My word of 2023
Hope everyone's year is off to a good start! My friend Elise Museles has a practice of choosing one word for the new year, rather than lofty goals or stressful resolutions. My family tried this last year and looking back it’s incredible how relevant each of our words were. (Arif: health; Saanya: change; Zayd: relentless; me: breathe).
This year my word is "soup". Not the actual food, although I love that too — but the lessons I've learned from making soup almost every week for the past 2 1/2 years that I want to carry into the new year.
Cooking soup, especially KindSoup where we triple the recipe to share with people in need, takes time. At first I'd use the food processor to rush the process, but now I find it meditative to slice each carrot, chop each celery; even the tears from dicing onions feel like a release.
Soup's flavors enhance the more you sauté your veggies and let them simmer, one ingredient layering on top of the other. Life's flavors enhance that way too; each moment builds on the next. You can't eat soup quickly -- you need a bowl, you need to sit so you don't spill, you need to blow on it, and enjoy it slowly.
Reminder to self: Be present, take your time, enjoy the process, let life simmer, take a deep breath and cool it down, savor the results — and slurp as needed! Rushing to the next activity will only lessen the taste of the current one; it may even burn you.
As we always say in our weekly KindSoup sessions, "soup is forgiving." Don't have enough broth, add some water; out of green beans, throw in some peas; don't like cilantro, add parsley instead; not enough carrots, no problem. You can mix and match, add or subtract, it all works and somehow ends up tasting good.
Life is not an exacting recipe either -- sometimes we have more of one thing, less of another; sometimes it's more soupy less stewy; sometimes we just need to find that last can of cannellini beans and crushed tomatoes from the back of the cupboard and make do.
Note to self: Life is forgiving, too. (Keep extra beans in the pantry.)
Soup is nurturing. It's healthful, warm, cozy, and comforting; it feels like a hug. It has been incredible to share soup with friends and strangers these past few years, especially when we had to be physically distant. During the initial lonely months of Covid, connecting with people over Zoom to cook soup together was a lifeline; just seeing each others kitchens in the background of our Zoom squares felt comforting. Now any time anyone comes over, I have soup on hand; and every meal at our home begins with a few spoonfuls of soup. It's become my thing.
Remember: Life's pleasures are truly simple — a feeling of community, a big pot of simmering soup, and an always present hug, sometimes in a bowl, for anyone who may need one.
Travel around the world with KindSoup in 2023 — each week we’ll make an international soup recipe to share with people in need. If you’d like to lead a session and share your culture through soup, please let me know.
Cook KindSoup, every Monday, 5:30-6:30pm EST. Details on our website.
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A few past newsletters:
A Letter of Gratitude, for my Husband’s Surgeon
Wisdoms Inspired in Nature: My New Book!
Life Lessons for my Son, that I Learned this Week