Month: July 2020

“Running through the sprinklers; chasing down the ice cream truck; riding bikes with friends around the neighborhood; swinging so high the poles lifted up out of the ground; picking blueberries; catching fireflies.” (from Facebook)

I miss being a child during the summer. Such happy, carefree days. Life is so complicated and scary now. Ice cream takes me back to those days and gives me comfort and peace, even for a little while. And that is why I eat some every day!

Always loving ice cream, my memories are laden with ice cream stories. Waiting for what seemed like hours with my twin sister on the front lawn for the Good Humor man to arrive at our house. Would I choose a chocolate eclair or a strawberry shortcake?

When we were my grandson’s age (about 10), my dad would play pinochle every Tuesday night at his friend’s ice cream shoppe. We would stay up really late waiting for him to bring hot fudge sundaes with coffee ice cream, wet walnuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top. That was heaven!

Or the trips to Carvel (yes, it was around then) to try this newfangled brown bonnet which we loved. Now, however, I am an ice cream purist–no hot fudge, or toppings to spoil the taste for me. This summer it may be a soft ice cream twist from Ralph’s, jamocha fudge from Friendly’s, homemade butter pecan at Strong Island or left to my own devices at home, some Talenti Wild berry gelato from Whole Foods, or if desperate, a premade cone. If it’s cold, creamy and satisfying, I am there!

My adult children (and boyfriend) make fun of me and say “mom is in the ice cream zone” when I get this faraway look on my face and they can’t reach me. It’s as if I am in a joyful trance! Life is difficult today and I am one who would rather eat my calories than drink them. Two good friends, one of whom is facing some health challenges, agree that a daily dose of ice cream does wonders to improve your mood.

In fact, neuroscientists at the Institute of Psychiatry in London scanned the brains of people eating vanilla ice cream. They found an immediate effect on the parts of the brain known to activate when people enjoy themselves, including the orbitofrontal cortex processing area in front of the brain. Just one spoonful lights up the happy zones of the brain in clinical trials!

But is it unhealthy to eat ice cream daily, as my son keeps reminding me? I found information to the contrary, thank goodness. You can eat ice cream every day and still lose weight. ( I have a vision of many women jumping in the air right now). That creamy goodness which brings us sheer joy and comfort can be good for us if part of an otherwise healthy diet.

According to an ABC News article, women who had one scoop of low fat ice cream a day lost 26% more body weight than those who didn’t, due to the calcium in the frozen dessert. Eating foods rich in calcium help to keep your body strong and your metabolism running well.

Ice cream contains vitamins and minerals. Milk and cream are good sources of calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, vitamin A and phosphorus. It depends on the flavor you choose, as well. Vanilla beans have antioxidants as well as small amounts of calcium, manganese, potassium, zinc and iron. Dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants and has flavonoids to protect your heart, oleic acid to lower cholesterol levels, and phytochemicals which fight off free radicals.

Moreover, ice cream stimulates the brain. A study conducted in Tokyo demonstrated that having ice cream for breakfast increases dopamine levels in the body making us more alert and awake. It gives you energy, as it is packed with sugar containing glucose, a key nutrient providing our bodies with fuel to get us through the day. ( Sugar is good for us????????)

According to this article, the calcium in ice cream helps build strong bones and teeth. Our bodies do not naturally produce calcium. As a form of fermented dairy, it helps to protect the body from gastrointestinal and respiratory infections. The stronger your gut, the stronger your immune system will be.

As we all know, ice cream makes us happier and comforts us. It is sometimes prescribed for people who suffer from Seasonal Affective disorder in winter. It produces serotonin, the feel good hormone.

According to the blog post at littlethings.com, ice cream boosts your libido because it is high in phosphorus which gives tissues oxygen, maintains our PH balance and libido. It states that full fat ice cream increases your chances of fertility. One study revealed that women who consumed one or more servings of high fat dairy had 27% fewer ovulation issues.

Now, I am not a doctor, nor do I know for sure if this article is exaggerated or even “fake news”. But I do know that ice cream is good for the psyche and the soul, and we all could use a bit of that right now. As Charles Shulz proclaimed, “Life is like an ice cream cone. You have to lick it one day at a time.”

