Smorgasbord for the Senses

Today's prompt is provided by Ali Edwards.  "Ali’s passion resides in that very special place where the stories and images of life intersect"

THE PROMPT: Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).

This piece was published on my food blog, It's a Food Life, on October 26th, 2010.

This past October,  I had the pleasure of attending the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival which was held at the Granville Island Market.  It was a veritable smorgasbord for the senses.  

The famous Market is a foodie's paradise and my eyes thirstily drank in the beautiful displays  - luscious blackberries piled in a blue-black pyramid; fresh, tender balls of  boccoccini;  jellied, rosemary chicken confit; and elaborate, exquisite desserts that were too lovely to eat.  

My ears tingled with pleasure as they listened to the many authors of various genres share their insightful advice and read from their own works, published and unpublished, but my ears were especially thankful to experience the men's choir, Chor Leoni, perform alongside the author, Jack Hodgins, as he read from his numerous and humorous tomes. It stirred my soul.  

The feel of the intermittent, cool, light breeze on my face, as we dined al fresco on the balcony of the Sandbar Restaurant overlooking False Creek, was so refreshing in the otherwise, balmy October air.  From this vantage point, we had a most perfect view of the city lights.  

And of course, I could not give a sensory account of the weekend without mentioning the cornucopia of tastes and smells - sweet and sour lemon chicken; white-chocolate latte with chocolate whip (oh, em, gee!); warm, cinnamon crepes; deep, rich Shiraz; lemon-zested Dungeness crab cakes; tender, sweet, lightly-battered calamari; crispy bacon and fried eggs with baked beans; tender Chinese dumplings dipped in a light, sweet soy sauce; the salty, sweet air of the ocean breeze (happy place!); fresh, crusty bread dipped in Balsamic vinegar reduction and extra virgin olive oil; globes of creamy chocolate; sharp, herbed, pungent Cheddar cheese; Sockeye Salmon with Red Curry-Coconut Sauce alongside aromatic Basmati rice and delicately flavoured fresh, plump, raspberries in a salad of crisp tender greens and so much more.

Our hotel suite was equipped with a full on kitchen so we decided to stay in for dinner on Saturday night.  We enjoyed the view of Vancouver, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, through the floor to ceiling windows of our lofty suite.  The low, sexy strains of Leonard Cohen permeated the room as we supped on fresh Sockeye salmon and sipped on deep, dark aromatic red wine.  Very Canadiana don't you think.  Hard to take.

Step Away From the Computer

Today's writing prompt for Reverb 10 is brought to us by Leo Babauta.  He is the author of the book, focus : a simplicity manifesto in the age of distraction.

THE PROMPT: What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?

Well, I go to work everyday and, unfortunately, I can't eliminate that.  Yet.  Seriously, though, in the time that I do have to write, there are so many things that I do that are non-productive and most of them involve the computer.  Facebook, twitter and blog-hopping seem to draw me like a magnet.  In order to write and not be distracted by such things, I find I need to remove myself from in front of the computer.  Usually, when I am ready to write without distraction, I will sit in my overstuffed, red, Ikea chair curled up with my notebook and my pen.  Not only is this chair very comfortable but it also provides sufficient space between me and the computer in order to be free from the temptation to tweet or to Facebook -  just one more time. 

 

Lately, it seems, I have been finding my way to my red chair less and less, for reasons such as procrastination, perfectionism, apathy, anxiety... I could go on and on with the excuses but I won't, instead I will read Leo Babauta's book and recite my mantra of the day: 

Step away from the computer, step away from the computer, step away from the computer, step away from the computer, step away from the computer, step away from the computer, step away from the computer.....

Peace in My World

To sum up a whole year with one word is a difficult thing.  There are many words that come to mind when I reflect upon the year 2010.  Words such as anxious, scattered, beginnings, endings, family, friends, joy, sadness, healing, passion and creativity are only a few that come to mind.  

If I have to choose just one word, though, I would say SEEKING.  This year, I have been trying to find my place in this world, trying to find the life that I am meant to be living, trying to find my niche, trying to find an outlet for my creativity and trying to find some healing.  Through this process, I have attempted many new things and to some, I imagine that I must appear very scattered and desperate.  It is difficult to find what you are looking for when you don't know what it is.  It is not all bad, though.  In my quest to find "it", I have found that I really love writing and the benefits of this discovery are two-fold.  Through words, I have found an avenue for my creative longings as well as a very effective conduit for healing.

At risk of sounding like a beauty pageant contestant, the word that I am hoping will be my theme for 2011, is PEACE.  Not world peace, although this would, truly, be a wonderful thing, but peace in my world.  Peace that comes from letting go, peace that comes from being truly comfortable with yourself, peace that comes from the clarity of knowing you are right where you should be, doing exactly what you should be doing and peace that comes from putting your heart down on paper and having people "get it".

It isn't enough to talk about peace, 

one must believe it.
And it isn't enough to believe in it, 

one must work for it. 

~ Eleanor Roosevelt