Girl Scouts & Hedonism

Listening to NPR today I caught this delightful tidbit, it appears the Girl Scouts updated their badges for the 21st Century. Among the new merit-worthy activities: 'The Science of Happiness." Above is the new badge design. I wonder what delightful cocktails will be made in that beaker? Something with mint, I suspect.

In any case I'd love to see what projects are undertaken to achieve this one. In the meantime, I'll continue working on my own.

Cheers

Garden to Table - Adventures in Mixology

My Packing Crate Persona - Courtesy of Heidi from Finishing the Hat

We had another “craft day” at the house so I got to conduct a few more cocktail experiments. I was actually asked to come up with a cocktail for an upcoming ‘Garden to Table” edition of Supper Club 600 an invention of my friend Heidi who has been exploring her own enlightened hedonism in her blog Finishing the Hat.  She has been hosting a series of delicious dinners that clock in at 600 calories. Check out her blog for some great recipes and personal inspiration. The particular dinner was also co-sponsored by The Urb Garden Girls who have been growing fresh herbs and vegetables in the urban spaces of Long Beach.

The concept was a 600 calorie meal prepared from the harvest of our local gardens, I would be adding some optional extra calories with a cocktail or two. With that in mind, I wanted to do something fresh, using some of the ingredients of our own urban garden.

Recently I had a friend serve a Basil, Ginger Martini that she had crafted by making her own cucumber infused gin. I was quite impressed by the blend of flavors and knew I wanted to try my hand at working with that cucumber and gin combination. I figured the herbal qualities of gin would work great as a garden themed cocktail, especially mixed with fresh herbs from the garden. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to make my own cucumber infused gin though, so I had to experiment with muddling.

Whenever possible start with fresh ingrediants

I picked up some Persian cucumbers at Trader Joes – small sweat & crunchy, to be my base. Five to Six quarter inch slices into the shaker with a few fresh herbs and a splash of simple syrup was the starting point for all my drink experiments. The cucumber slices gave off a satisfying crunch when I crushed them, and added an extraordinary color to the overall drink, seeing that, I knew I couldn’t really mess with anything but clear liquors.

I loved the color of the crushed cucumber

My first attempt was just a simple press of cucumbers and basil; it mixed subtly with the gin, but seemed to be missing some punch. My first instinct was to reach for the familiar citrus and I juiced half a lime into the cocktail, but the effect was overpowering to the cucumber, I tried to “sweeten” it down a bit with some Cointreau but now the cucumber was lost completely. The cucumber called for a sweeter drink, which is certainly a challenge for me, as I prefer my cocktails dry.

Prepping the next cocktail at the outdoor bar - courtesy of Christy & Ted

I moved back and forth between basil and mint. One of my initial tasters mistook the sweetened cucumber for melon, which planted the idea that perhaps some Midori would be a good addition. I even joined a crafting contingent on a quick trip to the local Costco but that turned up none. As such, my mint variation became a sort of cucumber gin Mint Julep. It was okay, and my tasters seemed to like it, but I struggled with this one a bit more.

The Basil Ginger seemed far more appealing to me, more spicy than sweet. I grated fresh ginger into the mix, cut back on the simple syrup – just enough to moisten the muddle – and added a half ounce of Canton Ginger to 2 and a half ounces of gin. Once I garnished it with some crystallized ginger, I knew this would be one of the cocktails I’d serve.

The Final Basil Ginger Variation as served at the Supper Club  600 dinner

For the mint variation, I kept thinking about adding some Midori, so during the week I picked up a bottle to do some last minute experimentation. The Midori while sweet, still had its own kick without taking anything away from the cucumber. I successfully tested it again with Amy, one of the Urb Garden Girls and that gave me the green light to go with this variation for the Garden to Table.

At the event itself I had a great time, to be sure I spent a fair amount of time at the bar, muddling the fresh ingredients for each cocktail but for me that was just another hedonistic indulgence. I love a good cocktail, but I love sharing a good cocktail even more. Perhaps this is my way of doing service for others. Exhausting, fun, satisfying – yeah this was a great event and I was happy to be invited to contribute.

The Full Supper Club 600 meal, along with the final version of  myCucumber Mint Midori Gin Julep

I do invite you to check out the blogs of my collaborators and see what they are doing to live happier, more fulfilling lives – and maybe explore how you might do the same.

Till next time, Cheers!

Why Hedonism?

Recently, in articles about hedonism (yeah they exist, and yes I do read them), the term “eudemonia” keeps coming up. Usually it goes something like this:

“The Greek term eudemonia is often mistranslated to mean ‘happiness,’ when in reality it encompassed much more than happiness; more accurately the term refers to state of fulfillment…”

Inevitably, it is contrasted with “hedonism” already presumed to be “wrong” and consequently “lesser than” eudemonia:

“The pursuit of pleasure is merely hedonism, whereas true fulfillment and ‘eudemonia’ can only be obtained by…”

And here is where you fill in the blank with the author’s particular belief as to what truly provides happiness and fulfillment e.g. God, service to others, kindness, etc. But whatever the conclusion, hedonism is consistently regarded an inadequate pursuit to any right minded individual.

Epicurus - The Original Hedonist

Returning to the Greeks though, you’ll find the likes of Epicurus arguing that the path to eudemonia is through the pursuit of pleasure. So while the Greeks may have had these distinct terms, they didn't consider them mutually exclusive.

