 Gelato and the Divine Consumptive Union First, it’s important to know that I’m speaking specifically about Italian gelato eaten in Italy. There’s an entirely unique experience that surrounds this divine consumptive union; indeed, like no other. The fact that there’s an other-worldly, sense enrapturing phenomena around this seemingly mundane experience, is proof of magic. Please allow me to take you on a journey… First, there is the visual allure. Have you ever seen such a glorious site as a Gelateria in Italy?! Often the surface of each flavor is artfully decorated with the actual fruit or nuts that the gelato is made from. And it’s arranged within the containers unapologetically spilling over with waves of decadence. Feasting your eyes on something that contains both the end product, the beginning ingredients and displays generous surplus, does something incredible to the psyche. It’s as if it whispers deep to the recesses of our being… There is plenty of deliciousness here for you. It spilith over. {Here’s where I must take a pause to encourage reflection upon the reader's relationship to surplus and the idea of abundance} And then there is the variety of flavors… just to list a few Cioccolato Fragola Limone (my fav after dinner) Melone Menta Stracciatella Torrone (AMAZING with honey nougat) Fior di Latte (my fav before dinner) Pistacchio Most are directly connected to a whole food. And then there are fantastical options which blend several different things together. My husband Rory’s favorite here in Alghero is called Mamma Che Buono. Mama that’s GOOD! Imagine if we created our lives to be this stunning display of delightful options all connected to our naturalness. Can you see it now… how every one of these expressions in Selfhood spills over the top in delicious and playfully-messy-surplus?! This next element of divine consumptive union with gelato is subtle. It took me some time to realize what was happening… There is a very specific texture to true gelato eaten in Italy. It’s not solid like normal ice cream. It’s soft and super scoopable. It’s temperature is just so, that it begins to drip down the side as soon as you receive the tasty treasure in your hands. If you fail to consecrate your divine union with this richness in a timely manner, it will simply melt over the edges and what doesn’t stick to your fingers, plops on the ground. What a pity ~ gelato that has failed to claim a succulent mouth. I think here of our creative essence: As humans we all have desires that desire us simultaneously. If we do not take action promptly when those desires are delivered to us, in some capacity or another, they begin to create a sticky mess in our lives. A stagnant life in relationship to desire is like wasted gelato stuck to your hands and all over your clothes. You didn’t even get to enjoy eating it and you’re left with a mess. What if you treated your dreams like gelato? And not just any gelato… your ultimate favorite flavor presented in the most beautiful dish, eaten with a golden spoon. The texture and union with it can only be described as orgasmically sublime. Having not to effort anything other than bringing the creamy goodness to your mouth is nothing less than luxurious. No biting, no chewing because in the moment that you’re warm orifice surrounds the creamy divinity it is already melting into its perfect digestible form. I think here of the moments in life which are sublime. The moments when we're not resisting any aspect of our unfolding experience. It’s like being carried by the Universe and cradled by the divine Mother simultaneously. While ungraspable with the mind it feels like the most natural thing in the world to the whole Being that is You. To extend only naturally-flowing instinctual effort in order to receive the sweetness, is something that has a profound impact on the psyche. It’s the experience of embodied abundance and unconditional nourishment. And finally there is the matter of the surplus. The gelato is purposefully served messily spilling over the edges of whatever vessel provides it a temporary home. Imagine that! Rather than being neat and contained, held within the boundaries of the vessel, it unapologetically towers over the top and extends dangerously over the edges. The temptation is tantalizingly playful. As if it’s saying to you the whole time “come on join me here now! it’s so much fun lose yourself to this! It’s ok to be messy. No one else matters right now but you and me and this enrapturous moment.” Oh to be taken this way!  There is one more element that is extra-ordinary. Lawlessness! Typically gelato is eaten in Italy before dinner! Imagine that. The unruliness of this. These days I take a walk along the waterfront around 4 or 5 o’clock in the evening. Gazing upon the glistening turquoise sea caressing the stone city walls; the breeze and the sunshine like secret ingredients in a mock-tail called “Bliss,” and I imagine what flavor of gelato I might choose today. As I approach the Gelateria I feel like I’m breaking all sorts of rules… Sweets before dinner… Gelato on such a regular basis… Multiple flavors… Making a mess… oh my, Yes please, yes please, please YES! I wonder what it would be like if we all chose to live our life, at least for today, as if it were The Divine Consumptive Union with Gelato? I wonder what it would feel like to live today with this much chosen pleasure; with this much enrapturous surrender into the bliss of the rebellious sublime?
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 Sex is better in Italy... I thought that title might get your attention ;). In all honesty, I'm here in spectacular Sardegna having zero sex! My husband is in Washington finalizing the sale of our home there so that we can complete the purchase of our beautiful Villa here in Sardegna. Not having sex hasn't stopped me from feeling deeply sensual and generally 'turned on' by all of the luscious deliciousness of this special place.
Of all the cultures in all the world it’s most easy to romanticize Italy. The sing-song language that caresses the ears, visions of sun kissed, ripe tomatoes (or breasts) sensuous to the eyes, and the artful beauty nearly everywhere you look. All of these beckon one's Soul into it's desired rhythm; undulations of enjoyment and pleasure for it's own sake. Underneath the obvious romanticized allure of this passionate culture is something central to a life of richness: The prioritization of artfulness and sensuality and true adoration of beauty in all of its many forms. I've never known such connoisseurs of beauty as the Italians. Part of why it’s so easy to fall in love with Italy is because you can ‘feel’ this and it attunes your body to a sensually and the rich expression that naturally overflows from this. Sardegna is it's own particular expression of Italian culture and I'm certain the locals would not like being lumped together with "The Italians" as a whole. So in respect to the uniqueness of this land and it's people I describe the sexiness of Sardegna like this... A place where the food is orgasmic and the sun and sea make love to your body. The natural beauty is a seducer to the senses and the mistral winds blow through the vacuities of a parched soul, opening it to receive the turquoise blue Mediterranean waters of life. |
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