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| Banquet Scene with a Lute Player, Nicolas Tournier, 1625 |
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.
I always adore your post, this one really spoke to me...probably because like you, I love food prep, cooking, serving...eating.
ReplyDeleteI am on the hunt for this book now :)
"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.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more excerpts.
ReplyDeleteI'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.
ReplyDeleteBanned 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.
ReplyDeleteOh YEAH!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this today, something I needed at the right now.
ReplyDeletePerfect analogy, Tess.
ReplyDeleteWho 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.
Yes, next time I have a dinner party, I must include a lute player.
ReplyDeleteThe seated man on the left looks exactly like Cro as I remember him.
ReplyDeleteReally? Like Cro? He's even wearing a black beret!
ReplyDeleteHungry, but satisfied and content. Isn't that the lesson? :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful analogy.
ReplyDeleteoh, 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'...............
ReplyDeleteCool. Well said, Tess, and good knowledge. thanks, to epictetus and yourself, for its delivery...
ReplyDeleteWonderful wisdom, ....no need to yearn, envy, or grab...you will get your rightful portion when it is your time. I love this!
ReplyDeleteTess -- your words were terrific about treating one's life like a dinner party. They rang so true! -- barbara
ReplyDeleteWisdom is where you find it! Hunger like Hope drives!..Cheers Mate!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful image!
ReplyDeletethis is so charming.
ReplyDeletelife is a banquet, no?
xxx
Oh I am so hungry too...and this just satisfied me!
ReplyDeleteok. 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......
ReplyDeleteA WUNDERBAR approach to life--as a banquet--especially when I entertain an insatiable hunger for it! GoooD thought, Tess Kincaid!!!
ReplyDeleteI 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?)
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?
ReplyDeleteMay I join you for dinner?
p.s. Isn't the chap on the left of the painting, a good looking fellow!
ReplyDeleteThose are some beautiful thoughts. I'm reminded of the restraint shown at the banquet in the movie "Babette's Feast" --
ReplyDeleteCro, yes, please do, it looks as if you've already joined me!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, funny you mention Babette's Feast, because I almost used a photo from the film to illustrate this post!
ReplyDeleteI want to eat the dinner... I want to be dessert.
ReplyDeleteMarcheline: oo-la-la
ReplyDeleteah.. this is good.
ReplyDeleteMorning Loverly Tess,
ReplyDeleteSpeaking 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
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?
ReplyDeleteAll god wishes.
Good metaphor. And at our big family get-togethers there is always more than enough for everyone. No one leaves the table hungry.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI. Love. This. Post. "Life as a dinner party" is a notion I plan to be preoccupied with for awhile. Thanks for that!
ReplyDelete