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Happy Easter everyone! I'm not very religious, but I went with a roommate and her two friends to a Pentecostal service. It was very enjoyable! Jesus got air-lifted off the stage, the singers had some great pipes, and the bishop delivered a very good sermon (is that the Pentecostal term?)
For a quick recap, I was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic all-girls' school. From an early age though, my parents were a bit too zealous in enforcing religion for my naturally rebellious child self. Meanwhile, I've always had an academic interest in religion, and find the subject of the Bible and world religions fascinating.
Nowadays, I view well-done church services as an enjoyable experience. An inspiring message is an inspiring message, whether you view the source as solid truth or an influential story.
Afterwards, we hit up a soul food place my roomie liked. It's been years since I've had traditional Southern soul food. YUM.
Chicken, collards, cabbage, red beans, and cornbread.Soul food seems so simple--you got your greens, yams, chicken, cornbread, and it's all so satisfying. But really good soul food has a kick. It smacks your tastebuds, giving you that savory twang that makes you keep eating...aka tear through a plate of collard greens like it was candy.
It has a spark. I think that spark, in any cuisine, is what separates good food from great food, savory from umami. I consider myself a decent enough cook, but sometimes it seems like no matter what I do, I can't quite get a dish to pop, and must settle for something good rather than great. It's the really great cooks who add a pop to whatever they prepare--you can't quite place it, but it digs into your tastebuds and stays with you long after you've licked the crumbs off your plate.
What do you do to make your dishes pop?
Life has its own pops and sparks. Cars, after all, operate through a series of explosions. Many people view progress as an ascending angle, but I think the real progress happens in sudden bursts. For example, I will suddenly meet a new contact for freelance. Suddenly, I meet 3 more. It might be over a month before I meet anyone else, but in one fell swoop I got a bunch of 'em. But sparks can be anything, for different people. Sparks can be people--that person who completes you, or that person who makes you realize that you have to change something that's slowly destroying your life. Sparks can be passions--that first time the narrative you casually scrawled wins a prize and you realize you want to fill the world with stories.
Sparks also can give you a kick in the ass. When motivations wander or run low, sometimes it takes a pop to get you back on track.
For example, last week I was jogging with Sophia, and we were catching up on life. This coming weekend I'm going to Catalina Island. I'm stoked, but need to buy a swimsuit. To Mimi, queen of Chubby Kid Syndrome, this concept is scary as fuck. Normally I'd never even consider buying a bikini, but I know I have body perception issues, and decided to just go for it and buy one.
For those curious, this is my future beach companion.
Anyway, Sophia replies "You're going to have to put on a few more pounds."
It might be true, but the sheer strangeness of this comment compared with media at large was a total what-the-fucker. I mean, think of any "Dear Abby" bikini segment in any women's or girls' magazine. Of all bikini problems, do any seem to involve gaining weight?
Lo' and behold, it arrives in the mail, and it's all true. While overall I think I look pretty dang cute in it, I'd look better if I had more meat on my bones--some to cover my jutty shoulders, and to give some substance to my legs, which have a bit of that "Holy shit you tried to starve us we are NOT getting rid of this!" jiggle.
Very much a spark. I need to refocus on gaining weight. I've been distracted lately, and not really thinking about consciously eating more than I need. So it's good sparks are there to give you a zap in the right direction.
But you have to look out for them. Unlike cars, life has no automatic transmission; it's all manual, baby.
Maybe it's because it's Easter, a time for resurrection, and the ultimate song of spring, but I'm thinking of past sparks. The dress I'm wearing in the pictures is one I bought last summer, so that I could cover parties for my internship. It was during the summer that I received a damn many sparks. Not all of them were good, either, but a few made me aware of just how bad things could get.
So, in a way, it's not the same dress as the summer. After all, it's spring time. I'm a lot happier wearing it now than I was back then.
So, what are the biggest sparks in your life?
8 comments:
My family continues to push me and support me when I lose track of where I'm going. Even though I don't like to hear it I need to get that spark going again. I also met my blogger soul mate and we are cheesy pen pals going through similar situations. It helps having her perspective and encouragement.
I make my dishes pop with smoked paprika and/or lemon zest.
I've also been searching for my spark and it seems to be slowly reigniting, although much too slowly for my taste.
Airlifted Jesus? Wow. Sounds like a good show. Er, service.
I'm going to have to be a total cliché and say that the blog world is my 'spark.' It's taught me to question numerous things in my life which I had previously considered certainties, and really helped me to be proactive in at least trying to reach my goals where before I would have doomed myself to failure through fear.
Thanks for giving me such a balanced view on my art/PhD situation. I'm still weighing up the options but you've helped me to see a totally different side of the issue to any of the other comments I received so it's good to have some 'yays' and some 'nays' as it were (that probably made no sense!)
Good for you for refocusing...I wish I had a Sophia equivalent to run with! You do look bloomin' gorgeous in that dress and you have arm muscles to die for, and I am sure that you'll be in fantastic, healthy shape (in the inverted sense of the LOSE WEIGHT FOR BIKINI SEASON crap that's splashed all over magazines at this time of year) in no time.
I've almost finished the metabolism repair manual and it's been so interesting, particularly all of the case study examples. There are parts I'm a little confused about (I am *not* great with biology at all!) but I'll wait until I've read the final few pages before I pick your brains about it!
<3
~Jess~
First, jealz that you get to workout with Sophia, love that girl!
Second, thanks for the awesome comment you left me. Honestly, I eat very little protein in the sense that I don't track it or count it or "aim to get it into my life". I just let it be. So my body that I have now, all the muscles that I use for yoga, running, life, etc are just built on plants. I do use minimal, less than 1 scoop per day (15 grams/80 calories) of Sun Warrior raw vegan brown rice protein powder but again, not every day, and usually a half scoop goes into something else I make, but i dont pound "protein shakes" or anything. Two things..one i dont think i have a high prot requirement, it's just my physiology. Two, prot is in everything from broccoli to romaine to beans and I feel I get enough from plants and it's better assimilated.
But I totally hear you on ppl fearing cutting back b/c they fear "losing" all their efforts.
Swimsuit. You are beautiful and rock out the swimsuit with confidence b/c you look awesome. If you gain weight, great, if that's your goal. But embrace your beauty today, not your body, but just your inner glow :)
soul food! i could use some.
The biggest sparks in my life would have to be my family. My brother really picks me up when I'm feeling down. Thank God for him.
You are going to rock the socks off any swimsuit you pick. I promise you that. You are gorgeous, even if you don't see it. I did, the one time I saw you, for 15 minutes!
Catalina Island is lots of fun...definitely try to get a massage if you can. They have one place that is right on the beach and you can hear the waves and it is SO peaceful!
Have a great time Mimi. Don't stress!
Sorry if this posts twice...I am having technical difficulties!
The biggest sparks in my life would have to be my family. My brother really picks me up when I'm feeling down. Thank God for him.
You are going to rock the socks off any swimsuit you pick. I promise you that. You are gorgeous, even if you don't see it. I did, the one time I saw you, for 15 minutes!
Catalina Island is lots of fun...definitely try to get a massage if you can. They have one place that is right on the beach and you can hear the waves and it is SO peaceful!
Have a great time Mimi. Don't stress!
aww what adorable bunnies.
i lovver soul food- collards are so awesome. its the best thing ive found since moving down here.
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