Soul Food

My soul food: The list of things that nourish me. or: Everything that makes me really happy.

A snippet from my soul food list:

•     Looking at the sea, no matter what the weather
•     alternatively: Books and films set by the sea
•     Wind in my hair and ears
•     Circus music
•     watching my cat sleeping
•     Petting my cat
•     Getting to know foreign cats
•     Words like doldrums or purring or hullabaloo or opsimath
•     Dig and revel in soft wool
•     Playing with bright colours: Pictures, fabrics, crayons…
•     Creativity in any form
•     Rainbows (where is my prism…?)
•     a clear view to the distant horizon
•     Creating something with your own hands: baking, knitting, sewing…
•     arranging things harmoniously
•     the sounds of a bamboo grove in the wind
•     Talking about seemingly irrelevant things
•     poetry
•     Scurrilities and absurdities
•     Monty Python`s Flying Circus

Do you have a similar list? One that you can consult on grey days, when you feel hungry, but eating won’t help? If not, please, write one, a.s.a.p.!

When creating this list, make sure that both the very extraordinary, such as travelling to certain places, and the completely mundane, easily accessible, such as favourite books, favourite clothes and colours, or favourite music, end up on the list.

This way we are prepared for the small and the big hunger attacks.

Especially when we are ill, physically ailing or simply housebound, our soul often thirsts. So, we should always have an emergency plan for these cases. Much like the biscuits in the glove compartment on a long car journey. Hang your list in the bathroom cabinet, or next to the bed, somewhere it will catch your eye in the right moment, when you just want to hole up.

Create a box of soul food for yourself, considering all the senses:

•     beautiful postcards,
•     love letters,
•     mementos like concert tickets,
•     phone numbers of good friends,
•     soft wool,
•     a notepad and crayons,
•     a list of your favourite films that you always want to watch again,
•     your favourite cream or fragrance (e.g., a vanilla bean in a glass tube),
•     a silk ribbon in the most beautiful sky blue,
•     a very smooth pebble,
•     soap bubbles,
•     your favourite music,
•     a tin of mints or lemon drops,
•     a kaleidoscope,
•     a skipping rope,
•     a tin whistle,
•     colourful buttons,
•     …

It is just as important to satisfy the soul’s hunger for new things, for great things, for powerful impressions.

The Dalai Lama is said to say: „At least once a year you should go somewhere you have never been before.“ Methinks that is the absolute minimum! It would be better to take little diversions every month, to go to the next town but one, or to take a different turn on a walk. Even if I look into a front garden that I have never seen before although it is only 150 m away from my house, it feeds my soul. So be more experimental! Not only with the currently limited physical journeys, but all journeys….

Go where you are not going to end up anyway. Be open to surprises.

Lost your way on the way to your aunt’s? Being immediately aware of your surroundings also helps you not to panic. Maybe the man in the funny garden knows a secret route…
Wrong radio station? Maybe you discover (or rediscover) a music genre whose existence you never really noticed, but which fits your mood perfectly. Or you get new ideas from something on the radio and your creativity bubbles up.
Of course, your favourite food also feeds your soul, and the old woollen blanket that your grandmother used to wrap her feet in at night.

It’s not only about new things, but also about old things that give you a state of comfort and wellbeing.

So, this also belongs on your list:

•    Dearly held habits
•    Comfortably worn-in slippers
•    Favourite drinks and dishes
•    This fluffy blanket – you know the one…
•    The old comfy jumper
•    The bath additive that smells like a holiday
•    Favourite films to cuddle on the sofa
•    Peferred cup and tea
• …

Just as a good dish is composed of varied flavours, consistencies, and preparation methods, so many different things help the thirsting and starving soul.

Soul food: new and old, gentle and wild, loud and quiet, daring and relaxing. It’s all in the mix.

Bon appétit, wherever you are,

P.S.: Please leave a Comment, if You want to add some Essentials!