Weeks like this where I’m working Sunday to Sunday mean I have little time for errands, sleep, human interaction, and feeding myself SO I’ve incorporated cooking into my adventures for the last couple of days. Not super exciting, I know, but bear with me.

Monday I made pierogies, though I was mostly the sous-chef in regards to seasoning and ingredient prep. We put green onion, white onion, and peppers in with garlic, black pepper, salt, and paprika. I really need to learn to season because that seemed like way too much to me (it wasn’t, it was delicious). Well, there’s another bag of pierogies in the freezer, and they’ve got my name on them – this time, I want to be in charge of the whole process, including making my own flavor combinations from spices and veggies ::evil laugh:: in later adventures, I’d also like to try making dishes that I enjoy, like pierogies, from scratch, but that requires a level of forethought that I admittedly did not have this weekend…

Today I made protein pancakes, which are literally just protein powder, pancake mix, and water. I was hungry and lazy and craving pancakes, and the alternative was going through the McDonald’s drive-thru, which felt like almost an anti-adventure. I also ate them as I made them (a big no-no per my aforementioned head chef) so I had nothing much to take a picture of!

Okay, seemingly irrelevant segue: I’ve taken to listening to podcasts while I do more menial tasks (like the dishes, ugh, the dishes!), and it makes me feel like I’ve gained some knowledge and perspective rather than just having spent an hour going through the motions. Today I finished one (via TED) about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; the host and his guests broke down each level of the pyramid (physiological needs, safety/security, love/belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization, if you aren’t familiar) and analyzed what that looked like in western society. It was very interesting for a number of reasons, but the point I’m tying back to this post is that we dismiss sleep as an inconvenience when, physiologically and psychologically, it is on the same level as food, water, and shelter; that perspective helps me be more gentle with myself on days when I come home and immediately fall asleep. I love the thought of having an exciting adventure every day, but it’s unrealistic of me to expect to be increasingly more self-actualized each day if I’m neglecting the lowest-level needs by not eating and sleeping enough.

I’m really growing to appreciate this community of people who value personal growth like I do, and I’m sure that’s something that many of you can relate to.  So take care of yourselves today and this week! ❤