I don’t particularly enjoy eggplant.
I also shy away from the nightshade family. Although, I totally disregard that when it comes to pizza. Anyway, eggplant popped into my CSA (customer supported agriculture) box, two weeks in a row and so I decided to rise to the challenge.
A CSA box is where you prepay and the farm or co-operative gives you a varied box of fruit and produce each week. I like it for the obvious reasons of fresh food, community support, and sustainability (both for the farmer and my budget), but there is another reason: I don’t have to think about my groceries.
There is a mental weight (for me) of constantly deciding what to buy and prepare every week. The CSA says: “Here’s fresh healthy goodness for the week, Kate. What are you going to create?”
So the energy I would put forth in writing a long list, is now being used for more creative recipes and sauces, not wandering every 5 days down aisles at grocery stores…
Um, ok, Kate — what’s your point?
Listen, one of the most creative killing adventure for a writer (or artist, or entrepreneur) can be a blank page. That killjoy can look something like this: I have so much to do? Where do I even start? This moment can launch into an avalanche of productivity or procrastination.
What to do? Well, let’s look at the eggplant. We can see it as a metaphorical constraint (had to cook it, would never buy it). I found a simple recipe and I enjoyed it. That’s it. There was a constraint. I found an awesome new resource for recipes (see below) and it spurred me to my own creative dishes. A constraint helped me create and it brought more joy into my every day. I’m really into small joys make big differences these days; it’s the most reliable way for me to keep my vibe high. By the way, if you haven’t been roasting your broccoli, do that too. So unbelievably good if doused in enough olive oil + salt.
So let’s look at what you are creating or turning over right now. What “constraint” can you put on your self, to let your creativity or new skill arise? You can see this when people commit to writing every day for a month, or dancing every day for a year, or a 100 days of [fill in the blank], or they simply stop one little thing that they know is wrecking havoc. In yogic terms you can think about how engaging a bhanda (which could be interpreted as activating / closing a doorway) is a constraint to potentize energy. More on that later.
I was talking to one of the makers that we have in our community and she is sitting with her deep commitment to make jewelry that inspires her and not for production (or consumptive) purposes alone, yet she is getting requests for wholesale. So we were talking about: How do you uphold the line of your mission and value and yet allow a new flexibility when life may actually be trying to help you or ease a burden? or open a door of possibility?
Sometimes we need absolute freedom. Sometimes we need the boundaries of discipline (or personal values) that we will not compromise to serve as the “constraint” empowering us to rise up and find a new way.
If we are going to allow the good into our lives, we best create a home for Her. As babies we are born with infinite potential, in the protective constraint of our mother’s womb. Those very edges of vastness and healthy boundaries allow our evolution. But for today, they can simply inspire us to open up to new possibilities, or some yummy eggplant roasted tacos, with fresh kolrabi straw and vine picked tomatoes.
Enjoy your day + Thank you Edgy Veg for this delicious eggplant hack!