Dear Reader:

Today there are so many different brands of soup …but I stay faithful to my tried and true basic Campbell soups when eating at home. My childhood is so tied into these soups …representing comfort… yummy grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. My favorite meal as a child.

Then when I married into the Dingle family I discovered that the original Campbell kids logo soups featured the paper dolls from the 1920’s cut-outs of Dolly Dingle and Billy Bump… then the soups became even more endearing.

Only Mark Nepo could connect spilled soup with ” personalizing ” and ” projecting.”

Haven’t we all ” personalized” in different daily situations… it covers superstitions too.

For example:

When Walsh was playing high school football he was a wide receiver… as I watched the football sail through the air towards him, I would cup my hands and blow into them three times with my eyes closed-since it seemed to work more times than not… I began to feel that somehow I could control the fate of the catch … not realizing what a burden I was putting on myself …mistakenly thinking I could control an universal outcome. .. not slightly related to football.

Projecting is the opposite… we attribute our fears and frustrations on others. For example if we grew up afraid of dogs we might overly protect our children from dogs by shielding them or chasing dogs away if they get too close. Unconsciously making the next generation afraid of dogs for a lifetime.

Most of us don’t even realize we are projecting or personalizing until it is brought to our attention, Nepo says:

” Humans have spilled soup for ages and made excuses for it … most of the excuses are rather ridiculous… so if we want to make a difference in this world… simply say ” I’m sorry I spilled the soup.”

So until tomorrow…We all need to own our humanness with self kindness and make amends as needed.

True confession-as I am typing this post I keep finding that red spot of tomato soup ( I had for lunch) on my sweatshirt! Not earth shattering but I am admitting my human folly so I can accept mistakes as stepping stones to deeper awareness and appreciation of a fulfilled life. 🤣

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh