Channeling my inner muse….
February 2, 2011
“The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and is tune is heard
on the distant hill for the caged bird
sings of freedom”
- excerpt from the poem I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
As I write this, I’m sick…as in sick sick. Eric has what he calls “Patterns sick” as his benchmark and I have what I call “Chicago sick” as mine. Chicago sick occurred in January 2010 during my first visit to Chicago. I got a cold, then a fever, then major sinus congestion and then Chicago decided to just make it all suck. I’m not quite Chicago Sick right now, but I still feel icky.
At any rate, my inner muse. 2011 is proving to be a challenging year to throw myself into the kitchen. I’m still working on my waistline and I have a habit for trending all things fattening (hence the title of this blog). Nevertheless, muses are still necessary and right now I’m drawing from a source of inspiration that has been near an dear to me since the 6th grade: Maya Angelou. I was introduce to Maya Angelou because I didn’t want to do my history project with my two BFF’s on Gallileo (they came up with a brilliant project by the way). I instead opted to portray a female pioneer. Yep, Maya Angelou played by me…a naive white girl who is still only learning the true meaning of those words in her novels over a decade later.
The words of Maya Angelou have been heard by Presidents, nations, and well most of us alike. She brings a level of poetry that speaks to the soul and brings us home to our own notion of being…like coming home to fried chicken and mashed potatoes and still being aware of the calorie count. You get a sense of the depth of life…the joy, the pain, the consequence, the ying and the yang. Yes, her poetry is beautiful.
And on that note, I’m tying back to cooking now. My muse Ms. Angelou has several cookbooks. She talks about cooking with intention and cooking with love. And since Eric and my major love language is food, I couldn’t really agree more. In The Welcome Table, Maya Angelou shares a lifetime of stories and recipes and food. Haven’t tried it, but I’m certainly planning on it.
By the title alone, I’m inspired. Yes. Welcome. Welcome to my table. Welcome to my life. Welcome to the love I have to give. Welcome to freedom!
