I love spices – part of the allure of travel includes exploring another country’s cuisine with its different spices. For my own cooking, I use lots of home-grown herbs and spices: onions and garlic in baskets, dried basil, tarragon, sage, parsley, and oregano in small glass jars; powdered dried orange zest and basil pesto kept in the freezer.
Dictionary.com defines spice as any pungent or aromatic substance of vegetable origin (like pepper, cinnamon, or cloves), used as a seasoning or preservative; something that gives zest; a piquant or interesting element or quality; a small quantity or trace of something.
It is that “piquant or interesting” spicy quality I am enthralled by, the question “What is the spice of life?”
In the sci-fi series “Dune” by Frank Herbert, “the spice” (or melange) is an addictive substance that gives people longevity and psychic powers. It is very rare and extremely dangerous to harvest. Once you are addicted to spice, you cannot let go of it. Withdrawal will kill you. In Herbert’s world, spice is essential for interstellar travel and galactic commerce (Wikipedia).
So what is it that constitutes spice in our life? What adds that buoyant extra to our ordinary existence that we are all looking for – interest, excitement, mystery, adventure, marvel, awe, bliss? I suppose the degree of spice could range from something that gives us a good belly laugh to a peak experience of deep love or profound insight.
What happens when spice is lacking and we are facing the same tasteless dish every day – same old routine, same old faces, same old conversations? We grow bored, restless, dissatisfied, and probably depressed. We look for anything to lift us out of this almost unbearable dullness – a pill, alcohol, a sports event, TV shows highlighting other people’s fictional but exciting lives, a fast car or motorcycle, creating some kind of drama in our family or circle of friends – anything to escape the boredom of ordinary life.
Some people actually like routines, are comforted by them and would be reluctant to add spice to their life, especially an unfamiliar one. But for most of us, what would our world be like without that Marco Polo spirit, the courage to risk falling off the edges of the horizon?
There are the truly large, once-in-a-lifetime adventures: Leaving one’s home country behind to move to a new place in the world; setting off on a walk across the continent, riding a motorcycle around the world, quitting a secure job to try a totally different lifestyle are just a few examples I can think of.
But we don’t (always) have to travel the seven seas or into outer space to add spice to our life. Small doses of spice often do the trick.
For me, a walk in the woods and an occasional encounter with a wild animal are cayenne-pepper hot; exploring a botanical garden or a small stream spell ginger and coriander adventure; inviting a friend for coffee and exploring interesting topics or talking deeply about our inner experiences add cinnamon and clove warmth to my day; watching a sunset paint wild colors across the horizon sprinkles Italian seasoning on my evening; seeing my orchids bloom in the bleakest part of winter splashes my sun-deprived days with rose water and lavender perfume; losing myself in a really good book or exceptional movie adds Chinese Five Spice depth and complexity; following a meaningful discussion in my Facebook feed adds genuine vanilla flavor to my day; discovering an artist I’d never heard of before infuses my own creativity with the best garam masala.
Such experiences are some of my life’s spices at the moment. There have been other spices during earlier phases of my life and I suspect that moving into my elder years will surprise and delight me with others still unknown.
What about yours?
Ailsa’s Travel Theme this week: Spice.
What a delightful post. You mentioned two things that I’ve found to be true: it’s not necessary to find life’s spice only in the large and extravagant experiences, and what pleases us does change as we age. Cherishing the smaller, the slower, and the more subtle isn’t necessarily the end of all pleasure. Only a touch of garlic or clove can make a dish just right.
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Yes, you state so succinctly what I was trying to convey. Sometimes, the greatest pleasures are hidden in the seemingly small events and experiences.
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So true.
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Love the colorful photos and the thought-provoking content. I, too, look for the spice in life at every available opportunity. If we only open our eyes we can see such wonder all around us.
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Hi Xina – your Camino trip must have qualified as a major spice 🙂 Happy New Year to you and yours.
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Dear Annette may you have a new year filled with wonder and joy. 🙂
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Thank you, Nomzi. Wishing you a successful, happy and healthy New Year!
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❤
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Exactly. Cherish the smallest moments because they are the spice of life. Wonderful post, Annette. Happy New Year from Ometepe Island.
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Happy New Year, Debbie!
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Debbie – would love to see a post on New Year’s celebration in your neck of the woods…no pressure, though. Enjoy whatever you are doing to transition into the new year.
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Wonderful blog about the spice of life. Hope you find some new exotics this coming year, while holding onto the familiar ones.
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I love that, Claudia – searching for new ones while treasuring the old ones. Lovely.
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Love the thoughts, but all those photos – now I’m hungry! Thanks for the good post.
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Thank you, Anne Louise, for reading and commenting. Hope you found something “spicy” to eat :-).
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Enjoyed your thoughts and I will think about them for a bit…Have a wonderful 2016.
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Wishing you a “spicy” New Year, Charlie 🙂
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What beautiful colors, thanks for sharing them!
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My pleasure, Maria.
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I love the way you open this post ~ new ideas, cultures and people are truly a spice of life, and not a better way to experience it than with a new cuisine. A beautiful way to bring in the New Year ~ great photo, story and colors. Cheers to a great 2016.
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Thank you for visiting (and following), Randall. I am looking forward to seeing your posts this year, so thrilled to have discovered your blog.
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I too thank you for visiting and I look forward to where ’16 will take us 🙂
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A fresh way to start the new year. The connecting points and associations work beautifully. Thanks for following my blog! #gratitude
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Thank you, Catherine, delighted to know you and your work.
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One of the joys of cooking or baking process is the aroma of the spices added to the dish. Happy New Year to you!
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So true, Karen. Happy New Year to you, too.
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Some of our favorite, as we live in Mexico!
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