Easy Peasy Japaneasy

Not having a large dining table in the London Tree House, lead to the idea of either Tapas or Sushi! Just using short grain rice 1:1.4 water, carefully watched until sticky, and a little with rice-vinegar. Made with Nori from the supermarket and fresh responsibly sourced tuna and salmon. Easy Peasy Japaneasy.

 

Lemon Cake

Sometimes the littlest places or things inspire me. Masterpieces do too, of course, but they can also be intimidating. This little spot in Greenwich, Red Door cafe, is one of those simple time-out-from the world nooks which make you feel at home. Because it has eclectic personality. Full of little bits of art and ideas. A ‘life if easy’ place. Reminds me that progress is possible. That we have the ability to do a lot with a little.

Buddha Brain

It may be a side effect from Meditation but this morning I swore I could see The Buddha in a tree…

Jam Jar Jacques

This is Jam Jar Jacques the miniature French snowman who now lives in the Freezer. Maybe he will live to see many winters and hibernate in the meantime!

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

- George Bernard Shaw

Indigo Socks

Life is full to the brim with options. There’s just so many colours and breeds and types and alternatives and quirks and genres. I am a pioneer for the meaningful option! I decided once that I would have random red objects around me even if they have to be an eclectic mis match because it would remind me that I can put passion in absolutely anything I do and it will never be out of place. This week another colour entered my life.

In meditation class this week the teacher told me a story. She was explaining that breathing is something which is under-appreciated. She said that in Meditation returning to ‘the breath’, and therefore the present moment, can be difficult because it can seem so uninteresting. The key, she said, is to ‘get into the breath’. In my psychology world this is known as intrinsic motivation as oppose to extrinsic; in other words the drive based on our own interest not in the interest of others is the most effective and enjoyable. Going to the gym, writing, getting up early, eating healthy – you have to enjoy it for you if it’s going to last! So the breath, she said, can be like looking at waves crashing on a shore with the right attitude. There are thousands and thousands happening, but each one can have tiny differences. Maybe they break in a slightly different way, or the spray is dispersed uniquely. She told us a story about a Zen master who taught his pupil a lesson. The pupil said one day that he had tried returning to the breath for a while now, and he was ready for the next stage, he was bored of the breath. Zen masters are often direct in their teaching, and he grabbed the pupil and put his head in a nearby fountain. Pulling him out he asked ‘Are you still bored of the breath now?’. The breath is like a thread, my (less direct) teacher said – a thread that runs throughout our days weeks months and years through our lifetime. It is with us from the day we are born, to the day we day. Without it we would die.

Buddhist teachings also really encourage minimalism, something I’ve always been into but definitely does not come natural to me! Since visiting Tokyo and living in London I’ve taken it more seriously! I find it especially hard with sentimental objects… like Oscar the plant.

Oscar was rescued from a bin by my great inspirational and hilarious friend Gemma and I. Gemma named him Oscar de la Renta-the Grouch. He has been with me for 7 years now. Last week I re-potted Oscar the plant. If he was to be left in the same pot any longer he would have sprouted legs and re-potted himself after eating me alive like Audrey-II from the little shop of horrors. I would have done this sooner but ‘The Shoebox’ flat I was in in London was so tiny that he would have grown too big. The new flat aka ‘The Tree House’ is much more spacious by London standards. I have filled it with lots of nice things. I seem to be accumulating more ‘things’ though. Living things too…for example Sweeny Tod, another plant recently recovering from attempted-cold-chlorophyll murder. And Zebedee the Blue Russian [terrorist] cat. And Zebedees own things, his little Zen-Garden-litter tray for example. In a way I have re-potted myself, and I am spreading my leaves. So I figure, it’s couldn’t hurt to cut back a little and give myself a prune.

Either way I have been trying to be minimal and make out with the old to make room for the new. Gretchen Rubin, expert in Happiness says that it really can be difficult to make life easy. She reccomends clearing out your closet and getting rid of things we think we need. The third and second best black formal shirts which are missing buttons for example. De-cluttering to me is so symbolic.

