Newsletter Archive: On Chance, Connection + Cooking

Dear Reader,

I’m now exactly 3 weeks into my arrival to Oaxaca and the last week proved to be challenging because I was missing my friends. This trip, already, has been different than the last ones. Maybe knowing I wont be going back to apartment B2 has had some residual impact on my psyche?

As I felt this way, the universe and God must have been conspiring in my favor. Has that ever happened to you? Where you’ve been longing for something or feeling a certain kind of way and, like magic, the thing that you’ve been desiring suddenly appears?

I met a lovely young woman on my walk to the market Saturday morning. I needed the walk, the therapy of picking out vegetables, the knowing I’d go home and make food into art. I was on my way home and I tried to take a selfie because I wanted to bottle up the moment - even if I was sweating and my hair was damp. I felt alive after a week of feeling, well, empty and nervous. Do you relate to ever having been on your own? Feeling nervous and, I don’t know, different?

From a distance, Eve witnessed my selfie-moment and offered to take a photo of me. It was kind. She was young, tall, thin, tattooed and had on very short shorts which revealed her very long legs. Her hair was also long and her smile stretched across her face. Everything about her was lengthy and mimicked a path or road, like she was stretching through her own world and, now, mine. We walked together to find a wall she thought complimented my dress. My heart felt full of connection as we spoke and had common ground for being in Oaxaca. She took 4 photos and we parted ways as she waited for the bus. That was it. I wasn’t empty, I just wasn’t connected. Have you ever felt like you were missing connection in your life - but couldn’t name it?

She stood tall in the sun and waved me on. I returned the wave. 

Not everyone we encounter is meant to stay in our life. Connection and intimacy happen in moments. What’s one way you can feel more connected to yourself or, maybe others? I can only imagine Eve noticed me because she likely saw a part of herself in my actions. She witnessed me and met me with kindness. Isn’t that beautiful?

I arrived home and, a short while later, I put on my apron. I went into the kitchen and cooked my way straight back into the depths of my heart.

Try taking a moment this week to connect more deeply to yourself and see what you might realize too. Maybe even look up at the sky and ask for the answers, I know I often do and, somehow, they arrive. Or look into your refrigerator, locate what’s missing, go find it, and cook your way home.

With love,
Tina