Periodically over the past several months I have opened this blank page and begun to write. There was a recipe, a healthy holidays post, a diatribe against the ubiquitous and co-opted term “self care.” I have the drafts, and, they may, in time, materialize into posts I choose to share. What I found, though, each time I started these posts, is that they felt somehow obligatory, rather than inspired. They were timed appropriately–feasting days, stressful holidays, resolution time–and yet, they didn’t feel appropriate, quite, to me. When does adding a voice to a conversation just become added noise? As a roaming, digitally-based, business owner, there is a certain necessity to remain active online, but I struggle with how much is enough. I bristle at the notion that creating “content” for content’s sake is doing any of us much good. And still, I love to share with you all, to hear what speaks to you and what questions you have, and to feel the incredible web of a community that I could only experience this way through the wonder of the internet. Like so many things, finding balance with technology is a practice. I take 24 hour social media fasts because, truth be told, without them I can turn into a mindless, like-button-hitting freak. I find myself doing something my mom used to do which I considered absurd, irritating, and bizarre when I was a teenager–I drive for long distances without listening to the radio. No news, no music, no podcast, no phone calls. Just the many rhythmic sounds of being inside of a machine moving at great speed alongside other machines doing the same. I’ve started taking just slightly longer to respond to emails–hours maybe! I guess what I’m saying is that I am learning to be a little quieter, unless I have something I really want to say. So, I’ve been away. And now you know why. I can’t say for sure when I’ll have something new to share here or what, exactly, it might be. For now I’ll just tell you that I am grateful for your continued engagement here, and that I always love to hear directly from you. So send me your burning questions! What do you want to see here? What do you want to know about? Cook? Learn? Discuss? Practice?

I hope the early part of the year is off to a healthy and happy start for you.

With love and gratitude,

j

 

 

 

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