Happy New Moon in Pisces and welcome to your midweek snack break. Iridescent Ordinary is a twice-weekly newsletter where we talk about the art of the daily practice and the value it adds to our life.
Statement:
The world is a crazy place right now.
Questions for discussion:
Is it your world that is crazy? Or the whole world? Or all three?
What is making it crazy?
How are you handling it?
Are you or can you take any actions to help mitigate the crazy?
When was the last time you felt the world wasn’t crazy?
Is the world always crazy?
In the “things that we grapple with” department, one of my recent struggles has centered around the self vs. the greater whole of humanity ie: our crazy world: where I fit in it, what I can contribute to ameliorate the crazy, and how I can ease the burden of my fellow humans all while reaching my fullest potential.
No biggie, right?
Is the quest to connect with and create the best versions of oneself compatible with the desire to create a better world? Is the former an act of narcissism at odds with the latter? Do they cancel one another out? If you focus all your energy on making the world a better place and none on yourself, would you just be an asshole with a sense of charity? Are we assholes for wanting to be better? Are we assholes for not wanting to be better? Aren’t we all just assholes, but some of us contain it better?
Lots of grapple, very few answers, EXCEPT…
This podcast episode popped up in my feed. No Stupid Questions is the brainchild of research psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of Grit) and Stephen J Dubner, the journalist of Freakonomics Radio fame. On No Stupid Questions the two discuss the “weird and wonderful ways humans behave.”
In this particular episode, their discussion centers around self-improvement and whether or not it’s a selfish endeavor. Spoiler alert: you should continue putting on your own oxygen mask before helping someone else, but also, maybe find a new metaphor to describe that.
While their discussion didn’t answer all of my questions, it gave me a larger lens with which to view and understand my own thoughts and feelings. They discuss Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, dispel some myths and dive into the psychological and sociological aspects of self betterment.
The episode is about 35 minutes long, so it’s perfect to listen to while you’re making dinner or taking a leisurely stroll (or folding laundry, etc etc.)
Please feel free to share your thoughts and feelings in the comments.
In the “things you do every day” department, this tidbit about breakfast answered some questions.
As a chef, I have firsthand knowledge about the complicated nature of people’s relationship with their breakfast. It is the most difficult meal of the day to prepare--especially in a yacht charter situation. Everyone has a very specific manner around how and when they consume their first meal of the day, before we even get into the nitty gritty of the what that they want to eat. There tends to be a lot of unspoken rules and rituals we observe.
I know you think you probably don’t fall into this category. Imagine you’re going to be sharing living space or a vacation rental with someone who isn’t intimately familiar with your morning routine, nor you theirs. How will you explain to others what your expectations are. Even if you don’t eat breakfast, its absence is still part of your morning routine. Do you take tea or coffee? How much? How do you prepare it? What do you do while waiting for it? Do you space servings out? Do you spend your morning in silence? Is there music? TV? Radio?
Hint: if you say “I’m easy,” you most likely are far from that. You only seem easy to you because you know what you want.
I have my own specific breakfast routines-- I like it to be healthy and delicious, relatively high in protein, not too sweet--if sweet at all--and it shouldn’t take any time to make because I want to devote my morning to setting the trajectory of my day and not making food. Also, the consistency of oatmeal and porridgey things make me gag. Also, I think cereal is stupid. Also, toast is the best food in the world, I will fight you to the death on this.
Every one of us has a different morning/breakfast pattern--except for one thing.
Through my observation of guests, family ownership and crew, as well as personal clients, I know this: people prefer to eat the same breakfast every morning. But I don’t know why.
Or at least I didn’t know why, and then this article A: confirmed that we like to eat the same breakfast every morning and B: shed some light as to why.
What is your breakfast routine?
See you on Sunday.
Strong coffee with cream. Usually 2 cups. That way if I don't eat anything (which I usually don't cause I am lazy and run late...) I have at least had some protein in the half and half. I love over night oats. Why don't I eat them?