Enjoying simple pleasures

Posted on Jul 19, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Food, Home & Garden, Kimberly Shaw

“Simple pleasures are always the last refuge of the complex.” -Oscar Wilde

(Editor’s note: Please help me welcome Kimberly Shaw as a contributor at The Canary Report! Kimberly blogs at Adventurous Canary and is an author, educator, filmmaker and natural health consultant. She’s currently making a film documentary about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. She’ll blog here at The Canary Report on organic food, easy-to-make recipes, herbs, personal care products, and the enjoyment of everyday life in the midst of allergies and sensitivities. You can read her full bio here. Welcome, Kimberly! Aloha, Susie)

For many with food allergies and sensitivities it feels like a love-hate relationship when it comes to eating. We may love food, but hate the way it makes us feel or react. For some it feels like treading through a minefield to find something we can actually eat and enjoy.

It is easy to focus on what we cannot eat. Sometimes it is depressing to consider all that we need to avoid. I have found if I dwell on the “no list” I miss enjoying the “yes list.”

When I focus on what I can eat, meals can become an everyday celebration! Just the simple act of appreciating and savoring simple foods becomes something to enjoy, not something to dread.

I may not be able to have many of the ingredients in a fine gourmet meal, but I can wash some organic cherries, make some organic tea, get out a favorite bowl, sit outside in the breeze and slowly relish each bite. While you might not be able to have cherries or tea, there are some things on your “yes list” that you can enjoy.

Oscar Wilde once said, “Simple pleasures are always the last refuge of the complex.”

In our complex world, especially of avoidance, let’s celebrate and enjoy the simple pleasures, the foods we can eat!

Photo by Kimberly Shaw.

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Tags: Food, Healthy Living, Home, Leisure, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Organic

9 Responses to “Enjoying simple pleasures”

Denise in Honolulu

20. Jul, 2009

Kimberly, thanks for becoming a contributor. I appreciate your efforts at getting MCS and healthy lifestyle info, etc. out there.

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Jasmine

20. Jul, 2009

Thank you Kimberly! I know you’ll have much to offer The Flock.

I’m slowly compiling my “yes list,” trying to avoid foods with gluten, tyramine, histamine, MSG, corn syrup, caffeine, aspartame, fermented, cured or processed foods, etc.

I love your photo and mosaic table.

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Susie Collins

20. Jul, 2009

Aloha Kimberly,

Those cherries look so good! Lovely post and you are so right about finding joy in simple pleasures. Sometimes I feel overwhelmingly grateful for a glass of clean fresh water because I know so many people, not just MCSers but people all over the world, don’t have that basic human need fulfilled.

I’m really excited to have you join us as a regular contributor! I know you will help enrich the site’s content. I’m excited to hear more about food, herbals, and recipes, but also about personal care products!

Mahalo and Aloha for offering to share your knowledge with us!

xoxo

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Ruth

20. Jul, 2009

Ahhh, loved that photo! Today I did just that, only mine was a bowl of
organic red raspberries. I love the feeling of doing something
really good for my body, mind and spirit by eating organically… and eating
is a spiritual celebration for me… the colors of the fruits and vegetables are absolutely wonderful!!! Thanks for bringing this “yes list” to
the site!
Big Hugs!!

Reply to this comment
Kimberly Shaw

20. Jul, 2009

Denise, Jasmine, Susie and Ruth,

Thank you for your kind comments! I am so honored to be a part of this community!

Jasmine, your list of foods/additives are all ingredients I plan to avoid in the recipes I’ll be posting.

Susie, yes, we are so blessed to be able to have fresh water! I watched Flow: For the Love of Water (www.flowthefilm.com) a couple of months ago and was again aware of how wonderful a glass of safe water is!

Ruth, yummy organic raspberries!!

Reply to this comment
Jasmine

20. Jul, 2009

“Jasmine, your list of foods/additives are all ingredients I plan to avoid in the recipes I’ll be posting.”

Fantastic!

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Lloyd

20. Jul, 2009

So true!
Further a restrictive diet might awaken the food explorer inside you!
For your best delight when you discover some whole new food!

Sunday I cooked sweet potato for the 1st time in my life.
I’ll definitely do it again!

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Susie Collins

20. Jul, 2009

Kimberly and Jasmine, I can’t wait for recipes!

Lloyd, sweet potatoes are a staple here in Hawaii. We have yellow, orange and even some purple ones, too! If you are in a hurry, you can slice and steam. But when baked they are so sweet! Cut up in chunks and add to a soup, chunks soften up pretty quickly. Can make chips, too! Probably not so good with the hot oil and salt, but a fun treat on special occasions. I just got some starts for two varieties that we’ll be planting in the garden as a high calorie food to supplement the greens and veggies. My neighbor was kind enough to share.

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jacki

21. Jul, 2009

Kimberly,
I so agree, watching a sunrise and or sunset..
getting up early just to hear the first birds singing before humans awake.
laying under a shade tree on a hot sunny day.
laying under the stars shining above so bright
talking to GOD..on a ONE to ONE
just sitting still next to a big tree and watching the smallest of nature
“living” (ants, bettles, spiders, bees)
watching a puffy cloud pass overhead..
smelling the REAL SCENT of PINE from a big pine tree..
giving thanks and having much gratitude just to be part of all the most simplest miracles on this planet…
those are a few of my favoriate things…
eating a big piece of juicy sweet summer time watermellon and letting it drip down my chin….:):):):)
we need to be AWARE of all we have at every moment
instead of thinking about what we can no longer do…(limitations & avoidance)
this simple change in attitude brings peace & joy into our world of dealing with MCS…

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