The Mark 2010

Building a well-balanced life is a lot like making a delicious minestrone soup.

What makes for good minestrone soup? It’s balance. Balance in the variety and amount of vegetables you use. Balance in the size you cut them. Balance in the herbs and spices. Balance in the cooking – not too long, not too short. Balance in everything. That’s what makes for perfect minestrone every time.

What makes for a delicious person? It’s much the same. A delicious soup and a delicious person are surprisingly perfect in their imperfection. The more abandonment you allow in your minestrone, the better the taste. The more abandonment you allow in yourself, the less constricted you become.

Follow these simple rules to make your unique – your perfect – minestrone:

1. Too much of a good thing is too much.

In the ideal minestrone, just as in the life well lived, variety is essential. Let go of your preconceived ideas about certain vegetables, certain behaviours, certain qualities, certain experiences, and give them a chance. You might just realize that everything in moderation is better.

2. Find your ideal mix of ingredients.

Be willing to experiment. Different qualities in a person, just as in vegetables, can be an asset. Maybe you think you don’t like arrogance – ever. A pinch of arrogance, in responsible balance with other qualities, can add flavour to you as a person, flavour that might enhance who you are. We can be generous, arrogant, confident, funny, strict, and flexible. When in balance, everything works!

3. Circumstances can determine your choices.

How you make your minestrone is up to you. Personally, I like to improvise. Generally, I stick to the classic flavours: parsley, basil, black pepper. Yet, circumstances dictate my choices. In summer, fresh basil is a must. I love to serve Italian-style summer minestrone with a touch of finely grated parmesan on top. In fall, I add a hint of nutmeg.

How do you decide which spice to add to your life? Which rules would you like to break, and which are you happy to follow? Do you consistently overspice, or are you careful with proportions? When you discover the unspoken rules behind your cooking methods, you will discover much about yourself.

4. Timing is everything and nothing is the same.

Making minestrone is a true art. No one can tell you how long to cook it, how high or low to turn the burner. It’s a “dance in the moment” with your vegetables and spices. As in life, timing is everything – will you serve your minestrone boiling hot, warm, or cold?

In life, we often generalize and label experiences. If a person named Bill once hurt us, we might stay away from all other Bills. If we once used too much pepper, we might stay away from pepper for a long time. What would it be like to not use our experiences as a weapon to hold us back, and instead as a tool to liberate us, as a tool to learn that nothing is ever the same, even when it appears to be?

Ask yourself what life would be like if we got excited about risking failure, if we made minestrone just for the sake of trying something new. What would it be like to embrace the truism that the only thing we know is that we don’t know anything? When you make minestrone from this perspective, you open yourself to a new experience every time. Give it a try! Apply this philosophy to your kitchen and your life, and watch how the unknown excites your experiences.