On Contentment and Black Eyed Peas

by Hastypearl

Happy 2018 !

Wow! It’s truly unbelievable to be saying that number.

2018 !

Life is F L Y I N G by so fast !

My father promised me as a child that that would be true. OF course, I was smarter than he…I thought…but, of course, he was right.

So what’s all of this chatter about Contentment? Well, I’ll tell you.

Recently, on social media, I saw an image of a mug that said something like, ” If you’re not….Blank…you’re not paying attention.

What?

It was something like… if you’re not miserable, then you’re not paying attention. Because I couldn’t remember exactly what it said, I Googled it and of course, you can find just about everything by Googleing.

Here is what I found…Mugs, t-shirts, that say all of these things…

“If you’re not angry, outraged, terrified, you’re not paying attention”.

OK. I get it. I’ve been angry, outraged, terrified before, but it NEVER occurred to me, to post it on a t-shirt or mug to bring others to my state of mind. It really hasn’t.

What it did do however, was for me to think of what I want to do with my year, 2018, and that was the opposite of the mugs…I decided that I choose, Contentment.

I love quotes…Take a look at a few that I found. They challenge me…

~Contentment is work so engrossing, that you don’t know that you are working. Donald Hall

~I am sensitive to the velocity of moments, and entering that part of my head, alert to the motion of the world I am in, aware that Life was never perfect, never absolute. This bestows Contentment, even a fearlessness. Harold Brodkey

~We may pass violets, looking for roses. We may pass Contentment, looking for victory. Bernard Williams

It’s the road I’m taking this year.

Contentment.

I choose to believe that because of Providence, I’ve got ALL of the Contentment inside of me that I need already, and I intend to apply it liberally and often 🙂

Life is Good.

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Yesterday, as I was making some Black Eyed Peas for New Years, and I wondered where that activity/idea came from.

Wikipedia explains that it is a Southern States inspired activity. Ok. I live in Texas, not considered a southern state, but my mother has roots in southern states. The peas swell when cooked and that symbolizes prosperity or good luck.

I’m probably less of a folklore kind of girl and more of a “these really taste good” kind of girl, so I like to cook up a batch.

The grocery store shelves were pretty stripped of canned Black Eyed Peas yesterday and if that’s the way you’ve eaten them and didn’t like them, well, that’s why. Fresh peas are a whole different ball game and are so easy and delicious.

There are a ton of online recipes if you want to look, but I always like to keep things simple and use what I have here, like onion, celery, carrots, garlic and herbs from the garden, like oregano, thyme, bay leaves, a dash or 5, of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning and pepper. Never add salt to your legumes until they are cooked, or that will make them hard.

I start all of the ingredients in some olive oil, then I add boiling water (never cold or it will make legumes hard). Mine only took a little over an hour at a low simmer. You can test them along the way for softness.

We are told to eat the colors of the rainbow…just look how beautiful this looks.

I get a kettle of hot water going to pour over the peas when I have sautéed the ingredients, and well, that makes me think of having a cup of hot tea along the way…This Tazo Sweet Cinnamon tea, with a cinnamon stick, was delicious to fortify me for my cooking : )

After everything was Finished, I added some jalapeños, because hey, this is Texas after all, and since I have an avocado everyday, this seemed like the perfect time !

If you’ve never tried cooking fresh Peas, now is the time. It’s super easy and they taste sweet and so fresh.

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On the Hastypearl Art front, I continue to explore Monoprinting. It’s a process that fascinates me and there really is NO END to the varieties of printing. Even without a press, it can still be accomplished.

I’ve decided that there are so many Art Doors still unopened by me, that I intend to walk through as many of them as possible. While I love seeing all of the beautiful neutral works out there, I just can’t seem to do it. Color lights my path.

I recently joined a FB group, who decided to explore the 2018 Pantone Color of the Year, Ultra Violet 18-3838.

Purple is a color that I NEVER use, but I was really pleased with how well it “played with others” in the printed piece below and I’m really glad that I gave it a try. I think ALL of us would say that there are colors that we don’t use in our art, but Im going to try to at least Play with them now and then.

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So, I’m SOOO happy that You stopped by, Hastypearl !

I’m really looking forward to 2018.

I was shocked at all of the Wonder that Hastypearl enjoyed last year. For 2018, just like a child, I want to be surprised by the things, that I can’t even now imagine.

I know that Wonder will happen for You and for me…

The VERY BEST to you, and I’ll be back soon! Laura aka hastypearl

~Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and Contentment. Grenville Kleiser  

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