nourishing traditions

I wish that the world felt like Tara Rynder's heart.

and that

everyday-all-day life was the experience of her performance piece: You & Me.

You & Me is a 3 hr. experience where dancers merge with landscape, musicians play sounds from nature, artists give one on one installations to each guest, and then we all eat a nourishing meal together.

For my one on one installation, I was in the kitchen making the dinner for everyone, and guests would come in individually for 5-10mins and help me cook.

As we chopped and stirred, I asked them to tell me about their favorite food memory, or how they learned to cook.

It was such a simple and basic way of getting to know someone.

Preparing a meal together to nourish our bodies...

talking of memories that nourish our hearts.

Sandra from Iceland told me how she misses having dinner together every sunday with her family because times have become too busy.

Elliot from England told me about learning how to cook from his mom (when he was 8!!) and how they didn't have a lot of money but they would find really creative ways to make fancy meals out of few ingredients.

Kristen from Iceland spoke of sugar-coated potatoes and roasted lamb for Christmas.

Serene from Singapore told me that her happiest times in her life have been when she was eating together with friends.

Some of the people who attended our performance were living in the hostel with us. After hearing about their food memories I felt like I had so much more understanding about who they were.

I watched Elliot cook scrambled eggs for himself the next day and saw how much joy he took in the simple act of preparing food to eat. He carried so much confidence as he was telling me about his special method of scrambling eggs in a pot (instead of a pan) with HEAPS of butter so they get extra light and and fluffy.

The 7 people that I sat and cooked with filled me with more memories of rich kitchen life,
of generous cooking and joyful eating...
that I now carry around with me.

In Finland, as I prepare a meal for myself alone, I have all these other moments to layer upon the present.

Everyone's different hands help me to chop my carrots.

Everyone's different recipes go into my own.

As I stir my soup, I stir all the moments of knowing and being known,

of looking into anyother's eye and hearing their stories.

I stir and stir

and then

slowly eat.

thankful

for the people

that nourish my life.