The other night I was chopping vegetables for a minestrone (from Alice Waters wonderful new book called The Art of Simple Food). I was angry about something — I can’t remember what — but three times the knife landed on my left hand thumbnail, causing little cuts. I am fortunate I did not actually cut my fingers, but I realized after Cut Number 3 that I was angry and I needed to stop being angry and simply focus on the task at hand: chopping vegetables.
Immediately the anger vanished and I chopped. And chopped. I spent an hour chopping butternut squash, onions, carrots, curly kale, celery, leeks, sage and rosemary. Then I cooked the minestrone which was heavenly.
Lesson of the day: when you are angry, you can’t do anything properly because the energy of the anger takes your concentration away from the task at hand.
Men often make up in wrath what they want in reason.