Personal Time

For a mother with three crying kids, “downtime” might be an hour to read a book … get a manicure … drink a glass of wine … or all three, depending on your income level I assume?

Regardless, everyone needs a “moment” to themselves. The student, the banker, the bartender, and the chef all need a little break every once in a while to prevent burnout.

Some people enjoy a nice cocktail or meal out with a loved one. Others enjoy cooking an elaborate meal or zoning out in front of the TV with a bag of potato chips, but for me, one who is surrounded by food 24/7 I sometimes need a break from ANYTHING food related.

I’m constantly moving, connecting, talking, reading, speaking, cooking, or eating food. I have food dreams. When I run along the West Side Highway, I think about meals, menus, recipes and ideas for food articles or jobs. During my non-work related hours I read food magazines, watch food TV, and write recipes in my diary! It’d be safe to say that I’ve got food on the brain.

It’s also probably also one of the reasons why I’m really good at what I (or what I’m trying to) do in life.

But yes alas, sometimes I do get overwhelmed with all things food. I usually need to inject some sort of “other” factor into the equation to make myself calm again, such as travel, reading, shopping, or going out with friends. Inevitably many of these “others” turn into food ventures because of my sheer love for the topic, BUT I have to learn a little more balance.

Last week I was consumed by food. Party planning for friends, interviewing for jobs, eating out, cooking in, catering this, catering that, etc. and I lost sight of why I love this all so much. I needed a vacation.

With the temptation of jumping on the next departing flight out of Newark, but lacking the monetary means, I can literally taste the bittersweet dreams of daiquiris on a tropical island or sweet sake shots in Japan.

The funny thing is I’m not doing that much. I mean I am, I’m doing many different things, but the lack of routine allows me to go overboard with my own personal food research and experiment. Without a daily gig (at the moment, I’m hoping this changes soon), I have the freedom to devote all my free time in the manner I choose. And guess what this food lover does!? You guess it. So I became overwhelmed.

What I learned through last week’s overload was this: everyday I need to do something non-food related.

That means not running to offset weekend burgers and beers, but because I want to run. It means reading or watching something other than a food magazine, newspaper, or TV show for entertainment, and maybe instead picking up a trashy romance novel where the characters don’t even mention the word “kitchen,” “restaurant,” or “chef” in the plot.

Or it could simply mean booking a flight to somewhere exotic …

I’ve accomplished the first two tasks, and number three should be complete by tomorrow. So in the minutes that it took me to write this blog (again another food related activity) and acknowledge what I’ve learned, I’ve already reverted back to my old ways and begun to think about what I’m making for dinner …

I might be a lost cause …