Love lest you be loved.
April 11, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Again, I say love lest you be loved.
#thenewcommandment
Love is Veggies.
April 7, 2013 § Leave a Comment
What if you could achieve love and happiness just by shifting your perspective? What if your dream life was right in front of you and you didn’t even know it? What if you could live the life you wanted–or thought you wanted–just by following a few simple guidelines that you found within yourself?
Sounds pretty awesome, right? I’m not talking about religion. I’m not even talking about spirituality the way you’ve probably been taught to view it. I’m talking about truth.
We all have truth within us. A way to override the system that defines us, creates who we are. If your brain was a computer (thank god it’s not), truth would be software that can override your old software commonly known as the subconscious. By updating it with some new snazzy iOS on a continual basis, you effect your very hardware that is you by default: Your beliefs, thought patterns, emotions/vital energy, and physical being. This leads to a life that is filled with more love and happiness.
Now I’m not advocating for any one thing in particular, except for maybe love, but even then you can only do what you are comfortable with. You can only live in your flow today, in the present. So what choices can you make today that will lead to a tomorrow filled with more love and happiness?
Just do one thing: Eat more veggies.
I know it sounds stupid to some, but just think: what you put into your mouth effects your entire being! So if you could simply replace some of your animal based products with plant based one’s, such as kale, which has a hefty amount of vitamin K, C, A, B’s, fiber, folate, iron, potassium, and so on in 36 calories as compared to chicken’s tryptophan, B6 and B3, selenium, protein, chlorine, and phosphorous for 187 calories in 4 ounces.
Kale is also love and happiness going into your tummy, while I cannot consciously say the same for chicken. I only want to put love and happiness into my body, that is why my life has brought me to a place of veganism. I chose it.
If you would like love and happiness beyond what my blog offers, please feel free to email me at jenny lvoe at gmail dot com.
Xx
Jenny
Vegan: Feeling and Spirit
April 2, 2013 § 1 Comment
Welcome! If you’re reading this, you are part of the conscious effort to bring about love here at Jenny L’voe, as well as locally and globally. We are beginning Week 2 of our Katarsis cleansing and this couldn’t be more exciting. This week we will be Rebel Evolving our food habits and transfiguring them into awesomeness. If you missed Week 1, no worries. Just go back to last Tuesday’s post Yoga: Movement and Repose.
Before we dive into it, as was stated on the post-Weekly endeavor, Rebel Evolve: Katarsis on veganism is all about cleansing the vital energy (feeling) to connect to the soul to connect to God. So…
You’re probably wondering, “What could I read about the vegan diet that’s new?”
You’ve probably heard about health benefits, weight benefits, scent benefits, and the like. And those are all great on the physical plane. But what about on other plane’s like the mind (mental and emotional)? Or on the spiritual plane (if you believe in that, and I do)?
What benefits have you then?
Well, in this seven week Rebel Evolve series, I promise that this will be the week that you remember. That you remember:
Yes, that is when I woke up.
In our materialist, physical-focused ultra consumed world–although that’s shifting–we are constantly focused on the material. Even in places that speak of consciousness, we are focused on material aspects of consciousness and not everything else that’s out there! Our diet is no different. We are looking at what will make us “look” a certain way and yet throw out emotions, mentality, and spirituality. Okay, the world is beginning to catch on to “mentality.”
So what if we viewed it from the bottom down view (Divine to human) and not human to human? What then?
Well. I’ll tell you. Here’s the good and short of it (make a graph of it if you’re a graphic designer and plaster it all over FB, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. As long as you give jennylvoe credit, I don’t care!):
Omnivore Diet = Dead = Omnivore Human = Dead
Vegetarian = Dead/Live = Vegetarian Human = Dead/Live
Vegan = Life = Vegan Human = Life
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Hear me out. Before you go clicking onto something else, don’t judge me and just listen.
What I mean–and more importantly, what Jesus meant–by “dead” is asleep in every planes other than physical. You just can’t see or hear, unless you have complete and blind faith to do so. That is called belief. It all starts with belief.
The Omnivore Diet is Dead because you mainly eat dead things. With those dead things comes death, or death energy, as well as all of their issues along with it and some cholesterol for you. This diet causes you to not see or hear, which is dead which is sleeping. If you want to wake up progressively, start adding more life-giving foods. Remember: the consciousness of animals are alive, so when they die and you eat them, you are putting dead consciousness into your being.
