Tuesday, May 17, 2011

life as a dinner

Banquet Scene with a Lute Player, Nicolas Tournier, 1625
I have a copy of The Art of Living, Epictetus, The Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness, a new interpretation by Sharon Lebell, here on my desk.  Yes, you guessed it.  I picked it up at Gee-Dub, my local Goodwill store for a dollar.  It's a collection of 93, one-page bits of wisdom written in exile by Epictetus, who taught in Rome until the year 94, when Emperor Domintian banished philosophers from the city.  The book reminds me a bit of the little paperback Our Daily Bread devotionals my grandfather used to read.

One bit of wisdom that reached out and grabbed me, most likely because I adore the process of food preparation, serving, and especially eating, was the notion of thinking of your life as a dinner party. Imagine a beautiful dinner where you would behave graciously.  When dishes are passed to you, extend your hand and help yourself to a moderate portion.  If a dish should pass you by, enjoy what is already on your plate.  Or, if the dish hasn't been passed to you yet, patiently wait your turn.  There is no need to yearn, envy, or grab. You will get your rightful portion when it is your time.  I'm thinking of approaching life as a banquet today.  Gosh, I'm hungry.

36 comments:

  1. I always adore your post, this one really spoke to me...probably because like you, I love food prep, cooking, serving...eating.

    I am on the hunt for this book now :)

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  2. "Life as a dinner" could be interesting for me this week since I can't smell right now. With this congestion, meals have not been quite the same: so much of eating is tied to scents in the kitchen, I've learned. This is good enough reason to want to get better. I love eating.

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  3. Looking forward to more excerpts.

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  4. I'm really trying Tess, but when I'm hungry I notice people taking more than they should and am impatient if the dish isn't gliding as swiftly towards me as I think it should be.

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  5. Banned the philosophers huh? There must be a good story behind that one. The painting is interesting. Views of life from hundreds of years past are intriguing.

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  6. Thanks for this today, something I needed at the right now.

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  7. Perfect analogy, Tess.

    Who knew Epictetus was exiled? And because he was a philosopher? How pedestrian!

    Seems like a very wise man to me, one who knew the meaning of true gratitude.

    Wouldn't you love to have dinner with a lute player just once? In fact, the Tournier painting looks like an entire group of people I'd love to have dinner with.

    Now I'm hungry, too.

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  8. Yes, next time I have a dinner party, I must include a lute player.

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  9. The seated man on the left looks exactly like Cro as I remember him.

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  10. Really? Like Cro? He's even wearing a black beret!

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  11. Hungry, but satisfied and content. Isn't that the lesson? :)

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  12. oh, i know i know! it all sounds so nice and proper and all! however, have you noticed who that is sitting beside you at the banquet table??? i'm just sayin'...............

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  13. Cool. Well said, Tess, and good knowledge. thanks, to epictetus and yourself, for its delivery...

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  14. Wonderful wisdom, ....no need to yearn, envy, or grab...you will get your rightful portion when it is your time. I love this!

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  15. Tess -- your words were terrific about treating one's life like a dinner party. They rang so true! -- barbara

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  16. Wisdom is where you find it! Hunger like Hope drives!..Cheers Mate!

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  17. this is so charming.

    life is a banquet, no?
    xxx

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  18. Oh I am so hungry too...and this just satisfied me!

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  19. ok. i admit it. it's hard for me to concentrate on epictetus when my head is still in that oven fried chicken post from a few days ago......

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  20. A WUNDERBAR approach to life--as a banquet--especially when I entertain an insatiable hunger for it! GoooD thought, Tess Kincaid!!!

    I believe softly playing appropriate Strauss Waltzes, a bit of Mozart, some Laura's Theme (Dr Zhivago) in the background (ambiance) by a violin could be as enhancing to a dinner party as a lute! Just my opinion, Tess--grin!

    And so that girl with the poultry in front of her is NOT the self-portrait we all await. (Hey, I won't mention it again for at least a month, OK?)

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  21. I love the idea of the Emperor 'banishing all philosophers' from Rome. Couldn't we bring back this idea? Banish all parking attendants, tax collectors, devotees of political correctness?

    May I join you for dinner?

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  22. p.s. Isn't the chap on the left of the painting, a good looking fellow!

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  23. Those are some beautiful thoughts. I'm reminded of the restraint shown at the banquet in the movie "Babette's Feast" --

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  24. Cro, yes, please do, it looks as if you've already joined me!

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  25. Elizabeth, funny you mention Babette's Feast, because I almost used a photo from the film to illustrate this post!

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  26. I want to eat the dinner... I want to be dessert.

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  27. Morning Loverly Tess,

    Speaking of food and banquets- Have you seen the PBS program on Fannie Farmer's Last Supper? If not, I think you'd savor it.

    Also, I wanted to thank you for stopping by my blog. I am honored.

    Marjorie

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  28. Oh PLEASE use this picture for one of your admirable Magpie prompts! It looks loaded with good stories and poems. For example . . what's the guest with the eyeglass/lens doing? How does a lute player compete with all that lovely grub?
    All god wishes.

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  29. Good metaphor. And at our big family get-togethers there is always more than enough for everyone. No one leaves the table hungry.

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  30. I was a follower of Epictetus. He said that if we did not attach to objects we would not grieve when we lost them. He said that if he did not say "my bowl", he would not feel loss when it broke, but then he went on to say that if he did not regard his slave as his own, he would not grieve when the slave died. This led me to suspect his philosophy! Still, those Romans had a different culture.

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  31. I. Love. This. Post. "Life as a dinner party" is a notion I plan to be preoccupied with for awhile. Thanks for that!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)