Ep. 15 Snake & Tiger Energy for 2025
In the Midst of Chaos, We Create: A Journey to Find Courage and Connection
“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
When I start to get a bit down (just generally, wherever my mind takes me), it helps me to remember the creatives and those that dare to share their truth, spread their light and just show up however they dream up this world. In my mind, they do so without fear. They choose to be perfectly authentically aligned with their truest expression of self because there simply is no other option. They possess a knowledge of self, which is the guiding ethos of their existence. The critics, cynics, tyrants and ignorants be damned.
As I said, in my mind; they choose to show up without fear.
But, that’s not true. It’s never true. Because the bravest things we do are because of, in spite of and always in the face of fear.
I’m not gonna lie, I am bit scared. But not in the… monster under the bed kinda way. Not in the weepy, I’m gonna run and hide because I can’t imagine how I could ever possibly handle the awful scenarios that we’re faced with. Because it’s here. The moment is now. Are you running upstairs from the serial killer coming in the sliding glass backdoor downstairs? Are you separating from the group? Because they always die first. We stick together. I spoke to fear a bit back in October 2024 in this newsletter episode and I am really grateful that I’ve taken it upon myself to continue to have this essential and important ongoing conversation. It’s not always easy.
So, what does my scared feel like now? If I take it out and look at it, sit with it, it actually feels like strength. It does. Like a hidden spring of tiger energy. It feels like — a gift to be scared, look at fear, worries, irrational or not; straight in the face and not look away. Not being afraid to feel all the pain, the hurting, the grieving, the actual shock of the reality of our situation. You/we/I don’t get to choose which parts of ourselves or others to love. It’s an all or nothing thing. And, I’m still working this one out a bit, but I think that until we can love that within ourselves which we hide, we will forever be running from it.
So, without this opportunity to be scared, I/we might not get the chance to choose to show up as the true warrior that lives in all of us. It just has to be so.
You could take this narrative into the ‘hero’s journey’ storyline, but something about that feels somewhat secular. I don’t think we’re looking for just one of us to shine. I find the ‘hero’ to be very solitary in my mind. Sure, you could get a bit metaphysical and speak to the hero inside all of us fighting our own inner battle, our own inner demons and winning in that war of light. But, the warrior - the warrior continues to fight. Continues to show up for all the battles, because that’s just the way it goes. It doesn’t stop, we don’t stop — we learn from each blow, each defeat and get stronger with grace and resolve in our fortitude.
I’m still trying to put the words in place. We’re in the thick of it now and I’m actively grieving and processing in real time, as I know many of us are.
Wednesday, January 29th is Chinese New Year. Year of the wood snake.
I found this article from South China Morning Post to be quick, helpful and informative if you’re at all curious about how the year of the wood snake in 2025 will affect your Chinese zodiac. There’s a whole ‘shed your old skin’ kinda vibe.
Canada Things
Being in Canada during this early period of 2025 was an intentional choice. In no way do I like to think of it as running away from reality, but — re Ep. 14, a choice of what I choose to take with me into this year, and of course the yang to the yin, leave behind. I will say, it’s quite an experience being across the border to the north and getting into conversations in British Columbia breweries with generations old locals hearing their take on the ongoings of the states chaos to the south of them.
There was this sweet woman we met named Sherlea (pronounced ‘Shirley’) who, every time her companion Bill spoke about how stupid Americans must be and that to some degree, it serves us right for being so arrogant that something like what is happening in the country has transpired — she would gently reach for his flailing passionate arms and say, “but that is her home…”.
My home; America. The saddest part is, I didn’t even feel the slightest tinge of… what was I supposed to be feeling? Offended? Sad? I’m already heartbroken. Every time we travel I try my gosh darn hardest to be anything but ‘American’, but that is what I am.
I was so emotionally numb to everything at this point (it was a long week of emotions), I was able to actually listen to this mans perspective and in my silent, patient listening I allowed him space to get out of him whatever he was holding. As the conversation came to a natural shift with an opportunity to speak - I simply shared my desire to keep doing my work, my light, my art, my laughter. Share my joy. Keep thinking of ways to contribute to my community, to the planet. How can I keep myself grounded, loving, at peace? That’s my responsibility. That’s my work.
The chaos that is erupting from what feels like every sector of our lives has no place in my heart. No place in my mind. No place in my life. And, absolutely not deserving of a single ounce of my precious, precious peace.
That my friends, is where the tiger energy gets all ignited. That is where the warrior in me wakes up and says, ‘oh - hey gurl, let’s slay some shit here because we’ve got work to do. You don’t have time for bull shit’.
