A hot date with myself

Me: "ahh, that was so nice, thanks for the hot date today!"
Myself: "aw it was sweet. anytime babe. you're so pleasant to waste an afternoon with."
I: *wink* "same time next week then?"

Mental health days. They're good for you. Today I took myself to the park and spent a few hours lazing in the sunshine, staring at clouds, listening to birds, playing progressive metal, eating fresh Lebanese salad, reading a book, dreaming, washing my feet in the creek and watching the eels feeding. I had the pleasure of hanging out with some of my favourite locals including cormorants, maned ducks, currawongs, kookaburras, crows, butcher birds and magpies. Birds make me so happy! :) Also had the pleasure(?) of finding at least 3 types of spiders and 3 types of ants constantly crawling on my legs. Found two more spiders crawling out of my hair and shoes once I got home. Nice one.

It was so therapeutic just to lay on the earth and get all grounded in the sunshine. Wandering though the creek afterward I felt refreshed and cleansed. This is a good thing - it's been a rollercoaster week!

For the first time in my life, I can honestly and suddenly recognise how it feels to actually be a woman with a hormonal cycle. Mine's a bit whack at the moment, as I have just recently gone off the pill for the first time in about 10 years (since I was a teen). My poor body has taken a beating from that thing. I have noticed already that my nigh enormous breasts have actually shrunk slightly which is a bit of a relief. For the past 10 years they have been slowly slowly working their way up to the mighty F cup they are today. I really never want to go beyond F! I have also noticed some weight drop off recently which is a pleasant surprise, seeing as I have not made a single change in my lifestyle to encourage this. Nothing drastic mind you, but definitely something. Perhaps I had mild chronic oedema?

It is kind of exciting tracking my new menstrual cycle (my real menstrual cycle) for the first time. It has been a bit crazy which is to be expected. Some loops are a little short, some a few weeks too long. I think it is starting to settle though. Keen to see how it ends up aligning moonwise. The main thing I have noticed however, is that I have suddenly acquired spontaneous fragility in my emotional states. This is the scary stuff. I'm finding myself reacting completely irrationally, being overly sensitive, feeling particularly insecure and even having little teary eyed moments for no good reason. It is strange being aware of these reactions; it is as though I am outside of my body looking at it, and watching it do things I don't particularly approve of. Then suddenly I'm back in my body and everything switches suddenly back to being fine and I wonder what on earth I was upset about. Perhaps that is even a valid idea, that disrupted hormones might have the power to not only do make chemical changes but energetically alter. It really does feel like I progressively loose touch with reality over time and then when I finally go to town with a wild reaction, I notice that I'm hovering above my own body and forcibly kick myself back in. Perhaps my erratic hormones are disturbing the energetic pattern of my body so much that my consciousness is not sure how to hold onto it as well?

Perhaps I should have a glass of wine now and shut up before I get too carried away with this. ;)

<3

Opening

I declare this blog open.

After perfecting my own amazing butter chicken recipe this afternoon, I decided it was high time I shared my recipes with the world. Life is too short not to eat well every day - and it is so easy! However, I do find it hard to restrict myself to a single topic of conversation. Personally, cooking is like a kind of alchemy, and that alchemy is no different to other creative activities I employ to bring about nourishment of my body, mind or spirit. Food, good food, made with the earth in mind, love in heart and sharing in spirit, can and should nourish the entire being that we are. There is such magik in food; anything we add to our bodies brings about a process of transformation and, hopefully creation.

Suddenly I find it difficult to distinguish between such topics as nourishment (food, cooking, recipes), spirituality (magik, meditation, philosophy), creativity (art, sewing, magik), health (herbs, food, medicine, exercise, meditation), relationships (love, sex, dinner parties, sharing)... do you see all the possibilities for cross-overs that I do? To me, sometimes, all of these become the same thing. I struggled to come up with a title for this blog that would encompass all of these topics without it becoming too wordy. Salt is a very powerful word for me which covers much of what I have just mentioned. I do not feel the need to really go into it at this stage.

Suffice to say that salt covers the nourishment stuff; the stuff of the Earth that we reap; the wu wei of the Dao. Paper covers the craftier stuff; the creation; the transformation and alchemy; the process. Kisses are the sweet nectar that make life so pleasant; energetic intimacy and exchange.

Plus it just has a nice ring to it. ;) Welcome to my journey. Come with. <3