So I decided to try it. One thing I ditched was phantom white socks. I absolutely detest white socks. I’ve never bought them I don’t know where they came from. Since performance studies class, working on a blackened stage and needing to wear blacks every day throughout college, it was a bit social crime to wear white socks.They look lumpy, dull and impossible to keep white anyway. Once we swapped socks around the class so we were all wearing odd colours and patterns. It caught on throughout the entire college for ages. I remember saying to mono-colourists “Imagine on your death bed if you thought about all the time you spent pairing up socks, wouldn’t you want that time back to do something more fun?” Socks are something I basically wear every single day of the year. I ditched ugly socks, and socks which had lost their elastic. Maybe their threads had snagged or were holy in parts. Socks kind of represent to me things which we I take for granted. I was left, however, with next-to-no functional socks.

So this morning I can’t explain it but I was looking out the window and half thinking about breathing and half about socks! Maybe it was the thread analogy that did it. I thought if somehow I could pick the right socks, because I need some, then because I see them everyday they would remind me to be grateful; mindful; in the present; happy, interested, and to value the little things. I remembered Anna Wintour the editor and chief of Vouge on David Letterman joking that he should look into Thom Browne, a designer who cuts trousers really short so that “you can focus entirely on the socks”. To me it just seems like you need longer ones! I took some deep breaths and really looked out of the window at the scenery. I stopped day dreaming and really took in the beauty. Just then a van drove past the window with the word ‘Indigo’ on it. I would never have really noticed it but Indigo is by far my favourite colour and always has been. My absolute favourite.

It really was like the world was telling me – go figure!

Choices

Broken Bonds

Power Balls

Peanut Butter Protein Balls recipe.

We all need to have that go to treat to satisfy those cravings! This is a perfectly well-rounded choice that won’t ruin all your hard work in the gym!

Ingredients:
1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Honey
1 cup Chocolate Protein Powder

For variety try adding 1 cup of the following:
Flax seed
Chia Seeds
Cacao nibs
Dark Chocolate chips
Oatmeal
Raisins
Dried cranberries
Goji berries – my favourite
Oats bran
Wheat germ
Sunflower Seeds
Raw Nuts

STEP 1: Mix peanut butter, honey and protein powder.
STEP 2: Add 1 cup of any of the additional ingredients.
STEP 3: To make the perfect balls, play around with the honey (if it’s too dry) and oatmeal, bran, etc (too moist) until the balls hold their shape and aren’t too gooey. Than roll dough into little balls to about 1cm and refrigerate or freeze them. Nom nom nom!

Makes approximately 16 balls about one inch in diameter.

War Sex Money Karma

Yesterday was a day of two extremes for me. I had one of the busiest days ever to start off with and it just multiplied all of my to-do lists over and over. I had so many meetings too in preparation for things going on. I’ve split my diary in two this year just to make sure my creative life gets equal attention. Balancing work with non-work-work and then life is ok… but when these become charged they feel like juggling knifes on fire. Then I had to deal with a very unpleasant and venomous person in my family very quickly and read a crazy rant which kind of reminded me of some Z lister losing dignity to make publicity. I had a hilarious positive reframes from my amazing colleagues. All of this though left me running late for my first Meditation class.

Darting across London by google maps and using various public transport links to a place I’d never been before. When I arrived I was shown into the meditation cave when it had just started.

Bang. Instant silence and rock steady atmosphere underneath a giant golden Buddha. My heart was still pounding and lungs panting. The incense and heat from the candles and bodies was really heavy at first. Three hours later I emerged with crystal clear contentness. I suddenly became aware that I had left such a small donation at the beginning because I was in such a hurry and didn’t get cash out. I almost feel for some reason that will be significant one day, in the games of war, sex, money, and karma.

Wassail

Every new years eve when I was growing up, my Mum would have me and my neighbours children run out the back door around the block and in through the front door to let the old year out and new year in. We would take coal, rice and a candle with us for heat food and light throughout the year.

A new tradition I will be keen to continue around this time of year is Wassailing on the Twelfth Night. Wassailing is a celebration and toasting good health to the new year and the end of Christmas. Outside the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on the Twelfth Night after Christmas we watched a folk procession led by the torch in hand Beelzebub to welcome the Holly Man from a boat on the river Thames. This is the winter guise of the famous Green Man. Following this there was lots of singing and festive performances with mince pies and willow hand made wands being sold for charity. A spectacular spectacle!