Dead foods include but are not excluded too: beef, chicken, turkey, pork, duck, shrimp, fish, shark, clams, kangaroo, crocodile, et cetera.
Processed foods of every and all sorts are also dead. No matter how organic or delicious it may look, it is still dead if it is processed. Sorry, (she says to herself).
A Vegetarian Diet is a Dead/Live diet because more vegetarians eat a variety of vegetables and fruits. They are putting both dead foods and live foods into their bodies. These may include cheese, yogurt, eggs of all sorts, milk, whey, casein, lactose, and any other product or food (totally different) that is designated vegetarian. Foods that contain cholesterol are not vegetarian, as they contain cholesterol which is only a byproduct of the meat industry.
The Vegan Diet is Life because only living foods are eaten. Preferably one would eat a plant-based vegan diet. This includes a majority diet of vegetables, fruits, and water from nonplastic sources.
If you stayed with me till now, THANK YOU. Let us continue.
Plant-sourced food is live. Like animals, plants have consciousness. When you pick a plant, the consciousness stays with that item until days after. Greens have their life–that which we call vitamins, nutrients, aminos, omegas, etc. Its energy force–for up to three days. Yes. Any green. Fruits and veggies with a tough exterior can last longer. Some up to a week or two, others like root vegetables even longer.
So after reading the above, you can see how a local (preferably your backyard) plant-based diet is the most sustainable diet of all three. Sustainable meaning life giving meaning forever meaning for you meaning for me meaning for us meaning for our spirit meaning for God meaning consciousness. Doesn’t that sum it up nicely?
This weeks challenge is to add as many fruits and veggies to your diet as possible. Local plant-based grown plant-based organic foods are best. They are the most alive. Here’s a few ideas to get you started:
• Add a strawberry/banana smoothy with added flax seeds and hemp or oatmeal with raisins for breakfast
• Add a kale salad with grapes, apples, and soaked almonds with a vegan protein shake for lunch
• Add quinoa with very lightly steamed bell peppers, asparagus, and mushrooms for dinner
That’s a typical day for me. I’m also a huge fan of the Green Grasshopper–a wheat grass/barely shot mixed with light apple juice and a dash of lemon–for a great morning kick or afternoon jolt. If you’re wondering, “How do you get enough of this or that?” then
Mom, please stop reading my blog.
No, seriously. Follow a regimen or weekly vegan menu like that found on Lindsay’s amazing blogsite Happy Herbivore.
Yet here’s the goal:
To wake up. Which is to be fully alive. To be in consciousness. To be fully present. To see and hear. To having the full availability of your feelings (mind) and spirit (heart). Thus the goal is to know in that minute what your being needs in all planes, not just in the physical. And what effects the collective consciousness–all of truth combined–not just YOU right NOW. See what I did there?
If some greens can do that for you, then why not? Message me at jenny lvoe dot com for more assistiance. That’s French for “assistance.”
Muah,
Jenny
Yoga: Movement and Repose Jenny Update
Oh my goodness! I had crazy revelation last week opening me up to consciousness about my movement (how important it is to me and how I was slacking until recently), repose (what I could take out of my current diet to improve it: caffeine and sugar), and being present (sometimes we have to feel the emotions of the past for hours or a day or whatnot of funk to bring them from unconsciousness to consciousness and be capable of being more present = more awake = life = light). That’s from adding a few poses in the morning and at night and perhaps a few during the day on the grass, with it sticking between my toes. If you missed week 1, no worries. Add a few veggies and poses and you’ll be golden!
Rebel Evolve: Katarsis.
March 25, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Rebel Evolve: Katarsis is a seven-week free Online Course. Join me and others as we explore seven weeks of fostering a healthy lifestyle. Beginning tomorrow, we will start by rebel evolving and focusing on Katarsis. By joining me in committing to this practice you are saying “yes” to a lifestyle shift to be in Truth.
Katarsism is the trinity clarification, or “clearing out”, of toxins out of the self and ego to reside in consciousness. In short, cleansing the trinity–body/mind/spirit–to reside in the strength of the soul, which is Truth.
This occurs in 5 purifying steps:
1. Body: Healing of the physical; physical injuries, genetic deficiencies, and dis-ease. See Jesus’ healing of people (blind, deaf, leprosy, dead). Daily practice: Yoga, balancing movement and repose.
