Eating our way through Manhattan
We couldn't pass up the opportunity to use our friend's loft during the holiday season and hang out in one of our favourite cities so here we are again, eating our way through Manhattan. Isn't this the season for eating and over indulging anyway, so why not here, with some of the best and most interesting food in the world than anywhere else?
So we brought our tired bodies, after several events back to back, to the city that never sleeps (isn't that ironic?) to renew and recharge ourselves through good food, drink and a new environment. They do say now that sometimes a change is as good as rest when you need to relax and recharge. Now we're not talking about climbing Kilimanjaro or taking an Outward Bound quest, but something you absolutely love to do can be exhilarating and rejuvenating too. Think about the times when you love doing something, doesn't the time just fly by and there is something inside that seems to be recharging? It's like an inner battery pack that we have and the more that we do something we are passionate about and love, the more energized, the better we feel on the inside and outside. And, the opposite seems to happen when we do things that we don't like or goes against our grain - we lose energy, feel drained, exhausted.
That's how I was feeling for awhile until I found the passion in my new career, the button to push my energy pack on and keep it fuelled. And, now, after having gone through all this, I am quite sensitive to what energizes me and makes me feel good, and this includes environmental factors, what I am doing, the people I meet. The more that you live from passion and your heart, the more I can feel all these negative and positive forces that confront you moment by moment, and they attack the place for better or worse that is most open, which is my heart .
This is probably a good thing as I don't wonder in uncertainty or question myself for a long time why I don't feel good or am exhausted when I experience certain people or do certain things. If it doesn't feel good or right, than there is something inside that knows the truth better than I and knows what is good for me or not. Call it intuition, call it your true essence, call it your heart, call it whatever, but it never lies. Now, listening to this voice, quiet but strong and always there, is the trick and takes a lifetime of practice, though the voice becomes louder and stronger the more we listen to it and follow it. I guess it's like anything that we practice or follow time and time again.
Well, this was to be on eating and I've strayed, but moving to the inside and writing about inner thoughts have always been comforting and uplifting for me, ever since I was a child and I started writing about experiences, good and bad, mostly bad was usually the case. Funny, but I'm not that reflective about my life and what is going on inside when I'm very happy, which perhaps the case for most people. Perhaps that's why real growth happens when we're not feeling that well emotionally and take a look inside to see what we can do to help things or do nothing at all but acknowledge that the pain is there.
And, like holding a yoga pose and going into the pain, when you actually focus on it and acknowledge it without resistance and kindness it actually starts to go away. Now, that's a miracle isn't it? Ever since I've been doing yoga, I've been thinking about the relationship of that action with our emotions that are so painful, and I've had my share of them. If we acknowledge that they are there, and treat them with respect and care, rather than avoiding them or denying them, will they disappear? I think in most cases with minor pain then this has been the case, but to actually go there and feel the pain is a big challenge and sometimes it requires a little help from your friends and takes some time.
It's like saying "Hello, there you are again. Oh, I see that you are passing through again. Lovely to see you, but I'm leaving and turning off the lights so you'll have to leave soon too, alrighty?" Vs. what we usually say to ourselves... "Oh no, not you again, why are you here again and why do you have to come and screw things up just when things were going so well?! I hate the control that you have over me, my life. It's so painful and sad when you're here and I can't bear to have you stay again and deplete me. My life is so hard!"
Oh well this is "food for thought" I guess. It's a journey, let me tell ya, and I certainly don't have all the answers, far from it, but many questions, and I'd like to share the journey and the tools I've gathered to help me with others in case it can help them even 1% with unnecessary suffering or pain. Life is too short and we've got one life to live so let's build a community where we can help one another through the ups and downs and the negative forces that come at us and within us.
Now, I have to run for a much anticipated meal at Mario Batali's flagship restaurant in NYC called Babbo. We called about a week ago or so, thinking that we would probably not get a seat but why not try anyway we thought. We had only 2 appointment choices, one was at 11:15 pm one evening - can you believe that they start dinner service at the time and there is a high demand for this, actually people would love to have this spot if they could! - and another was at 9:45 tonight, which we thought was a tad late but couldn't pass up the chance to experience food from one of the best chefs and restaurants in the city and North America. And then you are given a code and a special phone number you have to call to confirm the day before or you lose your seat. It felt like more of a sweepstake than a dinner. So, like a big race, we've been preparing for "the" meal all day, by eating a late lunch, getting good exercise all day and keeping our bellies fairly empty so we can fully experience the food and wine, taking a nap, and getting ready to walk there early to ensure we can find the place and don't miss our reservation time.
