Fall[en]
In yoga this morning, the instructor left us with a quote: “Everyone is the hero of his own life.”
It sounded profound at the time.
Of course, after an hour and a half of stretching, twisting, grunting, and breathing, just about anything sounds profound, in its own way.
At least for a few minutes.
And then we all roll up our mats, put on our shoes, don our jackets and dash out the door, grabbing for cell phones and car keys and planning what comes next in our busy weekend agendas.
Kind of defeats the purpose, I guess.
We are too busy being the heroes of our own lives to really stop and think about what that quote actually means.
Most of the time, I think we are all so incredibly self-absorbed with our own lives, why the hell would we need to think even more about ourselves?
But there is a difference between being self-absorbed and being reflective, or introspective.
While I think most Americans are self-absorbed, I think very few are reflective or introspective in any meaningful way.
I personally hate to rush around from here to there, constantly following a time table, a schedule, trying to meet the needs of my job, my kids, my home life, my community, and never having any time to… think.
Or breathe.
I joke that the main reason I do yoga on Saturday mornings is because it is the one time of the week I remember to breathe.
It is definitely the one time of the week where I think about breathing.
Something we do all day long, all night long, day in, day out until the day we die.
I do not like to operate in crisis mode, under pressure, whether it is a real crisis or the fake crisis modes that we, self-absorbed humans dream up for ourselves on a daily basis.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that if a real crisis arises, I can carry on and function and do what needs to be done. Or at least give it my best shot. But I loathe the fact that people around me seem determined to turn my place of work, my home life, my kids’ lives, into perpetual crises.
I think everyone needs to just take a great, big giant chill pill.
Just because everyone is the hero of his own life does not mean we have to be the protagonists in “Bladerunner,” “The Bourne Identity,” or “D.O.A” (that movie where Dennis Quaid plays a washed up, middle aged college English professor who suddenly has to solve a bunch of murders and get it on with Meg Ryan but, oh, wait, he only has 24 hours to live because someone slipped him some poison).
Fall, a time of year of change: of late harvests, of coloring and dying leaves, of dropping temperatures, provides us with a prime opportunity for pausing and looking within.
I think we all need to do a reality check: take stock of what is truly important in our lives and live each day purposefully and passionately.
How much of our lives do we waste worrying?
On the cell phone whilst driving?
Fruitlessly trying to accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously?
And for what?
We get so caught up in our day to day lives and with weird, distorted concepts of what we should be doing, of what we are supposed to be doing, of success.
Are we doing the right thing?
Are we making enough money?
Are we doing enough?
Are we making a difference in this world?
Are we…?
Are we…?
Are we…?
Am I…?
Am I…?
Am I…?
I, I, I, I, I, I.
I get sucked into worrying and fretting about the meaning of life, about the meaning of my life. And while I am so busy worrying about life and myself, it is life that is going on all around me. Life is what I am living.
Right now.
With this breath.
And the next and the next.
Whether I realize I am breathing or not.
Perhaps we would all do well to take the words of Ghandi to heart: “Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.”
I am taking a pause today, even though I should be grading the forty million student assignments I have to grade, doing the fifty tons of laundry I need to do, and paying the pile of bills I need to pay, to breathe and think and be grateful for what I am so blessed to have in my life.
And I will leave you with the recipe I am going to make for this evening’s meal. Because it is fall and I have a giant butternut squash and it is cold and damp outside and I want something warm and good to feed my family. And because I feel like this soup is quintessentially autumnal. Or fall[en]. As are we.
Classic Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup diced carrot (about 1 (8-inch) large carrot)
1/2 cup diced celery (about 1 (11-inch) large stalk)
2/3 cup diced onion (about 1 medium onion)
4 cups cubed butternut squash (about 1 medium squash)
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
4 to 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Method
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Add carrot, celery and onion. Cook until vegetables have begun to soften and onion turns translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add butternut squash and thyme. Stir to combine with vegetables. Stir in broth and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until squash is fork-tender, about 30 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree soup. Alternatively, let the soup cool slightly and carefully puree in batches in a traditional blender.
