Making Soup

My son likes to make soup. Sometimes he follows a recipe. Sometimes he just uses what’s available in the fridge. And sometimes it’s purely a gift from his imagination. I can say without bias that I love them all, but the ones that first come together in his mind are the most profound treats for the senses. To create one of these unique culinary experiences he draws from everything he knows about food. He is not a chef, although many people have told him he could be. Like many of us, his knowledge of food comes from years of tasting ingredients, trying things separately, mixing them up. The ideas for his imagined soups might be spontaneous inspirations or they could take days of mental pulling and pushing until the picture seems right. He says that he can feel them, he can taste them in his mind.


And when that picture from his mind is served in bowls to the rest of us, it becomes a moment when time briefly stands still, when it’s okay to simply exist and enjoy. Soups in general can be cathartic to our moods. His soups fashioned from thin air can sometimes take my senses to another place, another age. They’re that good.


How can this happen? How can someone with no training make such a sophisticated creation, with layered tastes and complimentary textures? Some of you already know the answer because you do it almost every day. You draw upon every aspect of your experiences in order to bring into existence something new, an original picture that seems just right. Some might say, well that's what creative people do...they create. I say it's more than that. And we can all do it.


My son's exquisite soups are a product of his personal Universe. We all have our own personal Universe waiting to help us with exquisite answers. Take a minute each day to listen to yourself. Shut out the noise, close your eyes, and allow yourself to understand how you truly feel right now. It is by understanding your true feelings that you will know exactly where you are and what to ask the Universe. So take a Feelings Break. Make it a daily routine. Promise to get back to the bustle shortly, but for a few minutes it's okay to simply exist and enjoy the soup.

Movie Night

This is a bit off topic. I had the chance to see The Muppets tonight on Blu-Ray. Now I'm not sure what Universe the Muppets are in, but they completely rocked mine! If any of you need a couple of hours of total escape (like I did) then this is your ticket. Thank you Jim Henson, wherever you are!

One of Those Duh Moments

Here's the thing. I put up a website, www.askingtheuniverse.net, and I asked the Universe how to best get the word out. The Universe said "Ask your friends". Well, not in so many words, but you know what I mean. So I asked my friends and they said "You need a Twitter account and a Facebook page." Great! I got those things rolling and then asked the Universe again how to get the word out even more. Here's what happened...


For days and days I was online going from forum to forum, looking for like-minded people. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Most forums were off-topic and the ones I liked had so many hoops to jump through that my positive energy was taking a serious beating.

That's the point I was at this morning when I asked the Universe again. A little while later I'm sitting at my computer and my son walks in. He wondered what I was doing. I explained how frustrated I felt putting in so much work and reaching so few like-minded people. He took one look at the forum I was on and said, "Dad, this forum is basically like Facebook. Why don't you just use the Facebook account you set up for finding the right groups?"

It was one of those "Duh" moments. I've been so busy setting everything up and getting it all to work that I couldn't see the forest for the trees. Now some of you might say "That wasn't the Universe, that was just life." I say, I might have gone weeks before this realization hit me. And those weeks would not have been very joyous. I say the Universe, my Universe, came through.
The Universe is ready. Just ask!

www.askingtheuniverse.net

First Beer

With apologies to non-drinkers out there, is there anything better than a beer at the end of the day? Ok, I should amend that to “drink” at the end of the day because for others it could be a glass of wine or a martini or whatever. For me, it’s a beer. But just one beer, because after that first one things change. I’m sure part of the experience of the first drink is being able to just kick back at the same time. That’s usually when I realize how long it has been since I had a chance to sit down. So that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m sitting down and enjoying that first (and only) beer.

This seems to have nothing to do with asking the Universe. I did not ask the Universe for a beer at the end of my day. But my Universe did help me to accomplish many things today. It made my day more organized and productive. My Universe has given me the peace of mind and opportunity to enjoy one of my favorite moments of the day. I can reflect back on the progress I’ve made with satisfaction. And for this I thank the Universe.