“If it makes you happy, it doesn’t need to make sense to anyone else”
Summer days are here. Mornings beckon me to open windows and greet the sunshine rising from behind the coast mountains to the East. These warm days of July I’ve been happy with simple hobbies that cost nothing, purchasing the bare essentials and nurturing my inner child.
I recently watched a vlog about spending time in our imaginations. I’m a Cancerian child so my imagination runs rampant, (“sometimes too much”, says my Anxiety). The message of the vlog really resonated with me because it suggested that we allow ourselves to create in our imaginations whatever world we want to live in as a part of our Self Care. I love that concept. Sometimes in the middle of the hot dry summer, I like to pretend that it’s Fall. Fall is my favourite time of year and it brings so many feelings; safety, excitement, coziness, peace.
Today I thought I’d connect with those feel-good Fall feelings. I put on my apron, played a little Lullaby of the Leaves by Ella Fitzgerald and made this cozy Black Bean Soup with Coconut Milk. I don’t care if it’s 30 degrees outside and the sun in shining. In my kitchen it was a blustery mid October evening.
Black Bean & Coconut Milk Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 medium onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 1/2 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Siracha hot sauce
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 15-19 oz can of black beans – drained and rinsed
1 can of coconut milk
cilantro, avocado, green onions, corn chips or tomatoes for garnish
How To:
Heat the olive oil in a soup pot
Saute the onions, garlic, cumin and hot sauce for about 5 minutes, until golden.
Add 1/2 a cup of the vegetable stock and cook for about 2 minutes until reduced.
Add the beans, coconut milk and remaining vegetable stock and increase the heat to high. Once boiling, lower heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and puree the soup with a hand held blender (or in a food processor or blender)
Garnish with toppings of choice and enjoy.
On my nightstand I’m reading An Old Fashioned Christmas by Ellen Stimson so I’ll climb into bed tonight and immerse myself in stories about living in Vermont in an old 1838 Farmhouse and dream about living in a place like that someday, straight out of a Holiday postcard.
If you struggle with Anxiety or Depression the practice of self nurturing is so important and I’ve learned that when I’m feeling “off”, there’s nothing like a good few hours of stepping back and diving into my imagination to calm my overactive nervous system. Music, dancing, Yoga, a bath, a walk in the woods, watching a funny show, playing piano, Brain -dump journalling.. anything but ruminating and worrying. Do you have any practices that calm you down?
I hope you’re having a wonderful July wherever you are and thank you for joining me.
Love,
Jennifer