Transmutable

January 25, 2017

“The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.”
~ Rainer Maria Rilke

 

A dear family member passed away at the beginning of last week, an especially difficult tragedy to handle during a time when current events were anything but trivial.  Strangely though, the upheaval and uncertainty felt by many of my fellow Americans and other Earth citizens also brought about a powerful demonstration of the transformative capability of the human spirit.

From one day to the next we saw grey skies, rain and clouds part away to reveal the sun smiling over a sea of pink hats.  We saw worry, anger, scapegoating and fear transformed into empowerment, participation, unity and resolve.

Even in less volatile times, there are ups and downs, both in society at large and within our own psyches.  This seems a good time to revisit a subject I addressed in April of 2013: a technique for recycling emotional and mental debris.

Holding onto negative thoughts and emotions can adversely affect our bodies.  Resentment and fear may show up physically as stomach or skin problems, anxiety or tension.  Just as burying plastic, Styrofoam, glass or aluminum only serves to put those cast-offs temporarily out of sight, simply denying unpleasant thoughts or painful emotions doesn’t eliminate them, it covers over them.  I prefer to dissolve and recombine.

I call this method my “Recycler”:

Find a quiet place to sit or lie down.  Breathe slowly, in and out through your nose, if possible.  Imagine a large pink bag that is expandable (almost like a big bubblegum bubble).  Put all of your angry words, fears, judgements and resentments into the bag and tie off the end.  Now, imagine someone standing in front of you or maybe sitting up in the clouds above you who is dressed in a pink uniform.  This is your personal Recycler.  It can be a man or a woman (mine is a Buddha-like figure who is always smiling).  Give your bag of emotional junk to your Recycler and ask him or her to transform the items inside.  You can ask that anger be converted into compassion, tolerance and love; judgement be remade into humility; and fear be transformed into faith.  Or, you can simply ask that the items inside your emotional bag be reshaped, recolored and reformed into something that uplifts and heals someone else, somewhere in the world, leaving the identity and location of the recipient up to your Recycler.  Thank your Recycler and open your eyes, ready to begin your day with a fresh start and a lightened emotional load.

“Although the world is full of suffering,
it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
~ Helen Keller

~~~~~~~~~

Transform nutritious squash into delicious comfort food with Baked Butternut Squash with Maple and Bacon.

Baked Butternut Squash with Maple and Bacon
This wonderful winter dish combines the sweetness of apple juice and maple syrup with the salty goodness of bacon, all on top of nutritious and creamy butternut squash.  Use real maple syrup and high-quality bacon from a small, humane farm for the best flavor and nutrition.

4 oz bacon
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 butternut squash
Freshly ground black pepper
1 rounded half teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 tablespoon cold butter, cut into four chunks

Preheat oven to 400°F

In a 9″ x 13″ baking pan, spread bacon slices flat and bake for 15 to 25 minutes or until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan and set aside.  Drain off bacon fat, if any from baking pan (I used turkey bacon, so there wasn’t much) and save for another use.  Do not wipe pan.

Combine maple syrup and apple juice inside baking pan, stirring to combine and incorporate whatever bacon grease is left coating the bottom.

Cut squash in half and remove seeds, then cut each half to make 4 quarters.

Place squash quarters in pan, cut side up, and spoon sauce over the squash to coat.

Top with freshly ground pepper and sprinkle with the salt.  Crumble cooked bacon. Distribute chives and crumbled bacon over squash.  Put one chunk of butter into each empty seed pocket.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until squash is tender, spooning sauce over the squash every 20 minutes or so.  Add water or additional apple juice to bottom of pan, as needed, if liquid cooks off before squash is done.

Serves 4

 

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