Worthy of Our Time
The Cynthia Edition
Welcome to our first installment of Worthy of Our Time. Notice the use of ‘worthy’ there? It might be the only way we’re cool with worthiness anymore! Because my time is precious, and so is yours, and not everything is worthy of space in my noggin. But some things are so cool we thought they might be worthy of your time as well.
But before I jump in…….just a reminder that something very worthy of my time was our Friday Chat last week. Women really shared vulnerable experiences and I know I’ll be looking forward to Fridays for more than just it being the weekend. TGIF! So join us here on Substack!
And now…..here we go:
What I’m Watching
Vera TV series. Recently Susan recommended this British mystery to me and can I just say I am in love with Brenda Blethyn’s character? She’s a bada*s brilliant detective who takes crap from no one. The Husband Dude recently remarked to me he wishes American TV series would cast older women as the protagonist with diverse casts as well. Well said, Paul. Am I the only one who prefers a good TV series over movies because I fall in love with the characters? You’ll adore Vera. I think I need to wear more scarves now too.
What I’m Reading
The Difficult Words of Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine - This audio book has been a refreshing read (errrr...ummm...listen). Some things Jesus supposedly said just don’t ‘gel’ with his overall message, (Hello…..we should hate our father and mother?) so hearing Ms. Levine break down those problematic teachings has been refreshing.
“Belief is like love, you know it when you feel it.”
~Amy Jill Levine
The Difficult Words of Jesus
What I’m Cooking
Spicy Honey Chicken - I’ve been making this summer recipe for over ten years. (This photo alone is 11 years old!) It requires minimum effort, but gives maximum output. I made it again for a dinner party last month and everybody wanted the recipe. You’ll love it. You probably already have everything in your cupboard, minus the chicken thighs.
What I’m Trying
Meditation with Jon Kabat-Zinn - I am pretty much a meditation flunky, I have tried off and on (more off!) for years, but Jon makes me feel like I can actually do this. I recently watched 10 of his Masterclass episodes for free on a long flight to Hawaii, voraciously taking notes. In one of the episodes he said, “meditation is too serious to take seriously”, and I knew I was hooked on his easy, non-judgy personality. Now I use his app and hope to work up to his longer meditations. (Can I meditate for 45 minutes without falling asleep? Ha!)
“Meditation is non-doing and non-striving”
~Jon Kabat-Zinn
So what’s been worthy of YOUR time lately?
I have been reading/listening to The Real Valkyrie by Nancy Marie Brown. It’s about the Viking warrior that had been discovered in a well stocked grave and just recently through DNA was found to have been misgendered...at least their biological sex is not what scientists expected.
Nancy goes through Irish history and folklore to explain who this mystery warrior woman could have been and her culture.
It’s made me more curious about my Irish roots and I plan on looking up more Irish mythology for after I’m done with this book.
It’s really sad what Christianity has stolen from the world as leaders forced the cultures they conquered to abandon long held traditions and stories.
“True meditation is about being tender yet brave. It’s about slowing down. It’s about saying YES to our gorgeous, broken, tender human hearts, YES to our imperfections and doubts, YES to our pain and sorrow and joy, YES to our imperfect bodies, YES to ourselves, exactly as we are right now.
Authentic spirituality is not about escaping to some higher or superhuman dimension, but being more present, awake and alive to the pain and joy, the ache and the glory, the tragedy and the comedy of this One precious human life…”
Jeff Foster