The other night, I was eating Chinese food, and it was soooooooooooo good. I made a comment about how good the food is, and my husband said, off-handedly, "The secret is in the sauce."
Sure, there were fresh vegetables, and the chicken had no gristle. The presentation was pleasing, but the secret is in the sauce. It made the meal special.
I sometimes wonder if that is what is the secret to life in general, the secret being in the sauce. I mean, we construct our lives to be lives that work for us. Perhaps some feel that having lots of money is important – so they skimp on personal relationships (don't spend the time connecting to spouse, parents, children. Or others want a service-oriented life (think of the clergy) – so they put lots of effort into helping others. We focus on the large things (family, job, mission), just like a restaurant focuses on the different meats and vegetables.
But perhaps in life our overall outlook will color how fulfilled we are, much like the sauce can generally make even a so-so Chinese meal seem not only palatable, but something you want to order again and again.
Maybe in order to have a life worth living, one's overall outlook is important, much more important than IQ, EQ or beauty. I have known people who seem to never catch any of the breaks in life – they lose a spouse too early, are stuck in a dead-end job, or just are not that bright. But that does not seem to have as much of an influence on the quality of their life as their outlook.
I had a grandmother who figured out that the secret was in the sauce. If we were stuck in traffic for two hours because of an accident, and the mercury in the thermometer was dancing around 100, she would come up with a game to pass the time, and what could have been a disastrous car-ride seemed to be nearly as much fun as when we finally made it to the beach, where we could make sand castles, bury small children, or cool one's toes.
The secret is indeed in the sauce.
About Leesa
LeesaI started blogging to improve my writing; I really did. Painters don't start with masterpieces – they start on scraps of paper, and even when planning a great work, they do many other drawings in preparation. I think writing is the same. You just don't start and finish a novel by merrily typing into the computer; you experiment. Blogging is sort of like a writer's doodling. So this is my scratch pad of sorts. This is less than scraps of paper actually, just 1s and 0s on your computer screen.
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Notes on this Blog
Some random notes about this blog:
1. Schedule. I started writing this blog in 1995, and over the past few years, I have tried to write every workday. Then in the summer of 2008, I quit writing for a month or so. Now I try writing three times per week. The quality waxes and wanes. Sorry about that.
2. Leesa's Mailbag. I am trying a new weekly/monthly/semi-annual blog entry called "Leesa's Mailbag". Over the last few years, people have emailed me with questions, and I have answered them on an individual basis. Now, I think I will answer them on a blog entry. Perhaps Friday. Not sure I will get enough questions to do this often, but I will try to answer questions. Sort of an Ann Landers with attitude. Just write to the email address below.
3. My Stories. Yeah, I have a few erotic stories here. I know, they are not all that good, but they were fun to write. Don't read them if this offends you (and they represent less than 1% of the content here). These stories have elements of truth and fantasy, some more true than others. Complain about something that is a bit more substantive if you must complain. I have lots of faults.
4. Layout. My layout is clean and simple. You can tell me it is boring, and you would be right. I just don't want pink flowers and weird colors to get in the way of my words. I have customized my drop-down menus under "Quick Links" and "Blog Roll" so I had to use a little HTML.
Finally, there are loads of better bloggers here. If you like what you read, thanks. If you don't, thanks for dropping by (and I mean this). A few people who comment on my work add immensely to the experience.
1. Schedule. I started writing this blog in 1995, and over the past few years, I have tried to write every workday. Then in the summer of 2008, I quit writing for a month or so. Now I try writing three times per week. The quality waxes and wanes. Sorry about that.
2. Leesa's Mailbag. I am trying a new weekly/monthly/semi-annual blog entry called "Leesa's Mailbag". Over the last few years, people have emailed me with questions, and I have answered them on an individual basis. Now, I think I will answer them on a blog entry. Perhaps Friday. Not sure I will get enough questions to do this often, but I will try to answer questions. Sort of an Ann Landers with attitude. Just write to the email address below.
3. My Stories. Yeah, I have a few erotic stories here. I know, they are not all that good, but they were fun to write. Don't read them if this offends you (and they represent less than 1% of the content here). These stories have elements of truth and fantasy, some more true than others. Complain about something that is a bit more substantive if you must complain. I have lots of faults.4. Layout. My layout is clean and simple. You can tell me it is boring, and you would be right. I just don't want pink flowers and weird colors to get in the way of my words. I have customized my drop-down menus under "Quick Links" and "Blog Roll" so I had to use a little HTML.
Finally, there are loads of better bloggers here. If you like what you read, thanks. If you don't, thanks for dropping by (and I mean this). A few people who comment on my work add immensely to the experience.
Counter and Links
So I can keep track of the wonderful people who link to my humble site:
This site has been viewed about this many times (see below). If you divide this number by π (pi), you get the number of times I have entertained people.
This site has been viewed about this many times (see below). If you divide this number by π (pi), you get the number of times I have entertained people.
17 comments:
As usual Lisa, a nice post from the simple sauce of life.
Totally agree.
But the secret to the sauce, is there is no secret. (heisted from the all knowing Kung Fu Panda) ;)
nice post Leesa.
Larry: And you misspelled my name? Or did you think you were writing to another blogger?
Under: Thanks, sweetie.
Xmichra: I sometimes wonder if "nice post" is someone walking on egg shells or if it was really a nice post. I appreciate the kind words, nonetheless.
Interesting post to start the week. I had to read it a few times before I decided to disagree with you. In a really good meal, the sauce can add the final bang, but if you start with a bad cut of meat that is under cooked or overcooked then the sauce will only cover it up for a little while. So as it is in life. If the person is just plain bad or is a negative personality, then the sauce will only cover it up for awhile. I think your grandmother's positive personality gave her the ability to create the special sauce she needed to keep you kids in the car happy.
Good start to the week.
Leesa aka Lisa, I have soo many Lisa/Leesa's/Leasa's in my life, its hard to keep them straight LOL
I am just Spot as in baddogspot, aka pi-rant, LarryLilly
simple huh?
No question that the secret is always in the sauce. French haute cuisine is strictly about sauces. But, I like your life metaphor here, too.
Without sauce everything would be too bland.
Some sauce is spicy, some is sweet. In other instances, the sauce is just there to bring out the flavor in everything else.
Tim: Okay, you are talking about a rare exception. But an average cut of meat can be enhanced with the sauce.
Larry: Not that simple.
Ian: Thanks, sweetie.
WIXY: I like the different kinds of sauce to extend the metaphor.
just a different way of looking at it. That's all
This is SO true. It's not the chicken, it's what you put ON the chicken that makes it. The spice of life, if you will. :-)
I agree!
I am not sure if it is egg shell walking for others. But for me, i generally won't tell you that this is a nice post unless i liked the post and have nothing really to contribute, other than my acknowledgement of like for the post.
heh. I should have just said, no, I meant it ws a nice post and i enjoyed it :)
HOT SAUCE!?
I love this post, I really love this post. In fact I am going to link it to my blog I just wrote. This is so true! Thank you Leesa.
Tim: and I enjoy different ways of looking at things.
LiLu: Yeah, everything does not have to taste like chicken with a special sauce.
Sheen: Thanks, sweetie.
Xmichra: I was still feeling a bit smallish when I wrote the first comment response.
Malach: the spice of life, huh?
SSC: You flatter me.
From the words of Bea Arthur, she said, "To do something you love in life is a beautiful thing. To be a success at it is 'gravy'." Same concept really.
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