2. Strength (Vital Energy): Cleansing of the energy; detoxification of toxins from what you have consumed or breathed/soaked in. Animal products are no longer consumed. This clears out negative vital influence (aka otherness from nature, animals, and other humans). Also, see Jesus casting out demons. Daily practice: Cleanses, Plant-based diet.
3. Mind: The correcting of the mind. This clears out negative mental otherness (aka otherness from other humans, past funk). Daily practice: Prayer, practicing consciousness.
4. Spirit: Katarsis is recognition of the ability to reside in consciousness, or Truth/God/Love. It is acceptance of the authentic self, or soul, as co-creator of your life. Daily practice: meditation, practicing collective consciousness.
5. Soul: Katarsis is bringing yourself to the present moment and residing in the true self, residing in Love.
We will begin this week with committing our day to yoga by simply doing one pose in the morning and one at night. More on that tomorrow. Please join me as we connect to Truth living within us and everyone and everything around us.
The seven weeks are set up to add new habits beginning at the foundation seat of who we are as individuals and collectively to foster, you guessed it, Unity. Together we will move towards Liberated Unity, living a life that incorporates Truth from the trinity within us.
I will be posting every Tuesday for guidance, healing, and encouragement throughout the next seven weeks. Specifically a new aspect of Katarsis will be explored. If you would like one-on-one email support and consulting, please donate any amount by clicking the “Donate Now” button and I will respond with a Welcome Letter within 24 to 48-hours. And please feel free to email me with any questions or comments.
Looking forward to rebel evolving with you.
Xx
Jenny
Generational Life.
January 14, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Growing up in a Christian family, I was raised around the concept of sin. My behaviors were categorized as either holy or evil, good or bad. The world was a battleground of angels and demons. Black and white. Right and wrong. Sick and well. Catholics and Christians. Democrats and Republicans. Homeschoolers and public schoolers. Church-goers and non-church-goers. Hanukah and Christmas. Rich and poor. Eastern ways and western civilization.
As you will note after the first few, my head was filled with dichotomies. For every one thing, there had to be its opposite, I concluded. You have to be one thing and no others. You cannot mix. There is no integration of any part of life, truth, spirituality, growth, hope, character, etc. This is what my shame-based, fear-based upbringing had me to believe whether it was verbalized or not.
And late one evening after working this dichotomized life commandment out a month or so earlier, I gained revelatory insight in the concept that we call “generational sin.”
Generational is simply carried, or handed down. Parents pass down both their good and their bad qualities. Why? Because they are one. There is purpose behind both. It is evolutionary in reasoning. The Torah clearly states that generational “sin” is passed 7 generations until it is broken. This clearly implies that the “sin” cycle is approximately a hundred years, more or less. This affirms that evolution evolves more quickly every hundred years or so.
Sin in this context is conditioning, or other-than-self ego nonchoices by the individual. Rather than making a conscious choice, the person collapses on the same pattern of no thinking (reacting, not responding) instead of the Open Self or Psychic Being/Conscious response.
A theory of conditioning vs. evolving goes like this: There are two children, one boy and one girl. The boy is born first and the girl is born second. The boy is raised to believe that he cannot think, feel, or act like he wants to, he must behave in the “right” way. That is, that his true self (the open self at birth) is wrong. The daughter is born and is treated with a little more leniency. She grows up to believe there might be a “right” way, but she still doesn’t care, etc.
As he grows up, he views the world as unchanging. Evolution is only on the surface, not deep within. It’s too hard for him to view life differently than how he has been conditioned to believe. The daughter however loves change. Transcendent changes make sense, fundamental creative flows freely, life is good after much transformative inner work. This is not a new story. These are not new lines. In fact, it’s the same old story that passes down sin and truth generation after generation.
Because their mom is the second born evolver. And their dad is a first born nonchanger. Their mom’s mom is a second born evolver and her dad is a no changer. Their dads mom is a second born changer and his dad is a first born nonchanger. This extends back for even generations until evolution occurs. The daughter above has two children. Prior to having children, she works through her painful past experiences and gains transformational insight.
As she raises her children, she allows both of them to think their own thoughts, feel their own feelings, and express themselves how they see fit. She does not attempt to control their “doing” or chosen discipline in life. She even goes so far as to help support their soul, spirit, and psychic being by raising them in a neutral truth conscious environment.
That is how we will stop generational sin, also known as generational conditioning. This is the seventh generation. Let’s give the eighth a new beginning, as 8 promises in numerology. New life, new hope, new truth. In Love. Let it continue for seven generations thereafter to begin anew. Let us create Generational Life.
