A Year of Mornings Monday 6th February 2012

Life is a kitchen

"Life is a kitchen.  I don't mean my life is like a kitchen, although it is.  I take the ingredients I have on hand, mix and mash them into the semblance of a meal, and try to nourish myself and others the best I can.  I may not always like the taste of my own cooking, but I've learned that I can toss the leftovers out and start over.  So yes, life is like a kitchen, but that's not what I mean, either.
I mean life is a kitchen, and when you do not yet see that your life is a kitchen, you may not see your life clearly at all.  You are here for one purpose: to serve. Serving others will fulfill you as nothing else will."........extract from hand wash cold, care instructions for an ordinary life by Karen Maezen Miller.

Hand Wash Cold came as a book recommendation by Hannah Marcotti as part of the New Year Cleanse.  I have read to Chapter 9 so far and can't put it down, it makes such simple sense, and I found it slightly magical how this book arrived on my doormat just at the time it needed too.

I love how Chapter 8, entitled full sink is drawn to a close, she writes "in all this mess, I found the ingredients for the next stage in the spiritual journey: the opportunity to move beyond myself and into compassionate care of everything and everyone that appeared before me morning, noon and night.  I found myself in the very heart of life, an ordinary life, the best spot to give and receive pure love.  You won't see it on a plan or a map, but I can tell you how to get there.  It begins when you have the courage to leave home, and it leads no farther than your very own kitchen."

Should you take the time to visit the link to Hand Wash Cold which takes you to Karen Miller's website, I would recommend you watch the short video, simple but breathtakingly beautiful.