Vitamina de Mamão com Laranja
Today, for no specific reason, I woke up kind of sad. I know, you’re gonna say come on! There are so many bad things that could happen and didn’t, why on earth are you feeling sad? Get up and smile!
You’ll probably say that because you want to encourage me, but you also might say that because you are terrified of sadness. Didn’t smile today? Where is Valium? Want to cry all day? Call the therapist. Sad is bad, sad is contagious. Sad is not attractive. Sad doesn’t sell.
The truth is nothing really happened to make me sad. Everything is normal. But even when I am sad, things are also normal. Because being sad is just as legitimate as being happy. Sad is not depressed. Depressed is so much more serious than sad.
When I feel sad it’s because I am paying attention to my own feelings. It could come from being disappointed with someone, or being tired of the same old, or feeling vulnerable, or a million other reasons.
We all make an effort to run away or revert the picture but we seldom make the effort to face it and brave it. Of course it is much better to be happy than sad, but the greatest of all would be if we could just allow ourselves to feel whatever it is that we are feeling.
Perhaps I am just too demanding on my self, always trying to maintain a certain level of euphoria. I know I feel sad when I don’t feel like cooking. I just need to retrieve, stay quiet, and be alone. I’ll be back. We all come back, usually stronger. Ready to face the next wave of sadness, whenever that might be. Hopefully not so soon.
Alleluia, I hear my stomach! It’s growling. It’s alive! I need to eat. The natural necessity of having to prepare something to feed myself might do the trick. What can lift me up in this morning? My husband went to Costco this past weekend and bought Papayas from Brazil. Bingo! Papaya is tropical, bright, buttery, and has a complex sweetness. The fruit never found big roles in dessert, but in Brazil, Suco de Mamão com Laranja (Papaya and Orange Smoothie) is as classic as it gets.
Off to the kitchen I go. Cooking is my medicine. What’s yours?
Vitamina de Mamão com Laranja (Orange-Papaya Smoothie)
1 small papaya, seeded and peeled (between 120-150 g of flesh)
1 cup orange juice (about 2 oranges)
Place the papaya and orange juice in a blender and puree until smooth. If you’d like a little less thick, adjust with orange juice. Pour into a tall glass and serve immediately.