Xx
Jenny
Without Money.
December 27, 2012 § Leave a Comment
I’m a weirdy. But you knew that. I have never enjoyed making money. I used to think it was because my family of origin junk. You know, hearing my parents argue constantly about money. It drove me nuts! And I was an adolescent!
However as I worked through this stuff and made it through the other side, through the shame-based perspective and onto an enlightened consciousness, my transformed authentic self still held firm beliefs in money. Wait. I haven’t “made it”, it’s a discipline, yet now I can see more clearly.
Money isn’t truth. Money is symbols portraying a would-be truth. Many Americans, amidst others, are now realizing that the financial market has been in a psuedo-reality for quite sometime.
As housing and the stock market have created a psuedo-reality, our income has not been able to keep up. I remember going through an existential crisis in 2008 when it hit me: money has no meaning! From this perspective, I kept looping about finding work. I realized the difficulty of just surviving off of cash and not using credit. Without getting too much into it, my struggle was based on the understanding that the amount I could make an hour as a college graduate was not enough to pay for rent in Southern California, student loan debt, food, utilities, gas, and still have money to save, etc.
At the time, I felt so alone in my fiscal perspective. Trever, being the romantic traditionalist that he is, kept the perspective that everything would be okay. After a year of toiling with this idea and not finding fellow comrades in my beliefs (hey! I wasn’t so good at researching as I am now, nor were there online communities.) I gave up and had babies.
Today I’m not afraid of what I believe to be true. I’m not afraid of what people think. Or if they’ll understand my usage of the English language. I can’t please everyone. (However if there is something you’d like to understand concerning my revelation in consciousness using different language–or mode of communication or whatever you want to call it–check out the “Influences” tab.)
That being said, I have received in higher consciousness that gifting and resource-based are the primary sources of true income. This has been called the Gifting Economy by Charles Eisenstein and others as well as a Resource-Based Economy by Peter Joseph, respectively. During a transformative state I received very similar language of that of which Charles uses in his books Sacred Economics and The Ascent of Humanity. Unlike in 2008 though, when I received this language I was able to research online and find like-minded individuals to connect with.
The Gift Economy is simple. The unity of gifting is clear, while that of our capitalist or monetary systems are based on competition. Gifting can be seen online and in technological fields at a growing rate. Sites like Wikipedia that share information without a cost attached are part of this, as are many blogs. Another example can be seen is the Open Source information swapping in the tech sector. As I write this, I am practicing gifting.
While a huge paradigm shift would be *awesome*, I’ll be happy interacting with the world today in a way that I know how that applies and implies simple gifting strategies:
• Trading clothes to a thrift store or swapping with friends rather than using cash or credit to buy new one’s.
• Growing a garden and using the food for consumption and trade of other goods.
• Using current skills to trade for what I call “discipline/doing” (rather than needs) such as yoga, Pilates, and meditation.
As many of you know, I have around fifty hours of tattoos, most of which was traded for. When I write a post, it’s because I do it. I live it out and then I come back to share it. Cheesy as it is, you have to be the change you want to see in the world.
Now a resource-based economy is something that I picture far into the future, yet it’s doable. I am more than certain that people in countries like Bhutan practice this, as their country’s focus is on a GHP (Gross Happiness Product, a fun fact I learned while watching Happy by Roko Belic), rather than a GDP.
In an economy that focuses on actual resources rather than financial profit (or, in America’s case, lack thereof), basic human needs would be met such as food, water, clothing, purpose, recreation, and love. That I cannot say is anywhere true from what we have now. To have one’s basic human needs met is completely relative to what you have in your bank account, creating worth from nothingness (symbols, money) rather than you being you (truth). Just imagine, we would have what we need so that life was about living and not about “making it.” Some examples include:
• Permaculture gardens where food is provided and the growth of it is a community event.
• Water is used for its intended purpose, reused and recycled for full usage.
• Purpose is guided through exploratory education; teachers act as mentors; an individuals purpose is then upheld by the society as there is no hierarchy (it’s a tangled hierarchy). Whatever it is you provide–good, service, ideation, etc.–it is exchanged for life, for living.
• Recreational activities are supported by the community, just as books can be borrowed from the library, all goods are available. Ex: If you need a camera for nature photos and hiking boots to reach the perfect shot, they’re made available to you.
