UNburdens

Growing up, my dad would come home from work, often later than planned, and start cooking full meals -- chicken Marsala, for instance, or pasta with cherry tomatoes, onions and red peppers, tossed with homemade basil and sweet sausage -- complete with a cheese plate with cheddar, brie, parmesan (my sister's favorite) salami and an apple or two. As a kid, I never understood how he could work a full, often stressful day, and then go straight to preparing these incredible meals for us until I started cooking myself. Cooking, I realized, was my dad's way of relaxing, of transitioning out of work-mode, of becoming calm after a hectic day. It wasn't a burden for him; rather, it unburdened him.

However small they may seem, finding those things that help soothe and unburden us can be incredibly helpful in the healing process. They can be those constant things that just make life a little bit better. Like my dad, I find cooking to be one of those constants. I try to cook at least once a week, but since I live alone, I tend to cook a full meal and then have leftovers for the rest of the week. So, I always make sure I have standard baking ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, at all times. There is nothing more soothing to me than baking chocolate chip cookies from scratch -- cracking the eggs, mixing the dry ingredients, adding the chocolate chips, placing the dough on cookie sheets (and eating some myself), putting the baking sheets in the oven and letting the smell take over the apartment, indulging in a few warm cookies (with a glass of milk of course) before packaging them up and sending them to a friend or family member. It lifts my spirits every single time. So I always, always have the ingredients at home. Because I know, if I need to be unburdened, baking will do the trick.

Well, now I've gone and made myself very hungry for cookies...so, to distract me and turn this around on all of you guys, what sorts of things do you all have in your lives that unburden you? (In all seriousness, though, I really want to know...)

 

I have to agree about cooking and baking. It is a creative outlet for me and I've really come to enjoy it.

 

I do enjoy cooking and baking but sewing really does it for me. When I was going through some tough family and teenage challenges I started to sew at school. I was told I was rubbish by the teacher - don't bother wasting money on any expensive materials because I would ruin them. It's a good thing my enjoyment of this hobby far out-weighed that teacher's criticism and I continued to sew even at home. I used an old Singer my mother had in the house, moving on to my own machine when I was about 14. I made countless hideous and ill-fitting garments but I thought they were amazing. I refused to be deterred. Despite that original teacher's advice I went on to make my own wedding dress. I have taken various courses and gained a couple of qualifications over the years, all for the fun of it. Last spring I decided to make some new lined curtains for one of my rooms. Shortly after starting this project I collapsed in pain, allegedly from a prolapsed disc (so said the doctor). I had to put this project aside even though I was at home and had hours of time on my hands. I just couldn't stand or sit long enough to make any progress. The curtains were very heavy so apart from anything else, I wasn't able to lift or manoeuvre them. As I started to feel stronger, I worked on the curtains in small stages, never rushing or giving myself any deadlines. I simply enjoyed the process. I am feeling much better now, not out of the woods yet, but have definitely turned a corner. My curtains are now in their final stage of completion and I am hoping to hang them within the next week or so. Even if this doesn't happen, that'll be okay too because I know I will succeed eventually. For me they will always be a visual reminder of how far I have come through my most recent setback.

Thanks for starting this thread, Becca.

 

I enjoy cooking, too. I look for new ways of preparing chicken and fish, and like baking oatmeal cookies from scratch.
Very easy and delicious. Annie loves them, too.

I like being able to control the amount of sugar I put in to make the oatmeal dough. I often use apple sauce instead of sugar.

I can't make chocolate chip cookies, much as I love them, because Annie would want some and chocolate is poison for dogs.
She gets enough dog biscuit treats, so she's not deprived.

 

I get unburdened by a hot buttery bag of popcorn
A cold Pepsi and a good football game
That's a powerful thought about the pleasures of life as healing
this is a beautiful and yummy post becca
Thanks

 

I ate so much home-popped popcorn while dating a girl
she used so say if they opened me up, that's all they'd find inside.

I pop a bowl almost every night. It's a great way to get fiber.
And Annie my dog loves it, too.

 

Part of my journey has been discovering just what things unburden me! For many years cooking was a chore, but I do like to bake homemade bread--now that I no longer have to bake 7-10 loaves a week!
I make homemade cards and send them; it's a kind of ministry, and it relaxes me. I also love to read adult mystery novels--books that I don't have to read for my job
Hiking with my husband (now that I'm mobile again) is also great.
Thanks for starting the thread, Becca!

 

What a wonderful reminder, YB! I love it

Right now, I'm in Dallas, Texas visiting a very close friend...even though I'm not cooking or baking at the moment, I will say I'm feeling so incredibly UNburdened just hanging with him (and enjoying the INCREDIBLE weather down here! Boston was getting to be quite cold!) . I think I'll add being with good friends, the ones who make you feel simply at home with yourself, to my list of unburdens

 

Friends are some of my "best things in life."

I hope you have a great Unburdened vacation.