The Cosmic Kitchen

I was blessed to grow up in a home where meals were celebrated, and at my mother’s feet I learnt to honour the sacredness of food. She also taught me about being a conscious creator.

One of my books, due to be published in early 2016, is called I Create My Day. As a child, my mother taught us a grace/prayer of gratitude to say before our meals. It started with the words: I am a conscious creator. By the power of my spiritualised will, I consciously gather all the forces from this food and use them to create health, strength and harmony in all my bodies, physical, astral and mental.

Imagine my joy when one of my brothers came to visit from Australia, and we said this together (given how long the prayer is, I’m amazed we remembered it after all these years).

I love to potter around the kitchen creating food for my family. Sometimes I’ll ask them what they’d like for dinner (my husband will always say ‘curry’), but generally I just make meals depending on what I feel like or what’s in the fridge or cupboard.

Using those ingredients, I’ll either start chopping and see what happens or I might pick up a recipe book for ideas. If you want to make a certain meal, you find it is much easier when you have all the ingredients. I tend to exchange ingredients left, right and centre.

Have you ever tried to make a cake, and start mixing stuff only to realise you’re missing something fundamental? (this is why I’m a much better cook than a baker! ~ Cooking allows for plenty of error and creative adjustment. Baking is just plain nasty if you get it wrong.)

One of my greatest joys recently (that I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for in a way that feels meaningful enough) is a new café that’s opened in my town. If you are EVER in Penrith, Cumbria, do go to The Yard Kitchen. It’s owned by the lovely Rebecca, and the chef Luke is my new best friend! I adore this young man! His food is lovely, and because of my various dietary requirements/exclusions, he’ll happily make me food off menu. Rarely have I eaten out and thought ‘this person can really cook’. I’ve had meals there that have left me speechless with how utterly scrumptious they are. When we ask Luke for a vegan, gluten-free meal, he’ll present us with something incredible. Imagine if life was like that? You asked for something, and you got it?

A delicious meal at The Yard Kitchen

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Great Cosmic Kitchen lately, and how when we put in our order (whether it’s for curry or something else!) The Chef will generally deliver what we ask for.

The Universe is there, all the time, just waiting for us to get 100% clear about what we want to create in our lives. The Chef can’t deliver if we don’t put in an order. If you pick up the menu, and keep ordering what you’ve always had then that’s the best you’re going to get.

Every single thought we think is like putting in an order to the universe.

Change your worries and whinging to gratitude and love.

Thank you for my cosy bed. Thank you for this lovely home/roof over my head. Thank you for the food on my table and the clothes on my back.

The words and the feeling of ‘thank you’ are your greatest tools in creating the life you truly want. We’re not victims, unless we choose to be. We’re creators, even when we feel like victims. So, even when life sucks (and, for all of us, it’s cyclical), pick yourself up enough to say thank you for something. Anything. There are so many things to be thankful for. Just get into the habit of starting and ending your day with gratitude, and then watch it fill up the rest of your day. Banish those fearful, negative thoughts and open your eyes to new possibilities. If we keep having thoughts of illness, poverty, arguments and so on, the very law of attraction will keep bringing those things to us. Give thanks for what you DO have.

I live in a county that just over a week ago was deluged by Storm Desmond (whoever the heck he is). The devastation was gut wrenching. It broke my heart to see people suffering in this way.

On Monday morning, we headed off to a hall in town which was acting as a point for people to donate food, clothing etc., to those who’d suffered in the floods. I was in tears when I left that building. The level of kindness and generosity that people were showing to strangers overwhelmed me, and reminded me of all the good that is in this world, if only we open our eyes. Those donations won’t ‘fix’ things up for the people impacted by the floods, but I know that they will be feeling the love and kindness bestowed upon them. They needed help, and it was given.

Ours is a culture that has taught us to settle for second best, and not to dream. Phah! Dream big, I say. Ask for what you desire in this lifetime. Allow your home and heart to be filled with laughter, joy and meaning. Be open to kindness and support coming to you from unlikely places.

If you don’t like what’s on the menu, order off menu. You might be pleasantly surprised.