Tina Turner made this phrase popular in one of her hits in the 80s. My answer to that question is that love has everything to do with it!
Love is referenced in all great scripture of the world. The Upanishads, Quran, Bhagava Gita and the bible are filled with prolific references about love. Love is all around us, love is in us. Love makes the world go around. Jesus counseled that we should love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. He then added a second directive, to love your neighbor as you love yourself. That implies that we love ourselves first, right? I feel that, for women especially, this has become backwards. We are socialized to take care of everyone else first - our partners, our children, our parents, our clients, our community. Self has become buried in the background, in the name of love. Nothing is further from the truth! It’s time to get it right - to do it right. Just like on the airplane, you must take care of yourself first by putting your oxygen on so you can then take care of others. You can’t serve others if you have passed out from lack of oxygen or energy. The busyness of life can make it easy to forget to love yourself. It’s easy to get lost in the world of taking care of others. It takes a toll. Self reflection can help you see what doesn’t serve you and inspire you to make a change. It takes practice and patience, and perseverance. Denying self-love is not sustainable. It leads to burnout, depression, isolation and overwhelm. If you are not loving yourself, you are not living, you are just existing. Loving yourself enriches your life and signals the Universe to follow suit and put you first. Where to start? Release all those perceived flaws and frailties; forgive yourself for them, really. LET IT GO!!! This creates space for grace, joy, laughter and prosperity. You are here to experience what it's like to be human. Congratulate yourself on the lessons learned. Understand that failure isn’t the opposite of success, it’s part of it! Whatever you are doing, love yourself first. It will change your world and then the world around you.
0 Comments
Are you feeling like your New Year resolutions are too big? That you are not up to the task, and maybe feeling defeated before you start? The bible says if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. It’s important to understand and know that despite feeling or being small, you can move mountains, you are powerful.
Acorn seeds grow into oak trees. Something the size of a half dollar grows to an average of 70 feet tall with a branch span of 150 feet. This fact is a message for you straight from God/Spirt/ Universe. He speaks to us in a million different ways. Starting off small does not prevent you from having a massive impact in the world. Now is the time for each of us to step into who we really are - the oak tree in the acorn, having the power of a mustard seed to move mountains. I’m in my 60s. My days are numbered. I’m feeling pulled to grow and accept who I truly am, to be that oak tree now, in this moment. I’m feeling the necessity to STOP degrading myself and my efforts, and to instead, own my accomplishments, to play big. We are each being called to own our greatness and acknowledge and share our light; to stop focusing on smallness and BE the powerful beings we are. Marianne Williamson expresses it perfectly in this quote from her book Return to Love. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, Our presence automatically liberates others. Let’s tap into our greatness, and be a powerful force for good. The world needs you! Come January, diet is at the top of the list for new years resolutions. You may think that diet a dirty word. Afterall, it has 4 letters… isn’t that one of the criterias? My recipe below is definitely a 4 letter word, but not dirty - it’s YUMM!
What makes something a dirty word? I think it’s the feeling that goes along with it. If you are someone who has struggled with keeping a healthy weight, diet may be a dirty word for you, as you may associate it with a lot of restrictions. Oxford defines diet as the kinds of food that a person or community habitually eats. There is no mention of restriction. The definition of food is any nutritious substance that is ingested. That means not only what you eat, but what you listen to, who you hang out with, the thoughts you tell yourself, your environment! Now that is some food for thought! Steve Jobs is quoted as saying, “Eat your food as your medicine. Otherwise, you have to eat medicine as your food”. This is a profound truth. Instead of going on a diet, try to be more mindful when you eat. Use the acronym DIET to ask yourself two questions: Do I Eat This? And Does It Evoke Transformation? Pie, ice cream and soda would be a NO. Fresh, colorful, non-processed food, like this salmon recipe would be a YES. There are so many foods that are healthy and delicious! Okinawan sweet potatoes are high in antioxidants. Beets, pineapple, and blueberries are anti-inflammatory. Salmon is good for your heart. It also helps decrease inflammation and improve brain function. I need that! The other ingredients in this recipe are healthy too. Organic honey - aids with digestion and boosts the immune system. Lemon - rich in vitamin C, Rosemary - reduces inflammation. You may notice a theme here. I’m choosing food as medicine to help with inflammation and increase brain function. Take some time to do some research to see what foods you can eat as medicine and keep you healthy. Honey Dijon Salmon No matter what your faith, the Holidays are meant to be holy days. Our special seasons are meant to be celebrated. Setting an intention to focus on BEing rather than buying will help you create and sustain the magic of the season.
Real living is about being present in the moment. The best way to capture moments is to pay attention (John Kabat-Zinn). We all get caught up in things that are not true priorities. When I catch myself in that space, I offer myself grace and press the reset button. Beating yourself up distracts from peace. I crave for peace in my life. Just yesterday I was feeling stressed with all the extra work that the Holidays bring. I was actually feeling resentful while I was making gift bags! 😣Then I caught myself! I have been pondering how I can nourish myself first, and how that would then nourish others. This was the perfect example!! I reframed the experience by remembering I actually love doing crafty things! And I was so excited to learn a fun way to use up my scrapbooking paper to make gift bags! Poof! Stress and resentment evaporated, joy and gratitude emerged. The work wasn’t work anymore, it was fun, which is something else I’ve been craving. Cheerful Christmas Salad.pdf I love living in Hawaii. The diversity of cultures and delicious food provide a never ending banquet to feast on and explore, like the recipe for ajitama below. (Seasoned boiled eggs).
