Doing what you love is the cornerstone
of having abundance in your life. 

 
- Wayne Dyer

doubt

From the 1st moment I heard someone else speak I went to the dark place. To the place where I doubt myself. Where I am not good enough.

I didn't do my homework right.
I don't remember a question that would elicit that answer.
I  don't have anything interesting to write/say.
No one will want to read what I write.
Why am I bothering with this.

Then I stopped. I reminded myself.

 I am sufficient onto myself. Everything I need is inside me

I am me, with my own voice, my own unique offering. My simplicity and the clarity in my words are part of what makes my offering mine.

People rarely disclose their character so clearly
as when they describe someone else's.

 - Anon

The truth is that our finest moments
are most likely to occur when
we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled.

For it is only in such moments,
propelled by our discomfort, that we are
likely to step out of our ruts and start
searching for different ways or truer answers.

- M. Scott Peck

Pure love is a willingness to give without
a thought of receiving anything in return. 

~Peace Pilgrim

what lies behind and 

what lies before are 

tiny matters compared to 

what lies within

Just because you were,
doesn’t mean you have to be.
 

Just because you’re not,
doesn’t mean you won’t ever be.

When a door closes, another one opens,
but often we stand there so long looking
at the closed door, that we do not see
the one that's opened.

- Alexander Graham Bell

the amount of happiness that you have
depends on the amount of freedom
you have in your heart
 

~thich nhat hanh

the space between

Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space lies our freedom and power to
choose our response. In those choices lie
our growth and our happiness

~Steven Covey

One of the fundamental principles of the tantric philosophy of anusara yoga is the idea of Svātantrya - freedom. Svātantrya litterally means self-looming (sva - self  tantra - loom). We are free to choose what we will do, what we believe, how we will respond, how we will engage and participate in all aspects of our life. 

This can be very easy to forget. When people are hovering over your desk. When the baby is crying and the phone is ringing. When a person cuts in front of you on the checkout line of the grocery store.  In every situation it is so easy to just act without thought. To forget that we are free to choose how we are going to respond in those situations and how we are going to let them effect us. 

Within every moment there is a space between what is happening and how you respond to it. It is in this space that you have the free-will to choose how you are going to act. You are Svātantrya - perfectly free.  

I challenge you over the next week  -  before you respond to take a deep breath, maybe even close your eyes, and turn in for a moment. Embrace the opportunity of the space to remember that you are free to choose what you are going to do and how and then,  from that place - act. 

Garlic Scape Pesto

We are members of  the Honey Brook Farm CSA.  Each week we pickup our boxed share which is filled with so many delicious goodies. In the previous two boxes we received one of the coolest things  - Garlic Scapes. Garlic scapes are the shoots that garlic bulbs send up as they are growing. They have a milder garlic taste.



Our first adventure with this new vegetable was to make a pesto that the CSA had shared with us. We modified it and added lemon to it.


Garlic Scape Pesto
1/3 c walnuts
1 c garlic scapes, top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
3/4 c olive oil
1/2 lemon squeezed
1/2 c grated parmigiano
1/2 t salt   
black pepper to taste

Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and lemon juice, process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

We tossed the pesto with fresh egg linguini, shrimp and served with a side of roasted asparagus paired with a bottle of Seghesio 2008 Sangiovese.