“Call me Ishmael” (file under No Moby here, just Dick!)

When Melville was writing “Moby Dick” I wonder if he knew just how great a novel it was to become. Given the events of the last few days I feel that the opening line to “Moby Dick” and indeed the character of Ishmael do best explain not only me but also where I am in life.

Many times you have heard me say in my own creative way or echoing the thoughts of Anthony Bourdain that we cooks are a strange breed. We are the miscreants, the outcasts, and the ones that don’t fit into the pretty little boxes that Malvina Reynolds sang about;

“Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses all went to the university
Where they were put in boxes and they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and there's lawyers, and business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course and drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp and then to the university
Where they are put in boxes and they come out all the same.

And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.”

I’ve never, as anyone that knows me can attest, fit into any box, let alone a little one. And I guess that’s why this morning I used the first line of “Moby Dick” to describe how I was feeling.

So please call me Ishmael. For by identifying at this moment with Ishmael I am engaging my inner creativity and survival instinct to help me through this period in my life. In leaving Reservation I made a mistake. One which I am now paying the price for. However, I know that I will eventually find a place that I am supposed to be. In the meantime, I am happy to let Ahab guide me on his quest.

Is any of this making sense to you? It makes sense to me. It’s the only thing that I’ve been thinking of since first thing this morning. I woke up the first time at three thirty and could not get back to sleep until five. Sleeping then until around seven.

I guess I realize that I went to high school and refused to be put in a box. I went to University and refused to be put in a box. I did a million different jobs and refused to be put in a box. And now, after all that I am in a box of my own making. One which empowers me, one which reveals more to me about character, integrity, passion and dreams than I care to admit right now. But I assure you that someday I will.

So while I am not floating around aimlessly with Ahab right now I am clearly stuck on his boat. Together we will search for Moby and I will eventually find my way back to the shores that I am meant to be on. Feet firmly planted in the soil, like a seed, waiting to be enriched, nurtured, so that I may become… more.

Which incidentally leads into my next blog… helping my friend L make an anniversary dinner for her and her man.

Mitch Albom once said; “The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM