The Power of Soy Sauce
How making intentions stems from staying in the present
Hello Friends! Happy 2025! Over the last few years, I have transitioned from the jump into the new year with a resolution mindset to one of easing in and setting intentions early in the year. Truly, I go more by the seasonal wheel of the year and feel that the new year really begins for me after Samhain, and then I utilize the darker early and mid-winter days to approach the Gregorian calendar new year more softly.
This slower process allows me to stay more present with less self-imposed pressure. For me, it is a very intentional approach that doesn’t feel quite so overwhelming, and as a result, means that I will better stick to my goals. Over the next few posts, I will tackle how I’ve broken this process down, in the hopes that it might give you some permission to be less rigid in your own ‘resolution’ making. Let’s look at the value of staying present to make intentions for yourself.
B and I watch a little television in the evenings after supper. One of my favorites is “The Chef’s Table” on Netflix. The overall feeling of this show is so relaxing and rich in history with a deep love and respect for food. Last night we watched an episode from 2017 about Jeong Kwan, a Seon Buddhist1 nun from South Korea. Not only was this a love story of simple temple food, but it was also an allegory about staying in the present moment.
“Soy sauce makes me excited just thinking about it. Every food is recreated by soy sauce. Soybeans, salt, and water, in harmony, through time. It is the basis of seasonings, the foundation. There are sauces aged five years, ten years, aged for one hundred years. These kinds of soy sauces are passed down for generations. They are heirlooms.
If you look into yourself, you see past, present, and future. You see that time revolves endlessly. You can see past from the present. By looking into myself, I see my grandmother, my mother, the elders in the temple, and me. As a result, by making soy sauce, I am reliving them. It’s not important who or when. What is important is that I’m doing it in the present.
I use soy sauce, and I acknowledge its importance. It is no longer just me that’s doing things. It’s me in the past, in the present, and even in the future".”
Jeong Kwan
These beautiful words soaked into me as she spoke and a great sense of peace and understanding washed over me. Encompassing everyone and all of the lessons that have come before you into your present will, in turn, create your future (harmony, through time).
Resolution-making is purely looking ahead, and setting fast-paced goals for our fast-paced society. The ‘if I do this by this date, I can check it off’ mentality often leads to giving up on things before they are started due to overwhelm or frustration. What if we took more time in the present? What if we didn’t rush to make a box to check but reflected on what would make our lives richer, and take baby steps getting there?
Every day is a gift, and there doesn't need to be a drop-dead date to start a new habit, mindset, etc. Any day can be day one, so take a moment, breathe, look into yourself, and go gently. Allow your presence in the moment to be an heirloom that you pass down, so the generations that follow can benefit from the richness of a life taken more intentionally.
Until next time,
