Food Swapping

Sunday was the monthly Boston Food Swap. On a quiet street in Fort Point 15-20 amateur bakers, cooks, canners, jelly-ers and the like gather together to share their wares. Very Norman Rockwell-esque. Relaxed, friendly and wholesome. The little room was packed with card tables covered with jams, salsa, pickles, breads, cakes and cookies with creative ingredients.

In under an hour I sampled, made friends, and traded 5 jars of spicy pickled carrots and 2 jars of pickled beets for 2 mango chutney muffins, 4 homemade oreo cookies, 2 jars of preserves - pear vanilla bean and kiwi strawberry, 2 slices of ginger olive oil bread, 6 Dude Bars and 1 jar of giardiniera.  Not bad.

E took home a great haul too trading her thyme simple syrup for a similar range of treats. She got a big jar of corn salsa I was eyeing, lucky girl. Afterwards we ran into the 3 girls that organize the event heading next door for tequila snow cones. I like how this crown rolls.

On another "new things" related note, I've been stumbling through my practice of the Divine Hours trying to weave them into my life. Yesterday I had vespers (5-8pm) with a friend walking along the esplanade.

Because you are my help,

    I sing in the shadow of your wings. 

I cling to you; 

    your right hand upholds me.*

We practiced visualizing God's right hand holding everything...
my vocation, 
each one of my friends I visualized their face and mentally put them in God's hand,
anyone I don't get along with,
cares for the future,
my family,
the success in my job,
the work of life - bills, laundry and such,
anything that I care about went into God's hand.

His hands are big enough for it all. I won't lie. Yesterday I was in a funk, I won't even go into it, but I was. It happened in the blink of an eye. One second I trust God with all these things and the next I take the reigns and get completely anxious. It helped to remember that just as easily I can give the reigns back to Him and enter into His peace.

blessings,
t

*Psalm 63:7-8 (NIV)

31 Things

I was telling stories from this book called Love Does at Supper Club a few weeks ago -- they are amazing stories, if you like stories that are awesome, read it -- and MK said her and her brother read the book and another one called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and were starting a project because they were so inspired. They called it "31 Things" and everyday for the month of July they are doing something new. Not just for the sake of newness, but to make the story of their life a little closer to what they dream it will be. Honestly, I don't know MK's bro, but I know MK and she is awesome inspiring as it is. So I listened and have been processing this plan of hers.

On Wednesday, July 4, I sat down with my friend L. and wrote my list.

It was hard. I already do new stuff all the time. This needed to be different. Stretching. Strengthening.

Lobster racing!

Just four days into July I had already done a bunch of new things - went to Nantucket, played sloshball, picked strawberries, steamed AND raced lobsters and I'm sure some others. I do new things all the time. I am the person who starts a month of new things with an arsenal of new things I had just done so that I don't have to even think about doing new things for 4 whole days. Even so, I'm going to do 31 new things this month and my list is intentionally crafted like a pie. Here me out....

I started a new job in June (see I told you, new things all. the. time.) and I'm working from home (new).  The job is not hard or busy (new). For a hopelessly extroverted person, this was let's just say difficult. Two weeks in I needed an intervention. I spoke with my spiritual director and she told me about the Benedictine monks.

She explained that the Benedictine's look at life like a pie with slices. My slices could be work, play, prayer and study. (They may have more slices than that.) When one retracts the others expand, all the time seeking balance.

In pie world, more of one = less of another. Now that work is a little less I have more play, prayer and study space. I am still whole, the pieces just shifted. I always thought of life as more of a bar chart with bars that could be built up indefinitely high, full of life work and abundance. For me it felt tectonic to see life in a pie and have my slices shift. But now, I love pie life.

So my 31 things are balanced in my pie to make life full, not fast. This in itself is a new thing.

I'll tell you one of the things on my list because I'm going to need some help. One of them is to go on a blind date. Please start stewing on that one. I can't do it on my own.

cheers,

t