Courage to Make Big Change
live the present moment • coffee-and-contemplation journal • picnic recipes
We met the day before, at a cookout hosted by mutual friends. He was to be our fly fishing guide the next day but when the time came, my friends headed for the door with the kids—my two and their one.
“I thought we were going fishing,” I said.
“We’re not going fishing, you’re going fishing!” <screen door slam>
That’s when I realized, this is a set up!
And it worked!
At 8 a.m. the next day, I boarded the flight back to San Francisco and worked out logistics for my return trip, which had to wait until after what I sensed would be my last Oracle Open World, 40 days into the future. Love struck by Montana and now this man, I swooned through six months and then it hit me: I need to change everything about my life: job, house, and fancy cars I no longer wanted. The change was complete within a year.
Was it a leap of faith? Listening to my heart? Was I unusually courageous? Not really. What allowed me to recognize this man and what we had together happened 3 years prior, when I became a widow with two children under 5.
In the last moments of a four-day search and rescue, while on the phone with the Sheriff trying to answer impossible questions about my husband’s gear, I scribbled live the present moment on a scrap of paper. The message didn’t originate within me but it was for me, and I knew it was from Christopher; it meant, it’s going to be okay, don’t spin into worry. Within minutes I received the news that they had found his body.
live the present moment
That little purple Post-it helped me get through the days. Generous friends encouraged, “Come with us to Montana in the summer,” and I said yes. When that trip came to be and I descended into the wide open valley ringed with mountains, I sensed it…there’s a different way to live.
Coffee and Contemplation Journal
While on Mackinac Island a few years ago, we attended church a short walk from the Grand Hotel. As happens fairly frequently in church, the mix of beauty and grief brought me to tears. Back at home in Montana, we were in a period of “Beethoven church” and other stay-home activities but something was at work within me. I picked up one of those little pocket devotionals and inside was A Morning Resolve, a prayer that lived for years on our bulletin board until I taped it into my coffee-and-contemplation journal (which the puppy mischievously chewed over Christmas—bad dog!):
It’s hard to stay mad at a baby Berner.
Recipes for Picnics
I don't dare say that we've had our last snowstorm for the season because it is only April 10, but today was warm and sunny, the crocuses are popping up, and we're going to cook dinner outside. I’m reminded of fun, portable food that I have on my website, Ripe Food & Wine. Here are a few you might like:
Farro or Spelt Berry Salad
This farro (or spelt berry or any wheat berry) salad is full of crunchy, colorful vegetables, about 3 cups total. Think something green like steamed broccoli or broccolini, cucumber, kohlrabi, slivered scallion, chives, or spring onions then add in an assortment of briny, pickle-y things (you can easily gather at an olive bar) like pitted and halved Kalamata olives, sliced peppadews, roasted red bell pepper, giant marinated beans, etc. (This salad goes great with a charcuterie plate for a snacky dinner or movie night too!)
More picnic recipes for outside or inside:
Sonoma Chicken Salad (I've been eating this all week for lunch)
Smooth Sailing, Fix Your Food Relationship in 2025!
So this is week 15 of Smooth Sailing. We’ve covered the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating, but I’ll keep posting every Monday to share my perspective on how to practice it, free yourself from diet mentality, and live a more connected life. Please subscribe and share. Thank you so much for being here!
Here’s a recap so far, since the beginning of January:
About Love & Cookies, homepage
Week 1: Food Addict? Or Something Else?
Week 3: Sugar “Addiction” and Primal Eating
Week 4: One is Never Enough…because None are Allowed
Week 6: Allow Yourself to Receive
Week 7: Think About Food Less + Enjoy it More
Week 9: Your Natural Healthy Weight
Week 10: Fit-for-You vs. Body Beautiful
Week 11: Enjoyment is Part of Being Healthy
Week 12: French Women Don’t Get Fat and Other Nonsense
Week 14: The Cost of the Work-First Lifestyle
Have a great week!
