some really great stuff on the internet
happy wednesday from blustery londontown! today i wanted to share three fantastic things i’ve been loving lately on the world wide web. like i’ve blogged about before, i love living and am so grateful to live in such a connected world. it’s really wonderful how readily we can all share.
1. the foodwright
this is my darling sister-in-law’s (relatively) new food blog, and it’s ammmmaaaazzzing! i mean… honey whipped mascarpone, pistachio butter & roasted strawberry crostini?! bedazzled brown butter pumpkin cookies?! crispy pan fried gnocchi with arugula and greek yogurt bleu cheese dressing?!
not only are lucia’s recipes unique and super delicious (everything i’ve tried has been pretty dang incredible – last night we had the salmon tacos – sooo yum!), but her commentary is fun to read, refreshingly real and often quite hilarious. also, i’m so impressed with her iphone photography and the way she styles her pictures (follow lucia on instagram to add some food lusciousness to your feed and be updated on her posts!).
luci and i have a special bond because we are both big-time food lovers with widely-accepting palates married to wright boys (who tend to prefer boring tan-coloured food).
next time you’re looking for something really yummy to cook or bake up, try one of lucia’s recipes and let her know how it goes!
2. a blog about love
i found this blog because the couple that write it together, danny and mara, are friends of my siblings. i have found lots of really great nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and shared beauty there over the years when i have occasionally taken a peek. it was danny and mara’s move to ecuador that initially ignited in me a desire to visit that spectacular country, and it was the last stop on our around the world trip! danny and mara are really remarkable people.
last week i happened upon a comment written by danny on a post that mara wrote that kind of blew me away. the comment pointed me to this post about unconditional love. i have been thinking so much about the idea of unconditional love defined as finding wholeness from within rather than depending on finding wholeness from a close loved one. i’m still digesting, but i feel like conceptualizing this has been a breakthrough in developing my own genuine wholeness, specifically in marriage. here’s a snippet from the original comment that got me thinking:
…[we should] obtain wholeness from the inside out, instead of what most of us do most of the time which is seek it from the outside in. people allow someone else's actions to determine if they are happy or upset, patient or enraged, calm or annoyed, etc. people are constantly looking outside themselves for their wholeness and validation. this is the reason marriages get stressed when there is a difference like the one mara is writing about. but...what if i'm not looking for mara's actions to fulfill me? what if my wholeness is coming from somewhere else? what if I don't take her actions as a reflection on whatever ego i might feel the need to prop up? well, then it is possibly to truly love her. then it is possible to do it without condition, and then moments like this become times for bonding and joy. because conditional love, the kind we should learn to avoid if we seek to really follow jesus, would say "i can only be truly happy if you…believe the same core things i do, [do things with me that i want you to]....and if you aren't doing those things, well then of course i'll be upset. and i might even try to subtly shame you into coming along with me." but unconditional love says "because my wholeness isn't based on you, because i don't take your actions as a personal threat to me or my relationship to god and connection....because of that l can offer you love right now, fully and completely....because there is no ego to protect".
3. ted talks
i have been listening to ted talks while i’m getting things done around the house. i have been pretty deeply impacted by three that i listened to recently:
emilie wapnick: why some of us don’t have one true calling {this one super resonated with me because i feel that i am totally a “multipotentialite” and have felt very anxious about my varied interests and winding career path}
monika lewinsky: the price of shame {fascinating topic made more fascinating due to the story of the speaker}
lea waters: being positive is not for the faint hearted! {positivity is power – and she’s using science to back that up!}
1. the foodwright
this is my darling sister-in-law’s (relatively) new food blog, and it’s ammmmaaaazzzing! i mean… honey whipped mascarpone, pistachio butter & roasted strawberry crostini?! bedazzled brown butter pumpkin cookies?! crispy pan fried gnocchi with arugula and greek yogurt bleu cheese dressing?!
not only are lucia’s recipes unique and super delicious (everything i’ve tried has been pretty dang incredible – last night we had the salmon tacos – sooo yum!), but her commentary is fun to read, refreshingly real and often quite hilarious. also, i’m so impressed with her iphone photography and the way she styles her pictures (follow lucia on instagram to add some food lusciousness to your feed and be updated on her posts!).
luci and i have a special bond because we are both big-time food lovers with widely-accepting palates married to wright boys (who tend to prefer boring tan-coloured food).
next time you’re looking for something really yummy to cook or bake up, try one of lucia’s recipes and let her know how it goes!
2. a blog about love
i found this blog because the couple that write it together, danny and mara, are friends of my siblings. i have found lots of really great nuggets of wisdom, inspiration and shared beauty there over the years when i have occasionally taken a peek. it was danny and mara’s move to ecuador that initially ignited in me a desire to visit that spectacular country, and it was the last stop on our around the world trip! danny and mara are really remarkable people.
last week i happened upon a comment written by danny on a post that mara wrote that kind of blew me away. the comment pointed me to this post about unconditional love. i have been thinking so much about the idea of unconditional love defined as finding wholeness from within rather than depending on finding wholeness from a close loved one. i’m still digesting, but i feel like conceptualizing this has been a breakthrough in developing my own genuine wholeness, specifically in marriage. here’s a snippet from the original comment that got me thinking:
…[we should] obtain wholeness from the inside out, instead of what most of us do most of the time which is seek it from the outside in. people allow someone else's actions to determine if they are happy or upset, patient or enraged, calm or annoyed, etc. people are constantly looking outside themselves for their wholeness and validation. this is the reason marriages get stressed when there is a difference like the one mara is writing about. but...what if i'm not looking for mara's actions to fulfill me? what if my wholeness is coming from somewhere else? what if I don't take her actions as a reflection on whatever ego i might feel the need to prop up? well, then it is possibly to truly love her. then it is possible to do it without condition, and then moments like this become times for bonding and joy. because conditional love, the kind we should learn to avoid if we seek to really follow jesus, would say "i can only be truly happy if you…believe the same core things i do, [do things with me that i want you to]....and if you aren't doing those things, well then of course i'll be upset. and i might even try to subtly shame you into coming along with me." but unconditional love says "because my wholeness isn't based on you, because i don't take your actions as a personal threat to me or my relationship to god and connection....because of that l can offer you love right now, fully and completely....because there is no ego to protect".
3. ted talks
i have been listening to ted talks while i’m getting things done around the house. i have been pretty deeply impacted by three that i listened to recently:
emilie wapnick: why some of us don’t have one true calling {this one super resonated with me because i feel that i am totally a “multipotentialite” and have felt very anxious about my varied interests and winding career path}
monika lewinsky: the price of shame {fascinating topic made more fascinating due to the story of the speaker}
lea waters: being positive is not for the faint hearted! {positivity is power – and she’s using science to back that up!}
Thank you for sharing the videos. I especially related to the first one. It is nice to know there is a word for someone like me who still, at age 43, can't answer the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Now I know why it has always been such a difficult question and difficult thing for me to figure out---it's because I'm interested in so many things. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel the same! Thank you sooo much for posting this, Charity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will probably never know how much this means to me. :-)
DeleteThis is a lot of great things to think about! Love that you've found a kindred spirit in Lucia. The food looks awesome and at least you can share the enthusiasm for amazingly colorful food with each other despite those "white food" husbands :). Let Facetime about these TED talks. So interesting. Observations too long for just a comment! Love you!
ReplyDelete