― Thich Nhat Hanh
A stout, stained, silver utilitarian teapot sits on the stove as I sit on the couch at home thinking of all of the kinds of promises I want to keep with this blog. I've decided on just one: that each post must be written as I'm enjoying a meal, about to enjoy one, or after I've just appreciatively finished one. Food is significant to everyone, but only the still and the quiet notice its wonders. It is built into our clockwork routines, appearing often as snacks and meals, as social events and pleasures taken in solitude. A gentle whistle gives way to a harsh whirr and I know my tea is ready to be assembled. This blog will be written as a pathway and medium for reflection, one that I will patiently assemble as meals are, each meal itself a collection of moments fertile with ideas, sensations, emotions, and nourishment.
I sip my peppermint tea, sweetened with an organic honey, and breathe deeply. My breaths are stopping at my belt, fastened just a little tightly, but I feel soothed.
Only the well-written (and well-read) reap the benefits of language. A well-spoken sentence, a proper turn of phrase, an insight shared with another, are harvests of a bounty of sounds and concepts. A fresh, nutritious meal is a harvest of a season of hard work. It is with patience, zeal, and a sense of wonderment that I hope to take my nourishment - starting with this tea - and turn it into morsels of thought, empathy, activism, humor, achievement, tragedy, and, if I'm lucky, poetry. For us all to enjoy.
Sip sweetly, consume thoughtfully.
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