Some Of The Little Things In Life / Italian At Home

 

Music:  Romantic Piano Songs

Artist:  Ernesto Cortazar

Life is filled with so many of the little pleasures that just keep giving...

day in and day out.

These add up to a life filled with happiness...

if we but pay attention.

I had purchased these stone spoon rests...

and I get pleasure from seeing them...

and from using them.

And...

as I love avocados...

I bought a triple tier fruit basket.

This way I can put the ripest avocados on the topmost basket.

I love the way it presents the fruit.

It is not only practical...

but it goes so well in the kitchen.

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I have seen

(and I do mean what I say with the utmost disrespect it deserves)...

people who go through life trying to dull their emotional responses...

pretending to be stoic...

while having no understanding of it at all

(Stoicism is semi permeable...

it is the armor against the negative...

and the magnifier of the positive).

They stupidly think that to not observe and enjoy things in life...

to ignore them...

to be numb to them...

is somehow...

showing strength.

The grand beauty of life is all around us...

and it provides a never ending source of deep serenity and happiness.

Weak people...

run from life...

for fear of it.

Strong people embrace life in all of its grandeur.

They know that heaven lies on the other side of hell

(metaphorically speaking)...

and so...

gladly suffer walking through hell to reach the other side

(deferred gratification).

Only those of whom had sacrificed...

can know true pleasure.

It is within the fires of hell that a strong constitution is forged...

and that through the pain of the fires...

that creativity and a deep understanding of beauty is born.

In short...

if you cannot feel a deep happiness at the simplest of things...

you are living life in search of freedom from pain and stress

(running from the very fires of the forge which breed great happiness)...

and in doing so...

in search of immediate comfort...

you live a dull colorless life filled with boredom...

with only momentary distractions to fill the void.

The other evening...

I had gone food shopping at Safeway.

I saw some frozen pizzas I had never tried before...

and so...

I bought some.

As I was preheating the oven to try the new pizza...

I looked out my front windows at the effects the setting sun had on the clouds.

So beautiful...

OMG...

this was THE BEST PIZZA.

Not just the best frozen pizza...NO...

it was the best pizza I have ever had in my life.

And not only may I have the best pizza at home whenever I wish...

(425 F for 15 minutes)...

but it costs 1/3 of a pizzeria.

They are imported from Italy.

Bravo Safeway...

you had contracted with an excellent company...

and have made it your signature brand.

I had also bought a couple of other topping pizzas to try.

The crust is just crispy enough...

combined with a chewiness that is so satisfying.

The sauce is the best...

as the spices just burst through.

The cheese is in the right amount and of the right type.

And...

yes...

now that I have found the holy grail of pizzadom...

and I may stock up on them in the deep freeze

so I may have the soul satisfying taste and texture of a perfect pizza

in the convenience of my home...

I am deeply happy.

The simplest pleasures are frequently some of the best.

I woke up this morning to a beautiful day.

As I looked out one of my front windows...

I had a strong craving for an Italian style breakfast.

This is an excellent pasta base with which to add various other ingredients

to make a whole meal.

I added a pound of shrimp.

In about 15 minutes...

the food was ready.

Bandi always waits near the kitchen whenever I cook.

The shrimp covered the pasta...

and the whole meal was so good.

Of course...

as always...

I share my meals with Bandi.

I mixed in part of my meal into a bowl of kibble...

and Bandi ate it all in large satisfying gulps.

--------------

Italian food is one of the world's great cuisines.

I sometimes crave Mexican food for weeks...

and then...

I crave Italian...

or Japanese...

or other Mediterranean food.

----------

I am a man...

I LOVE FOOD.

But...

I also love so many of life's great simple pleasures.

If you cannot deeply feel all that you see, hear, or even think...

you are missing out on a major point of life.

When you take a stroll through hell

(hard work...exercise...discipline reaching your goals)...

knowing that heaven awaits you on the other side...

even hell becomes pleasurable.

All of life then becomes a win win scenario.

When you attempt to escape even momentary discomfort...

you condemn yourself to a lose lose scenario in life.

In your attempt to numb out anxiety, fear, and pain...

you have nothing in which to look forward...

except another momentary distraction.

In so doing...

you are living life on a flat line at best...

no highs...

just long term lows filled with a momentary and monotonous void 

of not feeling anything at all

(alcohol and other drug abuse and other forms of escapism).

This phenomena is not only psychological...

it is physiological.

A set pattern of stimuli soon results in a new norm.

And so...

a new threshold is established from which everything is measured...

from pain to pleasure.

Our bodies are always striving for a state homeostasis

(adapting to a new variable chemically to keep everything in balance...

and so...reestablishing a new threshold to overcome...

whether it be from a positive or negative stimuli). 

This is why it takes a larger and larger dose of drugs

to give drug addicts their sought after high.

But...

it is also why one must walk through hell in order to once again...

reach heaven

(exercise).

But this is the beauty of this system:

By walking but a relatively short period in hell...

one may spend a much longer time in heaven

(an hour of exercise gives days of euphoria 

and resets the pleasure threshold to much lower levels...

so one reaps deep pleasure from the simplest things in life).

  

And so...

the simplest of things become deeply meaningful...

 a sunset or sunrise becomes a grand symphony of colors...

the sublime taste and texture of food is felt throughout the body...

music becomes soul stirring...

love wrings the heart...

the crisp wind on one's face transports one's mind

as you become a soaring eagle amidst the clouds.

However...

with drugs...

it is but a short period in a semi heaven...

and a long period in hell

(the drug's effect is relatively short...

and the hell of knowing that one is on a perpetual cycle 

of needing something just to escape reality...

and so...wanting perpetually more...

and knowing that it all must eventually end in one's early death 

as the ever increasing need to dose higher and more frequently

destroys the organs).

---------

Anyway...

I am sure you get the picture.

One's choices in life

(even in not making a decision)...

greatly affects one's pleasure in it.

Never be the one who believes that it is mere thought that changes life.

No...

it is the positive action one takes that resets the mind 

through the realization that the positive actions lead to a positive state in life...

and so...

naturally leads to an optimistic state of mind.

We then know that we are the masters of our destiny...

that it is under our control...

that we can be as happy as we wish...

if we only strive to climb the mountain before us.

-------------

If you concentrate on the dollars in life...

the pennies become meaningless.

Concentrate on the big picture...

and the details work themselves out.

Simplify life...

and live it fully.

If you are walking the correct path...

all of life becomes beautiful

as it is filled with anticipation...

and so...

you may enjoy the scenery along the way.

This is how one may live in the moment.