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Palmiers.
If you know French patisserie, you most likely know what a palmier is. Savory or sweet, these lovely, delicate puff pastry cookies are layered with either the simplest of ingredients - sugar - or, for the savory inclined, meats, mustards, and cheeses.
As I shared in a recipe posts some years ago (an image of a sweet palmier is below), this French treat is simple and mouth-watering, but it takes
time.
If you are choosing to make your own puff pastry, which I prefer to do (but it is not necessary), the layering of the butter takes three different rolling-and-waiting sessions as the pastry chills in the refrigerator. However, this part of the process is where the magic happens.
I began thinking about this concept and realized it paralleled quite nicely with life. Patience and intention. Application of effort, and then patience with a purpose. Why do we wait? Because we are confident we know what will have the potential to transpire if we do.
Sometimes we get busy with our daily life and the waiting period stretches longer than expected, but the pastry is still there and will maybe even better than it could have been because we gave it more time.
As I celebrated my 40th birthday yesterday, it fell on the fourth snow day of the week here in Bend where we received three feet of snow (no typo this time - 36 inches is correct - Gorgeous and Yikes at the same time). Consequently, I had much time to enjoy my home, my neighborhood and write away in my office working on the blog and reflecting. And it seems to me
that clarity is the key to becoming comfortable with patience.
If we have a recipe, or knowledge of sorts, about what we are trying to build, even if we don't know exactly how it will turn out, we at least have our purpose. And we can live with purpose each day, letting said days unfold as they will as they also contain so many other variables we cannot control. When we discover our purpose, the clarity provides a peace of mind, a contentment and that is a wonderful gift to
give ourselves and those in our lives.
So while I certainly encourage you to make some palmiers in the future (yesterday I made some savory palmiers for my family who drove across the state to spend my birthday with me - so grateful for their efforts), I also encourage you, once you know your purpose, to relax, enjoy and savor the moment you find yourself in right now and again tomorrow and the next day and the next day because this calm you bring to
your life is magical.
Speaking of magic, this week's Motivational Monday post focused on how to create your own magic, and then I slipped into the style topic of wardrobe essentials with this week's Style Inspiration post. There is much more to enjoy in this week's newsletter, including the annual birthday post which brings me to a thank you I feel will not be sufficient enough but here it goes.
I most definitely want to take a moment to extend my gratitude to TSLL readers. A tremendous thank you, in fact, because I was overwhelmed in the most wonderful way yesterday with so many birthday wishes and words of support, kindness and inspiration. From the comments left on the blog as
well as on Instagram and Facebook, thank you for taking the time to say hello, some of you sharing your own journeys and all of you sending kindness and love. It honestly meant more than you will ever know.
And now to March. Yes, March has arrived and with it spring will be here soon, but before it does, this week's TSLL newsletter. Wishing you a wonderful weekend, and until next Friday, I'll see you on the blog.