“If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is is the one you are living. Wherever you are, if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you all the time”. Joseph Campbell

Last Saturday morning, I watched an interview on CBS that piqued my interest and got me thinking about following your passion. Mark Linen, an African American began an online baking company, leaving behind his earlier dream of graphic design and his job of driving a truck to pay his bills. His company name is “Brotha Bakes” and baking was his passion since watching his mom “perform her magic with sugar, eggs, flour and a few other simple ingredients”. Linen felt God wanted something else for him and he wanted to inspire his young sons and create a legacy for them.

He fills his jars with signature cakes creatively named Choco Khan, Banana Ross, Mariah Carrot and Reddie Murphy (red velvet cake) along with special brownies.

My son Keith discovered his passion in a different way, sort of by accident. He was floundering in his twenties, not really knowing what he wanted to do. Keith tried auto sales, puppy sales and even a stint as a personal trainer. A chance meeting at the gym with our Allstate insurance broker who offered him a sales position and free training led him to discover his passion–he loved the insurance business!

I started thinking about my bliss that I discovered in the past two years—writing. Writing has always been part of my life. I was a French major in college and wrote many comparative literature essays during that time. My first job after college was secretary to the Social Science editor at Cambridge University Press. Part of my duties was to read manuscripts and write synopsis. As a paralegal, I was responsible for writing briefs and memoranda of law.

Even in elementary school, I was fascinated with words and excelled at sentence diagramming, a lost art. (I still cringe when I hear “I should have went” instead of the correct “I should have gone”).

My sister Jill loved to write and frame creative poems as birthday gifts. These were treasured by friends and family who received one. Unfortunately, she never wrote one for me. She later started a business called Jill’s Jingles, for which I became her grammar consultant (unpaid, of course). Jill would write poems for candle lighting ceremonies at bar mitzvahs, birthdays and anniversary poems and even erotic poems for a nurse to send to her doctor/lover. Who knew?

However, I never realized writing was my passion until I began writing my blog in January, 2019. If you follow my blog, you know that I write a lot about not having had a voice in my younger years. Part of that stemmed from being the shy twin and not having the confidence to stand up for myself.

Now, with my blog, I not only have a voice, but I also have an audience, people who seem to enjoy what I write. What a wonderful feeling to read your positive comments and to hear that you look forward to reading my posts! This creative writing is different that the writing I did for my jobs in the past and I am loving every minute of it.

Even in Judaism, the Torah gives us the same advice, to follow your bliss. The question “Which is the right path for man to choose for himself” is answered as follows: “Whatever is harmonious for the one who does it and harmonious for other people”.

You may be asking yourself, “How do I find my bliss? I haven’t a clue”. Joseph Campbell, mythologist, writer and teacher first coined the phrase follow your bliss in his book “Hero With a Thousand Faces”. He meant pursuing who you really are and understanding your connection to the human family. Campbell was also referring to losing yourself in the rapture of life’s experience.

In order to find your bliss, you need what Campbell called a “sacred space; or a place of creative incubation; a quiet space in your mind; a room or a certain hour in the day; a place where you can bring forth what you are and what you might be”. Try to disconnect with the world around you–no distractions, no negative news programs; silence the constant parade of thoughts.

Be patient with yourself–do not have an agenda or a plan. Tapping into your quiet space is learned through practice. Face your fear of failure and judgment head on and let them go.

Your next question may very well be, “am I too old to follow my bliss?” Au contraire, mon amie. One of the gifts so valuable about getting older is that competition and comparison mean much less than before. “It is immersion in the experience and surrender to the moment of creativity and joy that are valuable”. Stephanie Raffelock

The art of making something whether it is a special meal or a scrapbook or a garden or a photograph creates joy which creates a sense of purpose–to create our personal best.

