Did anybody listen to the Trainspotting soundtrack as much as I did when I was a teenager? I loved that movie, so random and crazy and raw. I could never get the intro out of my head, and, 20 years later, I still completely agree with these words…how they despise the American/British dream, the entirety of it all. That what we work for does not matter. Stuff, status, ego…it does not matter. Granted, don’t do heroin. But do question why we’re here, what we’re doing, who we’re becoming.
My biggest takeaway from the film was Lou Reed’s Perfect Day. I adore that song, I really dig that entire soundtrack. But that song. It just gets to you. I hear it often. The piano, the words, the melody. The perfect day. Take a minute to soak it in. What is your perfect day? What’s your perfect day.
That’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently, consuming myself with desire planning workshops, finding your purpose meditations, reading nothing but purpose-driven books and blogs. Danielle Laporte. Elizabeth Gilbert. Chris Guillebeau. Martha Beck. The late, truly great, Scott Dinsmore. It’s all-consuming, this perfect-driven, who am I, where am I going, who do I want to become, what’s my purpose, life.
I have gone through this guided meditation many times now, both in actual meditation settings, in workshops, and at home, alone. Planning my day, of where I would want to be if I could be anywhere. Discovering who is at my core, why I’m here, what I should be doing with my life. What my future self would say. What my eulogy would say. What is my purpose, and what is my perfect day.
Every time I do this, my perfect day goes back to the following:
Wake up early, read, write, watch the sun rise. Meditate. Yoga. Hike. Cook. Friends and family. Dogs. Read and write more. Eat outside, in the warm sun, with a view of the mountains. Walk. Bookstore. Coffee shop. Hippie town. Music. Laugh. Love. Fire. Sleep under the stars.
On this day, I would eat my favorite meal, my perfect day meal, a combination of my favorite foods and favorite colors: orangey-brown sweet potatoes, rusty chipotle chili peppers, bright orange cayenne, clover green cilantro, green avocados. Colors of the earth, of the Southwest, of my favorite destinations.
What’s your perfect day? Describe it, in detail. Every minute. Focus in. From the minute you wake up to the minute you go to sleep. Where are you, what are you wearing, who are you with, what are you doing? Write it out.
Another option: view yourself 10 years from now…what do you look like, what are you wearing, where are you? Who are you with? What do people call you? What can you smell? What can you taste? What advice would your future self give to you today? Listen.
Or ever better yet, write your eulogy. Do it. It’s strange at first. Do it anyway. How do you want to be remembered? Take 10 minutes. Set a timer. Get a journal or paper. Write. Only you will see this. Put it all down. How do you want to be remembered?
And now, are you working on being that person? Doing these things? If not, start today. Do one little thing today to get that perfect day into your life. To get that ideal 10 year from now self into your life. Become that perfect day. Soak it up. You have the choice…it’s your life. Go and live your perfect day. One step at a time. There’s no need to rush.
Perfect Day Sweet Potato Burgers
Makes 8 patties
Cook time 1 hour
Hands-on time 20 minutes
Ingredients
8 hamburger buns
2 sweet potatoes
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
1/4 cup peanut butter (sub tahini if allergic to nuts)
1 tbsp. ground flax seeds
2 tbsp. hemp hearts
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1/2 c. cilantro, loosely packed
2 tbsp. olive oil
Toppings
Chipotle sauce (recipe below)
Sliced avocado
Carmelized onions
Tomatoes
Directions
Heat the oven to 425. Wash and prick the sweet potatoes several times with a fork. Place on a pan covered in foil and roast for 50 minutes, turning half way through, until potatoes are soft. When the potatoes are finished roasting, remove from oven and set aside to cool off for about 15 minutes. Slice, remove the flesh, and place the potato in a large bowl.
Rinse and drain the beans and add to the bowl. Add the peanut butter, ground flax, hemp hearts, cayenne and cilantro.
Mash all ingredients together. Form into patties.
Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Place the patties on the pan and cook for about 5 minutes until browned. Flip and add the remaining olive oil to the pan so they don’t stick, cooking a final 5 minutes.
Plate the buns, add the patties, and top with your favorite ingredients.
Chipotle Sauce
1/2 c. Veganaise
2 tbsp. adobo sauce (from the can of chiles)
1 chipotle adobo chile, chopped
Stir all ingredients, adding more or less sauce to taste.
Note: You can easily cut this recipe in half, but I like to cook in bulk to save time throughout my busy weeks. These patties will stay fresh in the fridge for about 3 days.
A great side with these burgers (as shown in the pic) is nutty cauliflower: rinse and chop 1/2 head of cauliflower, place in frying pan on medium heat and top with about 1 tbsp. of olive oil. Then top with about 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast, adding more olive oil if necessary. Cook 15 minutes, stirring often.
These colors!
