![Lentils, Monastery Style]()
It’s not uncommon after traveling or completing a big project I feel a bit depleted. Ever feel this way? I am sure you do, most of us do even if we don’t always admit it.
I have a little secret weapon though to get me back on the move I wanted to share with you.
I make “Lentils, Monastery Style” from “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappé. (I know – that’s real, old-school vegetarianism, right?)
My mom used to make this when I was a kid, and it was always one of our favorites — the cheese makes it feel like there’s a secret treat — and everyone I’ve ever made it for falls in love with it.
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Lentils, Monastery Style
(serves 4 as a main dish)
In a large pot, sauté 3-5 minutes:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 or 2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Add and sauté 1 minute more:
1/2 tsp. dried thyme & marjoram
Add:
3 cups stock or seasoned water
1 cup dry lentils, rinsed
salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tbsp. dried parsley)
1 lb. canned tomatoes
Simmer in covered pot until lentils are tender (about 45 minutes or an hour).
Add:
1/4 cup sherry
Have ready:
2/3 cup grated Swiss cheese.
To serve, place 2 tbsp. of cheese in each serving bowl and top with soup.
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It’s simple and hearty and you can improvise on this recipe endlessly. It’s very forgiving.
You can add sausage or kale or ham or more veggies or whatever else you’ve got lying around. You can switch out the cheese – I love to use Goat cheese – or skip the cheese completely.
Although, of course, I am from the Midwest and the phrase “skip the cheese” has never once crossed my lips.
Here’s to simple comforts —
So here’s my little quiz:
I want you to think about one particular project you are procrastinating – you might have lots, but let’s just pick one – whichever one comes to the top of your head first.
OK? Got a project picked out?
Because we all know that some ideas take a looooooong time to come to fruition. And some plans are waiting for the right time, the right partner, the right technology….
So how to tell the difference between an idea that is still fomenting and an idea that we’re quashing?
Here’s your answer: INTUITION.
Here’s a 2-minute exercise on how to do that:
1) Get quiet inside of your mind, take a few deep breaths, and imagine your project sitting before you. What color is it? What form is it showing you?
2) Take its pulse. Is it vibrant and alive? Or does it feel strangled and weak?
3) Ask your project what it wants you to do. Listen to the answer without reacting. Just take in the information.
4) Say “thank you” to your project and come back to yourself. Make some notes.
If you’re still unsure, then try taking a few baby steps (less than 15 minutes; easily affordable; not too scary) toward your project and see what happens. If the universe comes rushing at you with bushels of support, then GREAT!
Proceed.
And if you make a few starts and it’s all knees-and-elbows and missed calls and weirdness, then drop it — now is not the right time for this project. Write it down and put it in the “Genius Ideas – Fomenting” file.
(You do have a file like that, yes? Or a shoebox? If not, you should get one. It’s important for every idea to have a home
Perfectionism is an insidious demon that must be fought with every weapon you’ve got.
Here’s what’s so tricky about perfectionism: it turns procrastination into a virtue.
Because it’s good to have high standards, right?
And it’s good to expect the best from your self, right?
We want to make things that are beautiful, extraordinary, unique…
And then you crumble under the pressure you’ve put on yourself and never create anything at all. But it’s not your fault – it’s your damn high standards.
The other problem with perfectionism is that it keeps you from noticing the great things that you create effortlessly.
By keeping your focus on that which is hard, unattainable or impossible to execute, you fail to give yourself credit for that which is easy and fun.
While you’re busy struggling with the idea that you need to be some great painter (all the while NOT painting), you might miss out on a brilliant career as a caricaturist. Your frustrated desire to write the perfect novel can prevent you from seeing your potential as a lyricist.
This is the worst kind of snobbery.
Disdaining your own gifts is as cruel as disdaining your own children.
Remember: The World Needs Your Art.
Almost Perfect, Except For Just This One Thing… by samanthabennett222
Create a Customized T Shirt At Zazzle
See more Words To Live By T-Shirts “>Just A Little Divine Dissatisfaction
JUST A LITTLE DIVINE DISSATISFACTION
You’re never satisfied, are you?
Even when something is great, you are always thinking that it could be just a skotch better.
You are always revising.
Your whole life is brief, fleeting moments of satisfaction that only serve to punctuate the endless wash of “if only.”
The grass is not only greener on the other side, it is richer, thinner and better-looking as well.
You just can’t leave well enough alone, can you?
Guess what: nobody can.
Human beings are especially designed to be dissatisfied. We are in a near constant state of dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction is what we do best. Our brains are constructed to be always ticking along, thinking, “How could this be better?”
And, perhaps more importantly, “How can I be better?”
We are always seeing something that isn’t there and wishing that it was. And artists are more dissatisfied than anyone else.
Artists are better than anyone at seeing a new solution, a new means of expression, a new version of perfection. Artists specialize in seeing what’s not there. Out of nothing, artists create something.
This nothing-into-something business is what people talk about when they talk about miracles, and artists do that sort of miracle more often than most. Of course, mothers and fathers do it, too – that’s why we call it the “miracle” of birth.
Talk about nothing into something: first there was nothing and now there’s a whole new person in the world! And good cooks do it, naturally. And gardeners. And children do it constantly.
So this chronic dissatisfaction you are feeling is not a bad thing. It is Divine Dissatisfaction. It is the restless spirit of creativity calling you to action. You are being called to create. You are being called to reveal the miracle within you.
So, next time you feel like you are an empty well under a clear blue sky, remember: There’s Nothing Wrong With A Little Divine Dissatisfaction.
What are you divinely dissatisfied with today? And what do you think you might do about that?
By the way, you may buy the shirt above by clicking here.
“I just SAW my project as A big chocolate chip cookie! It was real and sweet”
– Anna, Gilbert, AZ
This is a “first-thought = best thought” exercise, and so there’s no right or wrong way to do it so just stay loose and let the answers to the questions bubble up from the bottom of your belly.
I know some people have a hard time “visualizing,” and if you are one of those people, no worries – just see if these questions spark anything for you.
Step One: Plug In To Your Intuition
First, get into a comfortable position and take a few deep breaths to clear your mind and plug in to your intuition.
Once you are feeling focused and relaxed, allow an image of your project to appear in your mind.
This image might be sort of abstract, or perhaps it’s literal or maybe some of both. Whatever jumps to mind first is perfect, even if it seems a little weird : )
Step Two: Noticing Your Project’s Unique Image
Holding this image of your project in your mind’s eye, ask yourself the following questions:
What does your project look like?
Does it have a shape? A color?
Is it shiny? Dull? Sharp-edged? Soft?
Reach out and touch it – what happens?
Does it glow? Does it move when you touch it? Does it bend?
Notice some of the special details – whatever it does or doesn’t do.
Step Three: What Does Your Project Want To Tell You?
Now listen carefully – does your project have anything to say to you? Let it speak. Don’t argue – just listen.
Good.
When you’re ready, take another deep breath to ground yourself again, and make some notes about what you noticed.
Share below what your project told you. I would love to know!
Whatever you learned today about your project, I hope it’s information that will move you forward –
Because The World Needs Your Good Work
It’s not uncommon after traveling or completing a big project I feel a bit depleted. Ever feel this way? I am sure you do, most of us do even if we don’t always admit it. 