Don’t waste another moment. Now is the perfect time for destination joy! XO Penny

Resources

How to Find Your Bliss: Joseph Campbell On What it Takes to Have a Fulfilling Life Brainpickings.org

Finding the Roadmap to Your Destination Joy thetimelifeblog.com

Follow Your Bliss Sideroadcoaching.ca

Are You Too Old To Follow Your Bliss by Stephanie Raffelock Sixtyandme.com

“The right hat may enliven our imagination of the past, an old-fashioned cloche, a picture hat or a toque trimmed with a pouf of polka dotted veiling is just enough to make us feel as if we were living in another romantic age.”

I bet you thought I was going to title the blog post “Wear a Mask”. I am tired of thinking about masks, and MAGA hats, about numbers of deaths from COVID 19 and the terrible inequality that exists in our country. I want to be transported to another time and place. What about the movies and iconic hats in film through the decades?

Remember Audrey Hepburn’s black chapeau du matin in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) with the long silk scarf as a headband reflecting the drama and mystery of Holly Golightly’s chararacter. Or Faye Dunaway’s signature beret in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) a nod to the French new wave films of the early 1960’s. Julie Christie sparked a fashion revolution known as the Zhivago look marked by fur hats from the film Dr. Zhivago in 1965.

What about Audrey Hepburn’s character Eliza Doolittle’s colossal chapeau worn to the Ascot racecourse after her makeover. (This hat was sold at auction in 2011 along with her dress for 3.7 million dollars after being in Debbie Reynolds costume collection.) Reminiscent was Julia Roberts’ Pretty Woman low crowned straw hat with polka dot silk headband to match her brown and white polka dot dress worn to the races. I loved everything about that 1990 film, especially Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.

One of my favorite movies of all time was Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. I was especially fond of Diane Keaton’s big brimmed bowler, the men’s-wear inspired look that came out of her own closet (1977). Another favorite movie of mine was Love Story with Ali McGraw. I was in my last year of college in 1970 and emulated her funky look with the knit beanie hat (also from her own closet), and effortless sense of style.

But who can forget Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca in 1942. His classic fedora and her alluring picture hat rendered the scene at the airport unforgettable. My mom had told me that women purchased hats in the 1940’s to look chic but also to forget about the war! Millinery shops were extremely popular at that time.

Other iconic hats from films abound, such as Anne Hathaway’s stylish newsboy cap in the Devil Wears Prada in 2006 and way back in 1929 Louise Brooks’ Pandora’s Box with her bobbed haircut and cloche bell shaped hat emblematic of the roaring twenties. She became the eternal “It” girl of the flapper era.

Personally, I always loved hats. I kind of have a hat face–my sister used to call it wide and Slavic ( from our Polish/Russian background). Lilly Dache, a French born milliner who established a flourishing hat business in the U.S. with her made-to-order creations summed it up as follows:

“A hat is an expression of a woman’s soul. It is something that she wears on her head, but it belongs to her heart. It is the keynote of her personality, the finishing touch that makes her look beautiful, smart and sure of herself.”

Wearing a hat is a bold statement, especially for me. Let me explain why. When I was married, my husband was very critical and judgmental. I recall an incident when we were about to meet another couple to spend a beautiful autumn day outdoors at an art/craft show. I had chosen a jaunty hat which matched my outfit and was looking forward to the outing. George took one look, and stated, “you’re not leaving the house in that hat, are you?” Crestfallen, I removed the hat and proceeded to have an awful day. It was my own fault. I did not have the voice in those days, or the confidence to answer “Yes, I have every intention of wearing the hat. Sorry if you don’t like it!”

That would never happen today as clearly I found my voice when I chose to divorce him at age 52. Subsequent to the divorce, I purchased an entire wardrobe of hats which I wear proudly and often.

Clearly, hats are functional as well, especially in summertime as protection from the harmful rays of the sun, from changing your hair color to a garish orange or in my case turning the silvers to a brassy blonde. Hats are a great way to experiment with prints and embellishments, as some accents look better in small quantities. So try a zebra print or color blocked bucket hat, a tie dyed purple floppy brim hat, a lime green woven hat or a distressed pink baseball cap. Maybe, just maybe, it will transport you to another place and time and take your mind off the present! XO Penny