Day 191/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
For decades my only reflections of my childhood were miserable ones. The horrible things seems to stand out on stalks!
Sarah's inspiration today is to reflect on nursery foods. Now that's an expression I have never heard so I' guessing it's and Americanism. Nursery food. Reminded me of the mush I used to make for my son when he first began to eat solids... millet porridge with baked apple. He loved it!
What nursery foods seem to refer to is in fact, those yummy treats that were regular fare during my childhood.
The smells wafting from the kitchen windows as I walked up the drive on my arrival home from school. The Christmas treats and weekend delights that eventually I got pretty darn good at making myself...so that I could enjoy them more often.
Trifles thick with set custard and divine cream, sponge soaked in brandy and with canned peaches.
Bread and butter custard, hot and steamy on a cold winter night.
The best casseroled beef that you ever tasted.
Tapioca pudding.
Rice pudding with cream and burned butter.
French toast.
Crumpets with syrup.
Pikelets with butter and jam.
A big pot of hot porridge on the wood fired stove, the heat from which warmed the whole house.
I recall one night waking either very late or very early and discovering my mother in the kitchen baking biscuits to fill the cake tins for our school lunches for the week. There's nothing like something delicious baking in the oven to get you out of bed!
When I finish my posts this morning I'm embarking on the long drive home to visit my parents. I wonder what delights my mother will have planned. She seems to love to share her love with the food she prepares and even at the ripe old age of 93 is still learning new recipes and trying her hand at new flavours.
Such lovely memories that Sarah has excavated this morning. Wistful reflections I'll take with me on my journey.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.
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