Focusing

During our evening phone chat one of my sister's alarms went off at least every 10 minutes.
‘Excuse me a minute, would you? My cookies are ready and I have to take them out of the oven, otherwise they’ll burn’.
‘Sure, go ahead’.
…
‘Sorry, I'm here. What were you saying?”
“That’s ok. Are they tasty, the cookies?”
“I’ll try one for you”.
5 minutes later another ringing.
“The pumpkins must be ready now. You know, baked pumpkin”.
“For a soup?”
“No, for pumpkin spread. So you were saying, we have to live in the moment”.
“You’re really doing it, no?”
"You mean, living in the moment?"
"No, I mean the cooking. You really take care of yourself. Wonderful"
"It's not a big deal, it's just a shame not to fully use the oven when heating it. I'm preparing six dishes now".
"My goodness. So yes, if you only think about the aim, and never enjoy what you're actually doing, then you miss the whole essence of life'"
"There's lot of truth in that’.
Bell ringing
"Your bread is ready?"
"I'm afraid so".
“Sourdough?”
"Yes, and I even sprouted grains to add to it: brown rice, spelt, buckwheat."
"I wish I was there with you now. Please make one for me when I come home".
"Sure. I wonder how I am going to process all this food now. There is way too much".
"Let's think of something".

We tried to concentrate on life, but the kitchen kept us away from it.

The Right Question

picture from http://pascalcampion.blogspot.com

There are many questions that have to be answered every day.
Today they asked her how they should label her picture.
‘So, what are you? A chef? A teacher?‘
She looked at him, but said nothing.
‘It is important, our readers want to know this’.
‘Your readers want to know what I am’.
‘Yes’.
She hesitated. ‘Drinker of Coffee? Reader of Cookbooks?’
He laughed at her jokes.
She tried again. ‘Lover of Discussions?’
‘What?’
‘Ok then, ‘Writer of Blogs’?
He shook his head.
She sighed. Maybe ‘Chef in the Night? Roaster of seeds? Rice taster? Vegetable-chopper? Learner of Languages?
‘Ok ok ok’, he said. ‘You win. We’ll change the question. Tell me:
What Do You Like?’

Teachers

I wanted to eat an orange, but there was only a Jonared in the basket. It was lying there, looking at me, obviously mocking me. Angrily I looked at it, denying its being. It didn't work. No transformation took place, no help of the universe in whatsoever form. I started loudly wishing its change of form. No success. The craving got intenser, the needing even more. There wouldn't be life today without it.

So there I was, beaten by an apple.
Of course I could dress up, go out, find a job, earn money and buy the f*ing thing. Resistance bubbled up. Some things should be given to you in life, they should be there, naturally. The seriousness of my situation struck me: 'What do you do if you want an orange, but there is only an apple staring at you?"

Peel it, wrap it with polystyrene and paint it orange?
Close my eyes, squeeze my nose, bite and imagine?

Oh no! Let me quickly cover my ears...
I should ACCEPT?

How much do I resent spirituality.