Life Soup

I was so proud of the righteous batch of beef and vegetable soup I made in that last January weekend. What started out as a bland pot of vegetables and meat, by adding a little more stock and a half of a cup of wine, was suddenly divine.

I create my life and my soups without a recipe. Randomly and yet, there are certain elements to their making that are basic. Richness and happiness are choices that really can't be skimped on. But it's my intuition I rely on to know what to stir in next.

I had a slow dawning of awareness in the recent past that my Life Soup, to which I've been adding to, tasting, and tweaking, still didn't taste quite right. A noticeable bitterness and no happy ending note on my palate. But as the chef I thought, this Life Soup was mine to make, or remake. Not by the happenstances of my life but with intention, hope, and willfulness.

Here's my little review of the events and projects of 2014 which made my Life Soup richer.

I worked extraordinarily hard on reducing my anxiety level.

And despite the fact that I now officially have a toddler to “manage” with my tired 48 year old body, my anxiety dissipated. And the turning point was when ...

I began to follow my heart and my gut and say "Yes " to my creativity.

Some of my creative projects included painting and collaging a rocking chair for the Talbot Humane Society.

I continued to craft with paper and made cards for faraway friends and even hosted a craft party.

And per my Bold Brilliant Beautiful You project, I boldly stepped up and hosted a bloggers meet-up here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and now am booked to run a blogging workshop for the Eastern Shore Writers Association on April 18^th.

I gave myself permission to create art as well as to create abundance and opportunity.

And, as always, the year ended with Christmas creativity galore.

I make my Life Soup from little flashes of intuition and excerpts from other people's recipes that sound good for me. I stir these different flavors in and see how they feel and taste. Unlike real soup, your Life Soup can be changed. Salt or that bitter herb or rancid beef spoiling the happiness? Out it comes, no harm done. If you make your life truly wonderful, you'll want to slurp it with the biggest soup spoon you've got.

Know that there's always a place for you to sit at my table, break bread, and share my Life Soup with me. With every crumb and drop comes an opportunity for us to learn from each other. And when you go create your own fabulous soup, please invite me over for a bowl of yours. We may discover flavors we'd never considered or liked before.

As always, Thank You So Much For Reading My Blog Soup.

Love,

Shalagh

PS Also know that I am extraordinarily appreciative that you read to the bottom of the page and promise I'll never abuse my newsletter privileges. I'll be sending you less words more often in 2015, OK?