{"id":5275,"date":"2023-08-02T14:38:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T19:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/?p=5275"},"modified":"2023-08-07T19:16:30","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T00:16:30","slug":"relish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/relish\/","title":{"rendered":"Relish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Relish<\/a> (noun) adds flavor. It can take a dish from humble to worthy of mention. Fully absorbing the flavor, texture, and pleasure of that dish is to relish (verb) it. Both are important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we\u2019re too hurried, worried, or\ndistracted to savor our food, the little extras don\u2019t mean as much. They may\neven go unnoticed or unappreciated. As it is with food, so it is with life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Relishes need the right\ncombination of flavors, perfect cut of ingredients, pleasing texture, and taste\nthat enhances the dish they accompany. There\u2019s a local Brazilian restaurant\nthat serves black beans and rice with a tiny bit of collard green salad and tomato\nrelish. It\u2019s the two tiny additions that take the dish from common to something\nworthy of mention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When life is moving along\naccording to our usual routine, we often fail to relish the quiet, peaceful,\nmoments that bring beauty and inspiration. We don\u2019t notice new blossoms on the\nlemon tree or the smell of freshly mown grass. We hurry our kids through bath and\nbedtime instead of basking in cuddles. If we don\u2019t lean in and relish the good\nparts of life, we lack balance, respite, and lingering moments that feed our\nsouls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, many of us favor\ndoing over being and measure success in possessions, net worth, and number of\nactivities in which we participate. In fact, this has become the norm to which\nwe are encouraged to aspire. This makes for a shallow way to live and the\nculture pays a price for it in less life satisfaction, less connection within\nour families and communities, and less value placed on integrity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve reached the point it sometimes\nappears as though we see no virtue in leaning into happiness and joy. Oh we want\nto be happy, but we expect that state to find us in the midst of our frenetic\nactivity. If it did, would we even notice? In fact, it is most likely lingering\nin the background every day. We just aren\u2019t in a position to embrace it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those of us who have lived for any length of time with unpredictability, chaos, poverty, or violence may be routinely braced for the other shoe to drop. A defensive stance is a reasonable response to those situations, but the lingering effects can make it difficult to relax and feel joy. Instead of feeling the good, a wave of happiness can\u2019t penetrate because, as the character Carmen Berzotto says in The Bear<\/a><\/em>, \u201cThere\u2019s always another shoe.\u201d It seems logical that feeling happiness and joy will be difficult when your life experience has been skewed by a monsoon of falling shoes. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When happiness feels dangerous\nand joy is illusive, we may need a bridge to transition from bracing to embracing.\nThe best bridge will be different for everyone. The important thing is to\nrecognize that there\u2019s nothing wrong with needing a bridge. Discomfort is part\nof the package. Eventually, it will subside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, providing\nyourself something to ease that discomfort can be the little extra that, like\nrelish, elevates you to a point you can linger in warmth, comfort,\npeacefulness, and joy. A bridge can be made of any combination of elements. I\nlike to keep it simple so that the bridge doesn\u2019t become a distraction in and\nof itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve used the somatic\nexperiencing (SE) technique of sitting in a circle of rope (a visible boundary)\nand naming all the physical sensations I feel. Grounding is also a good tool \u2013\nplant your feet firmly on the floor and press. If that\u2019s not enough, count all\nthe objects of a certain color in the room while pressing into the floor. These\ntools help calm your lower brain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yoga, meditation, and breathing\ntechniques are also great tools for helping the body know you\u2019re not in danger.\nAnd they don\u2019t distort your perceptions in the way pharmaceutical solutions\ncan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can feel happiness and joy,\nbut feel it\u2019s lacking in depth or frequency, a more gentle reminder to lean in\nmay be sufficient. A new or differently worn bracelet or ring can be a visible signal\nto slow down and lean into little flashes of pleasant feeling instead of\nrushing toward the next task. A tattoo, embroidered motto, or inspirational\nquote on your screensaver can also work. Just like relish recipes, there are millions\nof possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tangy, sweet, spicy, herby,\ncrunchy, or balanced. Relish can be tailored to enhance your dish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relishing happiness and joy can be tailored to enhance your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ad\"<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Relish (noun) adds flavor. It can take a dish from humble to worthy of mention. Fully absorbing the flavor, texture, and pleasure of that dish is to relish (verb) it. Both are important. If we\u2019re too hurried, worried, or distracted to savor our food, the little extras don\u2019t mean as much. They may even go … Continue reading “Relish”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,792,9],"tags":[3459,157,159,1529,3458],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5275"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5286,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275\/revisions\/5286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}