My parents lived in Japan for 10 years as missionaries. The last 3 of us 5 children were born in Tokyo. I like to say the three of us have a stamp on the bottom of our feet that says “made in Japan”. My parents moved back to Hawaii many years ago, and we have kept up Japanese cultural traditions like rolling sushi every New Year and making ozoni soup. I think the most rolls of norimaki we made at one time was 94! My mom was still making rolled sushi and cone sushi until she was 98. In true Hawaiian and Japanese style, we give most of it away to friends and neighbors. I have some mainland friends who are not willing to try “ethnic food” just because they haven’t been exposed to it. We are so blessed to be surrounded by a plethora of choices. Can you think of any food in our melting pot of Hawaii that you don’t enjoy? I love them all. Being willing to try something new opens up our taste buds, our minds and our hearts to nourishment of all kinds. If you haven’t tried ajitama before, give them a try. These seasoned soft-boiled eggs are a good compliment to ramen or udon. They are also good on their own for a satisfying snack. Ajitama.pdf I do a weekly series called F-Word Fridays, where I share an F word that inspires. The word FUNDAMENTAL will be coming up in the que soon. (You can find it on my YouTube Channel.)
Oxford gives this definition: a primary rule or principle on which something is based. Using that, I played with it a little - breaking it down to read FUNdamental and ask myself and you, is FUN a primary rule on which you base your life? Food is a necessity of life, do you create ways to make your food fun? Is nourishment for your body, mind and spirit a priority? Here is another way to break it down - FUNDamental. If you don’t fund or fuel yourself with what’s important, you go mental. I know this may seem silly, and it is! And it’s a fun way to ask some important questions. What is the principle(s) you base your most valuable assets on? Food for thought, right? Here is a fun recipe that I like to make when I have friends coming over, or on a hot summer day. I call it Mai’s Mock Mojitos. Mai's Mock Mojitos.pdf My mom passed away 2 years ago. I miss her everyday. She was a great Mother who did her best to instill in her 5 children a deep love of God, the importance of hard work, and the value of integrity. Thank you Mom! She was also a great cook and her love language was food! I share that trait and it makes me so happy to nourish people in every way I can.
If you still have your Mom with you, give her a call, or go see her in person. Tell how wonderful you think she is and give her a huge hug. The following recipe reminds me of my mom because it is beautiful and elegant. It’s a salad that you can make in less than 10 minutes and brings a sense of style and beauty to your meal, which my mom always did. She loved strawberries so I added them to this recipe to honor her. They look like sweet vibrant hearts. Strawberry Pear Carpaccio .pdf Food! Glorious Food! I often sing the first line to this song out loud because I love food! It’s glorious.
Here are some reasons why:
Fundamental ingredients in cooking are items that produce salty, sweet, sour, bitter, umami (savory), and fat. Yum! Life is full of these same tastes! Blending sweet and sour creates synergistic flavors and are better combined. As in life, you cannot know and appreciate one without the other - yin/yang. I LOVE the way food teaches about life. The possibilities of combinations and ingredients are endless. Fusion cuisine blends different cultures and makes something amazing. Fusion cooking is an invitation for us to look at the good in other cultures and create a world where differences are enjoyed, respected, and celebrated. Sushi Fusion.pdf Many cultures, including Hawaiian, believe that words carry energy and power to create. We create our experience through the words we use and think. Henry Ford said “whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right”.
What are your thoughts creating? Do they inspire greatness or mediocrity? It takes an ongoing effort to monitor your thoughts and keep them positive, but it is life changing! Every word carries a vibrational energy. Dr. Masaru Emoto, the author of The Secret of Water, did an experiment where he covered 3 bowls of rice with water. Over the course of a month, he said thank you to the first bowl, derogatory words to the second bowl and ignored the 3rd bowl. The results were astounding. The rice he thanked every day remained white, its water started to ferment and gave off a mild pleasant odor. The rice given negative words was black and rotten. The ignored rice had gone bad, but was not as decayed as the second bowl. Whoa!!! Again I ask, what are your thoughts and words creating - decay or beauty? Some people think they can’t cook. Remember, whether you think you can or you can’t…. If you are one of those people, I invite you to say positive things before, during and after you cook. If you can’t muster “I’m a great cook”, you can start with “I’m going to have fun making this!” The energy of your thoughts goes into the food you create. Think great thoughts my fellow Foodies! Have you ever eaten a particular dish and think, oh, this tastes like a certain place you have lived or visited? It’s not only a taste, but the feeling of that place, so that when you eat that specific dish, you are transported to that place and the experience of it. It could be eating a special dessert that your Grandma used to make - it tastes like Grandma and a wave of love-filled memories washes over you and fills your soul. This is yet another reason why I love food so much. Just like music, the notes of flavor can transport you through time and space where you can magically relive the experience. Wow! Having food in front of you is a testament that you are loved by a higher power. Having special tastes that nourish all of you is a deeper manifestation of love.
This recipe for Nasu Dengaku is one of those powerful recipes for me. When I eat this, I feel like I’m in Japan. I’m surrounded by the sounds, smells, energy, deep history, and personality of Japan. I was born there and was formed in the womb by Japanese food my mother ate. Japanese food is literally in my blood. I hope this recipe sends you to an enchanted place. Nasu Dengaku (Broiled Miso Eggplant).pdf |
AuthorSpiritual Foodie, Chef, Holistic RN, Healer Archives
January 2025
Categories |