The Joy of Dining

Last week, in between meetings and phone calls while at work, I took a moment to check my inbox.  Usually I quickly browse through my emails mentally noting whether something warrants more than a second to read, whether I should trash it, or whether I should star and save for later.  It’s a quick process and unfortunately most emails receive only a perfunctory review.  However, while I was quickly browsing over an email from The Kitchn (which usually provides some stellar recipes), I was swept away with a wonderful post written by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan, the heart and soul of the blog (amazingly, her husband is Maxwell, the founder of Apartment Therapy).  Not only is it beautifully and poetically written, but it really reminded me of the importance of enjoying the ritual of dining.  When my boyfriend and I sit down for dinner, often times right in front of the television, we rarely take advantage of the opportunity to reflect on the food we are eating or on the day that we have had or just on the opportunity to be together.  These days, dining is rarely seen as a distraction free environment. However, reading Sara Kate’s post reminded me that I should not only take those moments and enjoy them for their simplicity, but also, to respect the physical space of dining.  Our “dining table” is hardly that.  Usually it’s filled with paper work or books.  Currently it is housing my seedlings.  However it is hard to refute the correlation between where you eat and the amount of distractions you face while eating.  I know some nights we are just happy to throw together a quick meal and plop down.  However I hope at those times I can remember to take the opportunity to sit distraction free and enjoy the company of those that I am with.