One of the best ways I know of getting outside my own head is to spend time with other people. Close friends I’ve known for years, or new friends that I’m just getting to know. Maybe it’s because Alan’s a chef, but in our house, “spend time with other people” usually means “have a dinner party.’
I realize that this is not a phrase that inspires feelings of relaxation and calm for most people, but, honestly, it can be easy and fun.
You don’t have to have a perfect set-up. If your cooking skills/cooking equipment are rudimentary, find an easy dinner that you can serve with enthusiasm and generosity and go from there.
Even if your living arrangements seem less than ideal, don’t let that keep you from sharing a meal with people you really like. Last year, Alan and I were living in temporary digs without benefit of a dining room.
Gasp! Horror!
We could easily have used that as an excuse not to do any entertaining for the short time we were there, but my Scottish boyfriend was in town (no, it’s OK, Alan’s totally cool with it).
So one night, we pulled out all the stops and hosted a sit-down dinner for seven.
At the kitchen table. Which is in the kitchen. Where all the cooking happens.
We turned the lights down low, lit a bunch of candles and settled in to have a good time.
We ate and drank and told scandalous stories and no one seemed to mind that we were sitting in the kitchen of a very temporary rental and not someplace permanent and perfect.
And that, really, is the whole point of this story.
Live, people! Set up your dinner parties on your scratched and dented kitchen table. Serve your food off of mismatched china. Buy the cheap wine if you can’t afford better.
If you truly can’t face the actual cooking of food for other people, order in a pizza, meet in a restaurant, organize a picnic or potluck.
But for heaven’s sake, don’t miss the opportunity to spend time enjoying food and conversation with the people you love. Because, sometimes, those opportunities don’t come again.
End of sermon.
You say you want to know more about my Scottish boyfriend? He’s 98 years old and knows a thing or two about living every moment to its full potential.
He’s also married….
(This post is a reworked version of one I wrote on a previous blog last year.)