• Love. That’s just a given. We would love each other as we love ourselves.
Now we have all these resources. If the money-market system crumbled tomorrow, we would have the resources, the knowledge, and the wherewithal to survive and thrive. We could convert what we are producing from products based on planned obsolescence to those that are sustainable. The point wouldn’t be making a profit, it would be living. It wouldn’t be competition, but meeting needs.
In my beautiful imaginary world, we would transcend all the needs for materialistic goods and services and resources would be our focus. I could use my creativity and *cough* past life experience to help in the development of food, water, clothing, purpose, recreation, and love! I could do what I love as a Unity Consultant: assist individuals, communities, organizations, and countries to align the authentic self (or Open Self, I kind of like that) with consciousness.
But wait, there’s more! I’m not going to wait for the paradigm shift, the transcendence, the collective consciousness, the economic crash, the singular shift…the whatever you want to call it…I’m doing it now!! I’m preparing the way and I’m living within that paradigm with great intention.
Shoot, even if no one else around me does it, even if I’m the only one, I don’t care! I’m living in a Gift Economy and a Resource-Based Economy whether you like it or not. Ha! I graciously ask that within whatever capacity you have at your availability that you do so now. My consulting services are completely free of charge with no strings attached. I have transcended the need for exchanging service for monetary gain. My self-defined basic human needs are always met by interacting with the world on a different level. All that to say, if you need me, I’m here.
Love,
Jenny
An Existential Treat.
April 30, 2012 § 4 Comments
Have you ever wondered if you were just loved exactly where you were at how much more awesome you would be? Not gonna lie, I think about it all the time. This little voice inside of me constantly tells me that I don’t do things quite right. That I could fix this or that. And that those around me are continuously judging me with a harsh and differing point of view.
Yes, I hate that voice. It’s all too familiar. It’s been there since I was just a little girl. Particularly louder since I became a mom and added more responsibility to my plate. It’s a wonder I ever accomplish a thing. How do I get through my day? I get the voice to settle down a bit and pump myself up with a bit of self-talk. I drink a lot of water. I eat healthy at the appropriate times. And I try to do what feels natural, what flows.
It isn’t always easy. I get a poor nights sleep. I forget to drink anything besides coffee to keep me awake. The dishes are dirty and I need to go grocery shopping and, besides, I’m not even having a “cute” day. My hair is a curly mess, my favorite shirt is dirty, and I didn’t have time to apply any make-up. Nothing. Can. Go. Right.
The day gets the better of me. All of the sudden my thoughts are swimming with existentialism. I can’t figure out what I’m doing. It all seems too difficult. I’m at odds with what I really want to do! Am I a writer? A blogger? An entrepreneur? Do I pursue an MA in creative writing, songwriting, commercial music? Do I wait until the kids are in school to do other things and pursue my interests? Or do I homeschool and forgo “me” altogether until much later in life?
Ahhh! Who am I? Why am I here? What on earth am I doing? Is there a god with a capital “G” and if there is, would he/she just tell me what I’m doing?!!!?!?!?!
And then it hits me. I knew this about myself the moment I woke up to my beautiful 3-month-old son lying next to me smiling with bright blue eyes at 7:18am this morning.
I’m exhausted.
Reframe Enjoyment.
April 11, 2012 § 2 Comments
I think the hardest part for me is reframing what’s enjoyable. I’ve been raised, like most youngsters in American society, to think that going to McDonald’s and getting a Happy Meal is what you do to enjoy life. Or you get a new pair of turquoise and pink roller blades. Or you visit the Church of Disneyland on Sunday and get rock candy.
So you grow up thinking that’s what you do to enjoy life. That’s normal. That’s what most people do.
And when you grow up, get married, and have kids–or sooner yet–you realize that all those things that constituted the enjoyment of life actually constitute money and therefore the making of it.
Yet no one really taught us how to be grown up’s and live during a time of great depression, when our society is falling apart at the seems and there isn’t really enough enjoyment to go around, in the traditional sense of the word. Or shall I say, “societal” sense of it?
Here we are, not only scrapping the bottom of the barrel, but attempting to create a new lifestyle in this day and age. Reframe our way of looking at enjoyment. It’s taken me years to just drill into my skull that a tall soy vanilla latte does not equal enjoyment. That my day does not have to include going to a shopping center. And that Audrey doesn’t need entertainment that comes with a price tag. (Heck, at the moment, all she cares about is dirt and water.)
