Last week, a friend posted one of those word walls that asks you to note the first three words you see. I always search for the words and take note in my mind only. My three words were: self-care, miracles, and breakthrough. On reflection, those words represent the menu of my 15 months in lockdown.
With delicious time available to me, I scoured booklists, joined Audible.com, supported used bookstores and feasted on history, fiction, science fiction, mythology, poetry, and anything that looked appetizing.
Dining out disappeared in confinement. The new fare was take-out—me taking myself out for walks in nature, my version of self-care. Listening to a good book extended my walks, just as dinner lasts longer with good conversation. At the end of house arrest, several pounds had disappeared while in the discerning company of John Adams, C.S. Lewis, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Madeleine L’Engle, David Whyte, Jonathan Carroll, Paul Muldoon, and others.
These shifts in consumption freed my imagination to whip-up sweet possibilities, including the idea of walking the Portuguese Coastal Camino. The world is opening up to travel as I make my plans—The miracle and the icing on the cake.
My writing expanded during seclusion, and my paintbrush returned juicy and full of color, whetting my palate, a significant breakthrough.
Self-care, miracles, and breakthroughs united to nurture me and rustled up a delicious repast that generated nourishment for others. And that’s meal worth remembering.