Nourishment

It's November and my body craves soups not salads. I enjoy my seasonal shift in tastes--a connection with the natural world. And I enjoy making soup. Soup asks for little and provides much; it's forgiving and flavorful; it's easy and wholesome. All this soup making created a mantra in my mind: nourish. 

To nourish is to provide with food or other substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition (New Oxford American Dictionary, 2001). Growth, health, and good condition. Yet we often feed ourselves news, food, images, or self-talk that inhibits health; that discourages growth. We're habituated. Our busy lives provide little space for actual nourishment. Unless we take a purposeful pause.

Some worthwhile questions: Do the people in my life nourish me? Do they support me and help me grow? Do the actions I take nourish me? Do they feed my creativity? Do they move me forward? Does my speech nourish me? Is it truthful, helpful, and kind?

I stood in my backyard today and watched the perennial beds now covered in leaves. Instead of sadness, I felt contentment. These plants go dormant for the winter, but then emerge with life in the spring. Dormancy + nourishment = aliveness.  As I enter winter, with its low light and cold air, I think of myself as a perennial. This is precisely the time to pause, notice, and nourish. I can embrace winter as I quietly grow my spirit; a spirit that emerges brighter and stronger each spring.