The first blog post on this site was about motivation and simply beginning somewhere, wherever you need to, in order to get started and make things happen for yourself. Here's a re-post of the original blog that explains the title, "Beginning With Onions" from 10/31/10.
Perishables aside, there are few things in my kitchen more vital than onions and garlic. Sure, the flavor of a crisp onion or minced garlic is tantamount to my cooking style and the strong scent of either stimulates my appetite. But more importantly, it is a place for me to begin when I don’t have a clue where to start. On the days when I feel ambivalent or complacent, when I’d be likely to open and close the refrigerator door ten times, or (gasp) skip dinner altogether, I grab an onion and start chopping whether I feel like it or not. And magically, within minutes, my motivation is high, I’m whistling, and the wok is on with brightly colored vegetables and sizzling meat.Really, there is very little here to do with cooking. For me, the idea of beginning with onions is about identifying the things in my life that help get me moving when motivation is lacking so that I can stay stronger than a crippling thought.
That’s not to suggest that there is a false or forced motivation behind my actions, but it is my back pocket plan for dealing with things that could potentially have the power to throw me off my rocket if I am unprepared for them. It’s a back pocket secret in mastering the evil beasts of complacency and inaction so that I don’t loose traction with my goals, whether they be stamping out deafness, box jumps, L-sits, or throwing fine pottery.
What I’ve learned is that keeping onions on hand (with an accompanying assortment of vegetables and Swingles meats of course) has become an important theme for me, and I’m always looking for the “onions” in other areas of my life.
And so, in an effort to get the words flowing in this new medium, I begin this blog with onions.
