As a few of my friends know all too well, I am obsessed with the song Ada from The National's new album, Boxer. I'm not sure it's even the best song on the album, but it's on every new playlist I make these days.
I was listening to this playlist while recently making lavender steamed cod with a cherry chili vinegar . As I sliced, simmered, pureed and strained, the lyrics of the chorus of Ada, "Leave it All Up in the Air", was ringing in my head.
Occasionally, cooking leaves my mind wandering, as if I'm on autopilot. There isn't usually much need for me to think about the process of pitting cherries, you know? Instead, Ada sparked an observation about myself. I'm at a stage in my life where so much of what I value is currently being left "up in the air" - undefined, unresolved, unfinished and seemingly left to chance. While that sounds like a negative, I reminded myself that this is a self imposed imposition.
Leaving things up in the air has always been an acquired skill for me. My personality doesn't naturally accept undefined or unclear goals, which I've currently been finding a bit of a personality flaw. Over the past six months, one of my personal objectives is to let things sort themselves out with little interference on my end. I'm letting my personal life run on the path it naturally sets for itself, as opposed to the grand plan I've usually mapped out in my head . In many ways, the freedom from the burden of planning the next move has taught me to go with the flow a bit, something which I feel was missing from my life for a while. Every now and then, I frequently feel the urge to take control back and map out the next move. But I relent, if only temporarily. Leave it all up in the air, indeed.
Ah, the joys of cooking and music.
By the way, this post is part of my sporadic playlist series called Music in the Kitchen. I've posted this playlist on iTunes for your listening pleasure.
I love the Blow's Parentheses too!
Posted by: Courtney | July 07, 2007 at 02:31 PM
yes, yes and yes! I, too, am listening to the National album obsessively. Which has, much to the relief of my co-workers, replaced the obsessive listening of Feist. And before that it was the Andrew Bird. I also recently acquired the new Peter Bjorn and John, which I love. I just took it out of the car CD player this morning because I was afraid that it was going to be burned into my neural pathways if I listened to it one more time. But I digress, what I am saying is: good mix!
Posted by: elizabeth | July 10, 2007 at 11:44 AM
don't neglect Brainy!
Posted by: Brian | July 21, 2007 at 08:22 PM
no worries, brian. brainy is at the top of my list.
Posted by: JOE | August 03, 2007 at 10:08 PM