So we brought our tired bodies, after several events back to back, to the city that never sleeps (isn't that ironic?) to renew and recharge ourselves through good food, drink and a new environment. They do say now that sometimes a change is as good as rest when you need to relax and recharge. Now we're not talking about climbing Kilimanjaro or taking an Outward Bound quest, but something you absolutely love to do can be exhilarating and rejuvenating too. Think about the times when you love doing something, doesn't the time just fly by and there is something inside that seems to be recharging? It's like an inner battery pack that we have and the more that we do something we are passionate about and love, the more energized, the better we feel on the inside and outside. And, the opposite seems to happen when we do things that we don't like or goes against our grain - we lose energy, feel drained, exhausted.
That's how I was feeling for awhile until I found the passion in my new career, the button to push my energy pack on and keep it fuelled. And, now, after having gone through all this, I am quite sensitive to what energizes me and makes me feel good, and this includes environmental factors, what I am doing, the people I meet. The more that you live from passion and your heart, the more I can feel all these negative and positive forces that confront you moment by moment, and they attack the place for better or worse that is most open, which is my heart .
This is probably a good thing as I don't wonder in uncertainty or question myself for a long time why I don't feel good or am exhausted when I experience certain people or do certain things. If it doesn't feel good or right, than there is something inside that knows the truth better than I and knows what is good for me or not. Call it intuition, call it your true essence, call it your heart, call it whatever, but it never lies. Now, listening to this voice, quiet but strong and always there, is the trick and takes a lifetime of practice, though the voice becomes louder and stronger the more we listen to it and follow it. I guess it's like anything that we practice or follow time and time again.
Well, this was to be on eating and I've strayed, but moving to the inside and writing about inner thoughts have always been comforting and uplifting for me, ever since I was a child and I started writing about experiences, good and bad, mostly bad was usually the case. Funny, but I'm not that reflective about my life and what is going on inside when I'm very happy, which perhaps the case for most people. Perhaps that's why real growth happens when we're not feeling that well emotionally and take a look inside to see what we can do to help things or do nothing at all but acknowledge that the pain is there.
And, like holding a yoga pose and going into the pain, when you actually focus on it and acknowledge it without resistance and kindness it actually starts to go away. Now, that's a miracle isn't it? Ever since I've been doing yoga, I've been thinking about the relationship of that action with our emotions that are so painful, and I've had my share of them. If we acknowledge that they are there, and treat them with respect and care, rather than avoiding them or denying them, will they disappear? I think in most cases with minor pain then this has been the case, but to actually go there and feel the pain is a big challenge and sometimes it requires a little help from your friends and takes some time.
It's like saying "Hello, there you are again. Oh, I see that you are passing through again. Lovely to see you, but I'm leaving and turning off the lights so you'll have to leave soon too, alrighty?" Vs. what we usually say to ourselves... "Oh no, not you again, why are you here again and why do you have to come and screw things up just when things were going so well?! I hate the control that you have over me, my life. It's so painful and sad when you're here and I can't bear to have you stay again and deplete me. My life is so hard!"
Oh well this is "food for thought" I guess. It's a journey, let me tell ya, and I certainly don't have all the answers, far from it, but many questions, and I'd like to share the journey and the tools I've gathered to help me with others in case it can help them even 1% with unnecessary suffering or pain. Life is too short and we've got one life to live so let's build a community where we can help one another through the ups and downs and the negative forces that come at us and within us.
Now, I have to run for a much anticipated meal at Mario Batali's flagship restaurant in NYC called Babbo. We called about a week ago or so, thinking that we would probably not get a seat but why not try anyway we thought. We had only 2 appointment choices, one was at 11:15 pm one evening - can you believe that they start dinner service at the time and there is a high demand for this, actually people would love to have this spot if they could! - and another was at 9:45 tonight, which we thought was a tad late but couldn't pass up the chance to experience food from one of the best chefs and restaurants in the city and North America. And then you are given a code and a special phone number you have to call to confirm the day before or you lose your seat. It felt like more of a sweepstake than a dinner. So, like a big race, we've been preparing for "the" meal all day, by eating a late lunch, getting good exercise all day and keeping our bellies fairly empty so we can fully experience the food and wine, taking a nap, and getting ready to walk there early to ensure we can find the place and don't miss our reservation time.
posted by Caroline at 4:14 PM
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