Bread and Wine, by Shauna Niequist

You know those books that you pick up and then just can’t put down.  Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist was one of those books.  The book is a collection of stories about life around the table.  It is about food, but it more about life, with all its ups, downs, ins, and outs.  Shauna shares herself in a way that really allows you to see inside of her, while also seeing inside of yourself.  I connected with her on a very deep level, despite the fact that I have never met her. 

This post is going to be a little different than most, because instead of sharing my words, I am going to share hers.   Here is some of what she had to say: 

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“The extra pounds didn’t matter, as I look back, but the shame that came with those extra pounds was like an infectious disease.  That’s what I remember.  And so these days, my mind and my heart are focused less on the pounds and more on what it means to live without shame, to exchange that heavy and corrosive self-loathing for courage and freedom and gratitude.  Some days I do just that, and some days I don’t, and that seems to be just exactly how life is.”  (pg 37)

“I believe every person should be able to make the simple foods that nourish them, that feel familiar and comforting, that tell the story of who they are.  Each one of us should be able to nourish ourselves in the most basic way and to create meals and traditions around the table that tell the story of who we are to the people we care about.  And the only way to get there is start where you are.” (pg 40)

“I want to cultivate a deep sense of gratitude, of groundedness, of enough, even while I’m longing for something more.”  (pg 59)   

“Cooking is no different.  There are rock stars—people whose skill or perspective propels them to the top of their fields.  But when you ask them how they got there, they always tell you a story about working in a diner or making pasta with a grandmother.  They tell you about repetition, knife, heat, salt, butter.”  (pg 66)

“I tend to believe the worst about myself—I could never do this, I’m not that kind of person, I’ll always be like this, or I’ll never be able to get over that.  But then I think about that day….and I remember that people can change.  That I can change.  That the same old refrain can get rewritten, and that all it takes sometimes is paying attention to your tears, and ignoring that voice that tries to hypnotize us with “next year, next year, next year.”  (pg 80)

“I’ve long wanted to be better at accepting help, better at admitting weakness, better at trusting that people love me not for what I can do but just because they do.  It would have been lovely to learn those things on my own terms, when I wanted to, the way I wanted to.  But we never grow until the pain level gets high enough.”  (pg 120)

I urge you to buy the book or check it out from the library.  In addition to the stories, there are fabulous recipes throughout.  I laughed and cried off and on during the entire reading, and started again when I picked it up to write this post.  It is a must read, especially for women.  It is truth-telling and vulnerability like you haven’t experienced it before.