It sounded profound at the time.
Of course, after an hour and a half of stretching, twisting, grunting, and breathing, just about anything sounds profound, in its own way.
At least for a few minutes.
And then we all roll up our mats, put on our shoes, don our jackets and dash out the door, grabbing for cell phones and car keys and planning what comes next in our busy weekend agendas.
Kind of defeats the purpose, I guess.
We are too busy being the heroes of our own lives to really stop and think about what that quote actually means.
Most of the time, I think we are all so incredibly self-absorbed with our own lives, why the hell would we need to think even more about ourselves?
But there is a difference between being self-absorbed and being reflective, or introspective.
While I think most Americans are self-absorbed, I think very few are reflective or introspective in any meaningful way.
I personally hate to rush around from here to there, constantly following a time table, a schedule, trying to meet the needs of my job, my kids, my home life, my community, and never having any time to… think.
Or breathe.
I joke that the main reason I do yoga on Saturday mornings is because it is the one time of the week I remember to breathe.
It is definitely the one time of the week where I think about breathing.
Something we do all day long, all night long, day in, day out until the day we die.
I do not like to operate in crisis mode, under pressure, whether it is a real crisis or the fake crisis modes that we, self-absorbed humans dream up for ourselves on a daily basis.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that if a real crisis arises, I can carry on and function and do what needs to be done. Or at least give it my best shot. But I loathe the fact that people around me seem determined to turn my place of work, my home life, my kids’ lives, into perpetual crises.
I think everyone needs to just take a great, big giant chill pill.
Just because everyone is the hero of his own life does not mean we have to be the protagonists in “Bladerunner,” “The Bourne Identity,” or “D.O.A” (that movie where Dennis Quaid plays a washed up, middle aged college English professor who suddenly has to solve a bunch of murders and get it on with Meg Ryan but, oh, wait, he only has 24 hours to live because someone slipped him some poison).
Fall, a time of year of change: of late harvests, of coloring and dying leaves, of dropping temperatures, provides us with a prime opportunity for pausing and looking within.
I think we all need to do a reality check: take stock of what is truly important in our lives and live each day purposefully and passionately.
How much of our lives do we waste worrying?
On the cell phone whilst driving?
Fruitlessly trying to accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously?
And for what?
We get so caught up in our day to day lives and with weird, distorted concepts of what we should be doing, of what we are supposed to be doing, of success.
Are we doing the right thing?
Are we making enough money?
Are we doing enough?
Are we making a difference in this world?
Are we…?
Are we…?
Are we…?
Am I…?
Am I…?
Am I…?
I, I, I, I, I, I.
I get sucked into worrying and fretting about the meaning of life, about the meaning of my life. And while I am so busy worrying about life and myself, it is life that is going on all around me. Life is what I am living.
Right now.
With this breath.
And the next and the next.
Whether I realize I am breathing or not.
Perhaps we would all do well to take the words of Ghandi to heart: “Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.”
I am taking a pause today, even though I should be grading the forty million student assignments I have to grade, doing the fifty tons of laundry I need to do, and paying the pile of bills I need to pay, to breathe and think and be grateful for what I am so blessed to have in my life.
And I will leave you with the recipe I am going to make for this evening’s meal. Because it is fall and I have a giant butternut squash and it is cold and damp outside and I want something warm and good to feed my family. And because I feel like this soup is quintessentially autumnal. Or fall[en]. As are we.
Classic Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup diced carrot (about 1 (8-inch) large carrot)
1/2 cup diced celery (about 1 (11-inch) large stalk)
2/3 cup diced onion (about 1 medium onion)
4 cups cubed butternut squash (about 1 medium squash)
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
4 to 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Method
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot. Add carrot, celery and onion. Cook until vegetables have begun to soften and onion turns translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add butternut squash and thyme. Stir to combine with vegetables. Stir in broth and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until squash is fork-tender, about 30 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree soup. Alternatively, let the soup cool slightly and carefully puree in batches in a traditional blender.
posted by delta at 2:11 PM
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