So I guess, I dunno - battle call? Bat signal? Raise your swords as you will. But don’t give into the darkness. Remember, there’s a lot, a lot of beauty out there and you can be part of it too.
So, what’s been for supper?
1. I made a really awesome batch of sourdough discard naan. You should too.
When we first arrived, somehow my first instinct was, we need bread. I can make it! Apparently, I can travel 3000 miles to another country and I’m still the same person I was in San Diego making bread. What a concept. As I started my feeding regimen for my SD starter, I couldn’t help but think of all the new wild Canadian yeast my bread will be enriched with! Without a lot of time, and a need for bread… what’s an easy quick bread type item? I had a really great Greek yogurt I’d picked up in the fridge so naturally, Naan came to mind.
It was fun, easy and delicious. Really delicious. Shockingly, satisfyingly delicious. Honestly loves - I really encourage you to make some soup and give it a go.
If you are a sourdough discard fan, here’s the recipe I used:
HEY! If you’re not a sourdough starter person, you should still try it. Here’s some recipes I recommend:
Non-sourdough Naan with yeast (I haven’t made this and honestly think you could skip the egg, but see how it goes)
Vegan Naan (always trust a Minimalist Baker recipe)
Cooks Notes:
I made the dough in the morning and let it ferment on the counter all day. It was easy and timing was great, worked out beautifully. That night we actually ended up going out and I ate a giant bowl of veggie poutine and I was actually too tired to make the naan. I pre-divided the dough balls and got exactly the yield called. Popped them in the fridge overnight. The next day I left the pre-portioned-overnight-fridge-dough-balls on the counter for maybe a few hours till room temp and then cooked on hot dry skillet. They came out great. I saved a few of the pre-portioned dough balls in the fridge for a day or so and baked fresh naan only when we needed it.
10/10 recommend. Would do it again. If you wanna chat all things naan, hit me up.
2. Red Lentil Soups. Lots of Lentils.
Specifically based off this recipe gifted from the NYT Cooking. Always a solid go to and I’ve made it enough that I can sub in, tweek, add, subtract what I have or want on hand. One of my first purchases was a 5lb bag of red lentils. I could eat lentils in any form for eons.
I also grabbed a bag of brown lentils the other day I made a big batch of for salads. I think I finally figured out how to cook a batch without overcooking them to mush! Thanks to this Substacker Claire de Boer, I’ll be forever grateful to use as my go-to cook method. It’s been fun just to add to this n’ that for a bit of fiber + protein.
Cooks notes on red lentil soup:
I made the above soup with harissa paste vs. tomato paste. I’ve made this 2x now, once with some chopped tomato, once without. I now always add a good 2+ inches of a knob of grated ginger. I’m using veggie bouillon cubes I brought with me from San Diego for the broth. I added (and almost always do) peas for protein and some chopped carrots for goodness. On more than one occasion I’ve added tofu, but not this time. But, I did add some sweet potatoes that I’m a huge fan of in this recipe.
4. The most labor intensive chocolate chip cookies of my life. Because… well, it’s how I show people I care.
We have a few guests coming while we’re here & my signature move at home is fresh chocolate chip cookies upon arrival, straight from the oven. So naturally, I’ve got to make the cookies for the freezer stash. This’ll be great. Oh, I have no mixer?…
I can totally cream butter and sugar by hand, I guess. I’ve seen it done maybe once before in real life. How hard can it be? I left the butter out all day, I left the two eggs out to room temp and I got to creaming. It’s no joke. I had to go little by little with the sugar to incorporate properly and was grateful for the arm workout. Oh, and this is the biggest bowl we have….
The chocolate
At the store, what did I decide? So, the chocolate chips I would have purchased I deemed were too expensive. The other chocolate chip offerings I found to be sub-par given the list of unnecessary ingredients on the bag. *I know what I’ll do* I’ll buy a giant really good bar of Belgium chocolate and chop it up. I like a chocolate chuck cookie over a chip anyway, who doesn’t? It’s way more elegant and interesting. And, why not add another task to the activity?
When was the last time you chopped up an entire chocolate bar?? Oh. My. Gosh. It was more work than the creaming! Honestly though, it was worth it.
Because they came out absolutely fucking delicious. I’ll get into detail about my favorite things about Canada and the differences I love compared to the states at a later date. But, for now I will say I do think that the vanilla extract flavoring is different here, which leads to a subtle different tasting cookie. I mean, all extracts do vary depending on their makeup, but this one has… some very distinctive flavor that always reminds me of Canada treats. It’s a specific sweetness.
So with that, If you want to go warm your heart and possibly the hearts of other loved ones, because everyone likes a fresh chocolate chip cookie, here’s the recipe:
Sending love & light. Remember your battle cry. Cheers all.
— Justine xo
