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# 2025-10-06 - Christina's October Questions
Here are my answers to:
TEXT Christina's October questions
> What's your favourite item to cook in October?
I don't recall having a specific thing i liked to cook in October.
In the past i was really big on cooking squash pies. I stopped
doing that when i dramatically reduced my intake of sugar. These
days i make squash smoothies with yogurt, cinnamon, cloves, and
lots of ginger, sweetened with dried fruit and tempered with nuts.
One thing i don't write about much is food preservation. Recently
while house sitting, i found a rash of feral pear trees with an
abundance of golf-ball sized pears. I filled a large grocery bag
full of these pears. Processing them was time consuming. I put them
in a bowl of water and agitated them with my hands to wash them. I
got a paring knife and cutting board. I quartered and cored, but did
not peel them. It took around 2 to 3 hours to fill the crockpot.
After some time, the cooking softened them and i used a potato ricer
to mash them. I let them cook a while longer to form a thick pear
butter. I mainly used this as a topping on pancakes. My grocery bag
of pears yielded about a gallon of pear butter, which i processed in
two batches. That was about 6 hours of my life processing pears.
Recently i picked, processed, and froze about a gallon of Santa Rosa
plums and a gallon of Gravenstein applesauce. I picked about
4 gallons of white concord grapes and a large quantity of walnuts to
dry. I try to expose my consciousness to the real & natural world
and to give myself solitude, or in other words, quality time with
myself.
From one perspective, this is all very inefficient. Supermarket food
gives economies of scale that i can never hope to compete with. But
does it nourish my soul? Here is a relevant quote:
> I remember my mother uttering very moving, poetic chants as she
> milled grain, grinding for six hours to fill only a small bucket.
> The meal that came out of her work contained tremendous energy, the
> spiritual energy of the poetry and music as well as the physical
> energy contained in the grain. All of her work was a work of art,
> done so genuinely, with total devotion, that it contributed to a
> profound sense of fullness in the family.
>
> What I must emphasize here is that the energy required to sustain
> the harmony we are talking about is so delicate that it can easily
> be destroyed by the slightest intrusion, and such intrusion has
> clearly taken place through colonialism.
>
> --Malidoma Patrice Somé, The Healing Wisdom of Africa
> What films have you watched over and over again?
I don't usually watch films repeatedly. During one phase of my life
i watched The Big Lebowski quite a few times. It was good for laughs
about the absurdity of modern life. It appealed to my slacker side.
> Have you ever meditated for spiritual purposes? If yes, describe
> your experience.
I have meditated daily for almost a decade now. I never regret it
when i meditate. One analogy i would give is that when sitting in
the couch, i might not feel like leaving the couch. But if i force
myself to get up, go outside, and go on a walk, i may get some
sunshine, fresh air, and exercise, which will make me feel much
better and more alive. I never regret going on a walk.
Likewise to this day i am not surprised when i feel resistance before
i meditate. It feels exactly like the inertia of not wanting to get
up out of the couch. While i meditate, i become calmer, more in tune
with myself, and time slows down. Life doesn't seem to fly by at
such a breakneck pace and it's easier to keep an even keel.
The word spirit shares a root with the words inspiration and
respiration. Anything that breathes new life into your existence is
spiritually healthy. Meditation is one of those things for me.
I do not attempt to quiet my mind. I attempt to pay attention to it.
I am trying to hold space for myself like a good friend would. Every
distraction is informative about what's going on "under the hood."
Every time i notice being distracted, it is good practice to
strengthen my "muscles" of attention.
> What objects from your childhood have you saved? Explain why.
I have saved almost nothing from childhood. When family members give
me items from my childhood, i strongly consider holding on to them.
One example is a sock monkey with my name sewn into it. My
grandmother made one for each of us. Out of all of the human beings
i have known on this planet, my grandmother was the one who i was
most able to receive love from. I intend to hang onto this sock
monkey in honor of her love. If i lost it due to some circumstance
beyond my control, that would be OK. I have plenty of even more
significant mental possessions from my grandmother accumulated into
my very identity.
> When you feel sad, what do you do to find comfort?
Once i heard someone use the phrase "sacred melancholy." From
another site:
> Sacred Melancholy, is a deep sadness or feeling of loss. It is a
> romantic feeling really, one that fills us with yearning and
> remembrance. It is something to appreciate and immerse oneself in,
> for it holds great depths of knowing. When we allow ourselves to
> connect with that feeling of loss, it is not the same as being
> depressed and suffering, but more a tender reminder of times
> past... like savoring the memory of a lovers goodbye kiss... there
> is a wonderment in the remembering itself.
In this sense the sadness can contain its own comfort.
In the past i would seek comfort by writing poetry, listening to
music, or going on walks in natural settings. Often i would feel the
sadness even more acutely while doing this, but it would be followed
by a sensation of relief.
tags: bencollver,community,meditation
# Tags
DIR bencollver
DIR community
DIR meditation