened good and bad...but what's on my mind right now is attachment....to people and material things..
I definitely am so in love....with my home. I've worked hard for it, to get it and to make it my home and I just love the feeling when I'm in it. I just feel an instant calm and peace when I walk through the door. I always knew how important it was but I realize it even more now. It's a place where I feel safe and that gives me a refuge and foundation... a place/womb to embark/venture from and find new things, ideas, people, a place to return to..
So I'm definitely attached to my home, but I also know how impermanent it can be having had my home pulled out from under me many times. So while I love and treasure it, I try to think also that it is "for now"
I had a friend who was a Buddhist and talked to me about non-attachment making life more peaceful.
Attachment breeds discontent and discord. But I am attached to certain things like my home and my lover.
Am trying to work on the balance between treasuring my attachments but not holding on to them. If you love something/someone you set them free when you need to.
A lot of lessons I realize I still am learning and have yet to learn...The older I get, the less I know...
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Love
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Love is a many splendored thing...
Splendour in the Grass What though the radiance
which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass,
of glory in the flower,
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.
-- William Wordsworth
I believe in seizing the moment... that moment in the grass, when the glory in the flower shines bright...because in love like in life, you never know what tommorow brings... Treasure those moments and keep them in your heart..
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House guest etiquette Rant
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There is no real house guest etiquette manual I suppose.... but I've had some BAD house guests in my time, as well as good ones.. I kind of like Benjamin Franklin's saying.. forgot the saying but it's something like... Fish smells bad after 3 days like guests.. I always have guests stay over and I love catching up or chatting with friends from all over the world. But sometimes friendship can be challenged by bad house guest etiquette!! One of my pet peeves is when someone eats all my food but doesn't replenish it or offer to chip in for groceries...or at least bring me out to dinner. If I stay at someone's place, (which I do often as well) I always try to cook, buy groceries and take my host out for dinner once or twice. But I've had some houseguests just kind of use my place as a free hostel/hotel or think I can spend every day being a tour guide with them...or the opposite, sleep all day and never go out.... The bummer is that otherwise I find them cool, intellectually stimulating people...just BAD houseguests.. I also value my private space a lot...but love company...quite a dilemma....You never know if someone has good houseguest etiquette...
Good house guest etiquette:
-Offer to cook, clean sometimes ( I am not your MAID! I like cooking, but not your breakfast, lunch and dinner! )
- Take host out to dinner once or twice.
-Replenish groceries ( had house guest clean out my fridge and cupboards, then tell me that I needed to buy more groceries! )
-Be independent, buy a map
- Keep space neat.
- Give host some personal time and space
- Don't overstay! ( 1 week or a bit more is max.. I just had one guy ask if he could stay a month! Plus he knew my housemate was moving out and asked if he could stay in his room for a month! I was kinda miffed by that...I am not your MOM or charity institution! ( of course if I had a friend who was sick or in dire poverty/circumstances and needed help that would be different )
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Busy busy sick sick, busy and Eggplants
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Was so sick with the flu the last couple weeks. It was a doozy this one...could barely crawl out of bed the first week..and most of my friends have it too... But it put me so behind on work, I see imaginary piles of things to do in my head...
Off to Berlin for both work and pleasure.. the best kind...bunny will be hopping along with me there too.. Our first trip hopping out of our little rabbit hole..
Have been thinking of eggplant lately.. How many ways can I cook it?? Done right it's super delicious, so tender, delicate..taking on flavoring/herbs beautifully... done wrong, it's mushy and tasteless..
Just posted this on YNotSwim's Xanga, will put up here too... Send me your Eggplant recipes if you have them?!
Recipe Eggplant With Spicy Ginger Sauce Adapted from “The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook,” by Devin Alexander and Melissa Roberson (Rodale, 2008) Time: 45 minutes 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil 1 cup chopped onions 2 tablespoons minced ginger 2 tablespoons minced garlic 1 1/2 pounds unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1/4 -inch cubes 1/4 cup ponzu sauce (see note) 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Asian chili-garlic sauce or sambal 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro Cooked brown rice, for serving. 1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, then add onions, ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Add eggplant and cook, stirring, until lightly browned and tender, 8 to 10 minutes. 2. Add 6 tablespoons water, the ponzu, chili-garlic sauce, sesame oil and half the cilantro. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is tender and liquid is absorbed. Serve hot, on brown rice, sprinkled with remaining cilantro. Yield: 4 side dish servings, 2 main dish servings. Note: Ponzu, a Japanese sauce, is available in Asian markets; an adequate substitute is 1 tablespoon each soy sauce, rice vinegar, water and lime juice, and 1 teaspoon sugar.
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Professional Setback
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Had a piece of very bad news. Something that was supposed to go through didnt even though I had basically been reassured that it would. Now massive amount of things have to be re-arranged. I feel totally betrayed by this organization and people in it who Ive supported for years (even though this happened many years ago and I just put it to my inexperience) Have to re-think a few things, and am very dissappointed in the plans gone awry...But tommorow is another day.. I am quite surprised at what happened and my reaction to it. This kind of obstacle would have set me back emotionally for months...but as I get older, I get over things more quickly.. or I perhaps I just think of these things in a different way now... Their loss is someone elses gain, plus they have lost my goodwill and support at least for the time being over this.. When one door closes, another one opens..
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Lifetime