Rather than feeling pity for myself, I’ve decided to view it from a different perspective. I’ve chosen to see my lack of funds as a new lifestyle that includes more creative thinking and a lot less spending. We’ve learned we can live on less and be just as happy, if not more.
After discovering that Trever and I have both not been feeling positive for the past few years or so, we decided enough was enough. Getting down to the bottom of what was holding us down–besides our high hopes of getting out of debt and saving money for our future–was simply holding onto social morays that are outdated and irrelevant.
So we went back to the drawing board to see where we went wrong and discovered our childhoods entrenched in this line of thinking. Trever even realized that whenever he did an acting job, he was never told how much he made, only given money and told to spend it. When he turned 21 and got the majority of his savings, guess what he did? He spent it.
This idea of money is for spending has been marketed to us for decades. Even some of our parents neglected to tell us otherwise. We connect our happiness and enjoyment with how much we have to spend as if we’re still ten. But let’s face it: we’re not.
It’s time we stuck it to the man and said enough with silly consumerism as a lifestyle. Enough with spending a dime as enjoyment. We’re done with societal pressures to perform, succeed, and even feel the need to escape (on this thing you call “vacation”). It’s time to live and reframe. Reframe enjoyment.
In the Gray.
March 16, 2012 § Leave a Comment
If there was something more to this life, don’t you wish someone would tell you? To awaken to the beating of more. Another. Give or take. The opportunity is not an opportunity unless it is presented. Until then, it is only a mist.
Maybe you’ve never heard. Maybe you have forgotten. This life is but one chance. There is nothing else. It is fleeting. It is trying. It is difficult. It is what you have been birthed to do. The choice is yours. You can live in love. Forevermore. Continuously.
Or you can live in hate. The hatred of yourself. The hatred of those around you. The hatred of a higher power. The hatred of life itself. Or rather love. Love of who you are. Who you have been created to be.
Who you once were [however distasteful your decisions of the past nay present may be]. Who you are becoming. Who you would like to become. Love of those around you. To your fullest capacity. At this very moment. Love for a higher power. Love and hate. Belief and disbelief. You cannot have one without the other.
To love is to believe. To believe in something more from yourself. To believe that a life once ruined is now renewed. To believe you can answer the call. The burdens on your heart. To believe you can expose the lies. The lies that hold you back from believing.
Disbelief is to hate. To hate is to disbelieve. To not believe you can be more. To not believe that your life can be transformed. To not believe you can ever accomplish anything of greater worth. To not believe in those around you. And to continue. To continue to believe the lies. The lies that you entrench yourself in. By choice. In hate. In disbelief.
Black and white it may seem. Yet the gray area is this: You choose. You choose the reality that you live in. You choose to be influenced. You choose to to stay stagnant. You choose to change. Black and white is who you are. Gray is what you make of it. Love the gray.
Originally posted in 2006.
Reading A Recipe.
December 2, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Reading a recipe. It’s not about reading it properly or following completely along. It’s about taking the idea that someone had and making it your own. They came up with something good, but that doesn’t make it perfect. I often find quite the opposite. Why’d they add that? Why’d they cook it so long? Why didn’t they wait till the end to throw that in? I ask myself these silly questions and more before I start on a recipe.
If it’s not to my liking after the fact, I write down my changes and do things a bit differently the next time. I can usually imagine what it might taste like before I eat it and that helps. I also have herb preferences. I just know when an herb or spice won’t be good in a meal or when Trever won’t like it.
Pepper is a good example of this. We don’t own pepper and I always omit it from recipes. If I think it really needs a spicy kick, I add a pinch of chili pepper, turmeric, or peprika. And that seems to do the trick.
I remember when I first started cooking and all of my food tasted the same. Ha! Then I realized that I needed to add different combinations of herbs and spices and that would make all the difference in the world.
I guess that’s where the reading and changing a recipe began. If it was too close to my “usual” just by looking at it, I knew it would taste similar nonetheless. How often do we do that in other areas of our lives? We repeat the same pattern in hopes of a different result. We follow what worked for other people, wanting the same outcome. And we attempt to mimic verbatim the pictures we see in books and advertisements.
We all know it doesn’t work that way. Life isn’t a recipe that you simply look up and read. You have to discover your own ingredients, cooking time, and even company by trial and error. It’s not what you find written down or by a quick Internet search. It’s the time and effort you put into figuring out what life really tastes like. One recipe at a time.
