Imagine, ( you are good at that my artist and creative friends), you walk into my counseling office. You seat yourself in a red mid-century modern chair. No arm rests. You fold your hands on your lap and notice that you are sitting upright. You allow yourself to lean into the back support. You look… Read More Hungry Philosopher and Starving Artists
I studied architecture. I studied philosophy. As my studies of social work comes to an end, I find myself thinking about how I can combine my skills. I wonder if there are any models out there. If there are and you are reading this please comment below. For now this is how I feel…. “I… Read More Therapist for Artists, not Art Therapist
Yogic psychology says there’s more. Encountering these stuck and painful knots is the path. This perspective teaches us that we aren’t stuck, we’re only identifying with less satisfying “things.” One remedy, Patanjali tells us, is to look for the opposite (II:33). I think of it as the Nourishing Opposite (Fay, 2010) not just any opposite,… Read More The Nourishing Opposite
Chronic anxiety is a crisis of hope. It is the fear of a failed future. Depression is a crisis of hope. It is the belief in a meaningless future. Delusion, addiction, obsession — these are all the mind’s desperate and compulsive attempts at generating hope one neurotic tic or obsessive craving at a time. The… Read More Nourish Hope
Dear Readers, I have a confession. I’ve been converting joy into fear. My desire to help into a fear of hurting others. I haven’t been digesting life or metabolizing my nutrient-rich loving supports in spirit or in body despite this blog’s mission. Mostly I’m guilty of being unaware of my own indigestion. The literal and… Read More Metabolizing Sweet Joy
“I liked eggplant long before Atiya ever did,” complains Amani, my eldest. In my kitchen, eggplant fuels simmering sibling jealousy over a pot of shared taste. The rivalry started when they were young with Bengali Eggplant Bhaji. Sliced eggplant fried in a combination of spices and mixed with rice delivers a simple taste though a… Read More Bittermelons and Brownies: How to Eat Eggplant
Life boils over like daal. It is eventually, inevitable. You can put a wooden spoon across the top of the pot, add salt (risking chewy lentil soup) and do other tricks, regardless assume you will have to clean the stove after cooking a pot of lentils. Sometimes like a pot of boiling daal our lives… Read More Bittermelons and Brownies: How to Eat Lentils (Daal)
While she starts the water and measures the pasta,he sets the table and peels the garlic.She cuts up broccoli, strips snow peas, readies fish—he presses the garlic, fixes her a kir, and him a gin.She sautés the vegetables while he grates cheese,readies the candles, and puts flowers on the table.She puts pasta in the boiling… Read More Food Poem – Easy by Roland Flint
It used to be general practice for South Asian mom’s to hand-feed their children rice until they developed the dexterity to eat on their own. I continued that practice with my own kids by mixing the various curries with their rice and shaping small sized globes of rice. When they got to be three or… Read More Bittermelons and Brownies: How to eat a good bite (lokma)
Brownies represent the alter ego of bittermelons. Instead of embracing the bitter, brownies challenge us to endure the abundance of sweetness. Brownies with a hint of roasted bitterness and bittermelon bhaji with a hint of roasted sweetness operate like a dynamic gastronomic yin-yang. Most taste and encounters with others happen within this range. Sweetness and… Read More Bittermelons and Brownies: How to Eat Brownies
