My "Chicken Soup for the Soul"

I have such a busy life sometimes that I forget to keep up on this blog. Blogging seems to be the farthest thing from my mind usually, until I’m in bed nearly asleep and it creeps into my consciousness. Of course, I’m not going to do anything about it when I’m on the edge of sleep, which is a rare commodity in my life. I then fret and worry about what I’m going to write about and lose the precious sleep I had been looking forward to in the first place.

            Anyways, now that I’ve gotten that chip off my shoulder, I’ll get to the point of my complaining. I’ve come to understand that without stress, work, and life’s general problems and obstacles there would be no appreciation for the good things in life. Would I appreciate life if there wasn’t death to make me fear not living? Would I still appreciate money if I was rich? Would I appreciate love if I had never had a broken heart? How do you experience joy if you never know sadness? These questions often cross my mind on a daily basis. It makes me wonder what it would take for everyone to appreciate everything they have in life.

            Sometimes it’s the simple things that make me appreciate everything. It’s a warm cup of coffee on an early summer morning. It’s a hot afternoon in a swimsuit floating down the river. It’s the smell of lilacs blooming in early spring. It’s spending a winter evening with my sister watching Christmas movies from our childhood. It’s hearing from a friend I haven’t seen in months.

            What brings all these thoughts to my mind today is chicken and noodles. The one thing that makes me feel happy and content with life (other than reading) is cooking. When I have a rough, tiring, or stressful day, nothing makes me feel better than taking something boring and making it fantastic. It’s like not only am I reinventing those ingredients to create a new product, but I’m reinventing myself. Each of those ingredients represents some aspect of my life. The carrots could be my job, the celery my school work, the eggs and flour for noodles could be my love life, the chicken broth could be all the other things that encompass all those daily obstacles, and the chicken is me. It seems slightly fitting that I would be the chicken.

            All of these things aren’t so special by themselves. They have no meaning or depth or flavor being solitary, but you put them together, and you have something new, something special. I’m not a creative person by any means. In fact, I often tell people I’m not a creator, I’m just an appreciator. I don’t even like being creative. Cooking is the only thing I love to make creations in. It’s so easy to get lost in mixing batter, or sifting flour, or dicing carrots. To get lost in a concotion that you know will make you happy with the product at the end of the day. Not only is it relaxing, it’s also a learning experience. Every time I cook, I learn something about myself. Lots of life lessons seem to lie inside that chicken broth…