Baring my soul to the vast depths of the Internet has never been what blogging is about for me. When I began writing this blog after our move from Boston, I tried to not make any expectations or plans. It was one of the first projects I ever embarked on without a plan for how often I would work on it or update it. I didn’t really know what I would write, and so that’s why I simply titled it “Neen’s Notes.”
Over the past year and a half, I’ve shared some of my favorite recipes, reveled in the joy of local food, reminisced about life, plugged some of my favorite progressive causes, and even yakked a bit about sports.
But, dear readers, I confess to feeling guilty (again) lately. Not only because the blog has been so neglected, but because I’ve been making a lot of wonderful goodies and fun recipes for the holidays that are admittedly not “clean” foods. It occurred to me then that perhaps my focus has been too narrow. I’m still sourcing the products I do buy from local or fair-trade growers and while the recipes may not necessarily be healthy, they are important in another way. They make my heart feel good. To share them with the people I work with or my family and friends makes me feel so much happiness.
It wasn’t until I was sitting in a yoga practice a week or so ago that it occurred to me. Extremes, by their very definition are drastic and radical. Why make my life so full of that kind of tension? Why carry that with me all of the time?
Many, many times my yoga instructors have said, “Take the ego out of it. Respect what your body and mind can do today and let that be enough,” and I only just at that moment really let it sink in. A deep sense of peacefulness came over me. To capture that—if only for a few moments, was enough to make me reconsider my approach to writing this blog.
And so I have decided that my theme for this holiday season (and hopefully one that I will carry into the coming year) is flexibility. Neen’s Notes will continue to be a blog about living healthy. That means taking out the ego, accepting who I am on any given day, and striving each day to live with a sense of peace, love, and respect for those around me and for the planet that provides so many valuable resources.
If there is one wish I have for all of you this holiday season, it is that you come to find that sense of peace amid the insanity of crowded shopping malls and busy work days. Let it in and let it just be.
Cheers,
Neen
Chocolate-peanut covered marshmallows, "mini-s'more" marshmallows, and vanilla marshmallows.
And a merry little tree!
Cheers,
