Every day I make breakfast. This is true. Every. Single. Day. I wake up and no matter how tired I am, I crawl out of bed, make my way to the kitchen, and I cook. I don’t just cook some toast or pour cereal into a bowl. I really cook, with all of my heart…
Maybe that sounds corny. Well, I laugh in the face of corny - because it’s totally awesome.
Here’s why making breakfast every day is awesome (the short list):
I get to practice something that I like to do every day and first thing every day
I can actually see and taste the results. Breakfasts are getting better; they’re more beautiful, the yolks break less, and the potatoes are on point
Challenge. It’s a challenge and if that sounds crazy - like how can cooking be a challenge? Climbing Mount Everest is a challenge - please read on.
It’s a creative challenge. Because every morning I open the same refrigerator to find pretty much the same ingredients: hot coffee!! eggs, bacon (sorry vegans), potatoes, greens, tortillas, and Bisquick (gluten-free, which is seriously the best mix every – worthwhile side note). And every day, I look at those same ingredients and I make something, calmly and with the kind of clarity that comes when you’re in flow – breakfast flow. Flow is real, I swear. Breakfast flow is very real.
But enough about breakfast. Because that’s not what this is about at all. This is about finding a practice and sticking to it. And, yes, you’ve probably heard that all before. Take it from someone who has tried a million and one practices and quit 99.9999% of them after two days or less: find a practice that you actually like. Just to prove a point (and to cleanse myself of useless shame)…
Here’s an abbreviated list of all the practices I’ve started and quit:
1. Kundalini breathing, mantras, physical sets, every kind yoga (all of them)
2. 30-minutes of creative work
3. 3-pages of morning free writes c/o The Art of Living book (which I also quit)
4. 1 inspirational “artist date” with myself a week (c/o same unfinished book)
5. 15-minutes of creative writing every day
6. 5, 11, 31, 60 minutes of Vipassana meditation every day
7. Nightly runs with my dog (I even bought a special running leash – used 3X)
8. Journaling 1 or 3 or 5 things I’m grateful for every morning or night
9. Journaling 3 or 5 things I did and enjoyed during the day
10. Power walking 90s Oprah-style to and from the bus stop every day
11. Going to the Russian Baths and steaming myself once a week
12. Performing at an open mic once a week
13. Reading before bed – whatever book I felt was important to read before bed
14. Daily tai chi exercises (never made it past buying the book of Tai Chi exercises)
15. Etc. etc. you get the point…
Phew…that feels good. And bad. But mostly good. Because there are practices that I do every day now: making breakfast is one of course. The others are: reading my tarot cards, and cleansing my aura (yes, this is one of the few that has stuck). And I do these every day – not because I tell myself to or feel like I should, but because I love to do them, because my day does not feel complete without, because my soul needs them. And that’s what makes them easy. There’s no time limit, there’s no have-to’s, there’s no structure beyond just doing them. And that’s what works, for me.
So, maybe you hate cooking or your stove doesn’t work right. Don’t make breakfast! Maybe you find tarot cards more stressful than fun. Don’t read them.
Here’s my question to you:
What do you love to do that feels effortless?
If you don’t know, maybe look at what you do already. It could be that you already have a practice, and just never noticed. Your practice could be as simple as taking the best damn shower you can take very morning. Or spending a few extra seconds looking out the train window, just to see what’s going on in the world. It's all about intention. If you put intention into something that you know feels good, so good that it's easy, you’ll keep doing it. And if it feels really good, not just to your mind, but to your goddamn soul, it will stick. I promise you that. Because your soul is on point, all the time…. just like my breakfast potatoes.
(P.S If you like reading tarot cards and/or cleansing your aura, I co-facilitate a monthly Tarot Salon at Hauswitch, and the next one is Tuesday, August 23rd. It’s fun, effortless, and the perfect place to meet other fab, supportive witches who are just practicing shit they love too).