I know I can be loose with my terms of hedonism, pleasure, and the pursuit of happiness, but I guess my objective with this hedonism project it’s to achieve eudemonia – fulfillment – and yes, even enlightenment.

So why Hedonism, why use that term for my pursuit? Well, first off who wants to have to explain the term eudemonia every time you use it? Second, I think it actually better describes what I am doing in my approach – That is, once you get past the simplistic definitions of hedonism.

I think part of my hedonism is a reaction against asceticism – the notion that enlightenment comes to those who deny and overcome their desires. Whether through oaths of chastity or poverty, it seems widely accepted that eliminating these “distractions” of desire somehow enables a “purer” sense of being. I believe the Buddhists view desire as the source of suffering, and that to eliminate suffering one must naturally eliminate desire.

Buddha ultimately gave up the ascetic life,
but was he also a hedonist?

Now, the Buddhists may be right. This may well be the way to enlightenment (or Nirvana if you're a Buddhist).  Still I wonder if there might also be another path. This ascetic way of thinking seems like a byproduct of a culture of scarcity; the notion that most desires remain unsatisfied, or when fulfilled for one, necessitates their being denied to someone else. If I eat that slice of pie no one else gets that slice.

Hedonism, or enlightened hedonism as I’ve come to term it, instead comes from a culture of abundance. I’ve been clear that don’t think it’s a possible pursuit before one’s basic needs are met. But those are taken care of desires and pleasures fulfilled do not necessarily take away from the desires or pleasures of others. Actually they can be grown, shared, and increased with others through social interactions. Perhaps one can become enlightened by leading an ascetic life, but I think the same might be true for someone pursuing life as a connoisseur.

When people ordinarily use the term “hedonism,” I think “pleasure” is defined too simplistically -  that they all ultimately reduce down to getting wealthy, famous, or laid. Those desires have their place, but I think our desires are far more complex than that. More importantly they often are at odds with each other. To me, this is where their value lies. Confronting the contradictions in our desire force us to make those existential decisions that define who we are.

A quick example from last weeks’ cocktail quest – Champagne cocktail #3, a attempt to make a lemon based champagne cocktail. On the surface this doesn’t sound all that significant, but take a look at some of the desires that drove this quest:

Could a Failed Cocktail
Lead to Enlightenment?

• A desire to improve my skills in mixology and the use of champagne
• A desire Learn about Limoncello, a liquor I’ve never worked with
•  A desire serve others by being a good host, providing good drink and entertainment
• A desire to feed my own ego for receiving praise for what I thought would be a sure winner of a cocktail
• A desire to be seen as an expert mixologist
• A desire to simply enjoy the pleasurable buzz of a cocktail.

Now the cocktail was a failure. It was a drink whose parts were best enjoyed separately. So while I may have satisfied a few of the desires noted above, I also failed to satisfy some. Did I come out ahead in the decision to attempt this cocktail? I certainly learned something from the experiment, and what I learned will help me be a better mixologist in the future, and better satisfy those desires. Does that make me more enlightened? Or would I have been more enlightened to have not engaged in the experiment at all and just served my guests tap water or just ignored them altogether while I chanted in the next room? Yeah, enlightened or not I think the later would have just made me a pretentious prick.

It’s the decisions I make that define who I am, and I don’t think I can make authentic decisions without acknowledging my desires – all of them, the lazy ones, the self-conscious ones, the one’s that just want to get drunk, along with the one’s that want to share with others, and help satisfy their needs and desires. Heck, were I religious, I think the desire to serve God, would also have to be a hedonistic quest for it to be a sincere one.

Simply put, hedonism is my path to eudemonia – or at least the one I’ve chosen to follow.

Cheers

Checking In - The Pursuit of Happiness

I’ve been engaging in a number of hedon inducing adventures lately, so I thought it time to check in and see the impact of these spikes of fun. Looking at my weekly mappiness, it seems that while still volatile, I hit an all time weekly high, crossing the 80% mark. Not bad. Now the question is, can I sustain it? Is there a hedon hangover in my future? What's a reasonable happiness level? All good questions - perhaps I'll even answer some as I continue this project.

Happiness on the rise, but can I sustain it?

In the meantime I came across this article in the Chicago Tribune (Study of happiness is great, but why am I still bummed out?) which gives me some additional hope for success in my endeavors. However it does start with an anecdote illustrating the maxim: The best way to be happy is not to think about whether you are happy. This, if true, destines my rational hedonism project here to failure. Fortunately, the article moves on to mention some interesting biological work going on in the study of happiness.

Buddha Brain or the Happiness Trap

There were a couple noteworthy references in the article that caught my eye: The first called out the work of Rick Hanson, author of “Buddha’s Brain.” He asserts that we can condition our brains to become “happiness traps,” by savoring our moments of pleasure and happiness. Perhaps this is a bit like positive affirmations. By repeating a statement you come to believe it, act on it, and ultimately become it. If that’s true, then perhaps my work here is actually a contributing factor to my increased happiness; I not only savor my happy moments, I also take time to relive hem a little in their retelling. Well, I certainly hope that is true.

The second reference was to  study that showed that people become happier after 50 – a milestone date that is fast approaching for me. The suggested reason for this, is that with age comes better managed expectations along with more moderate aspirations. I can certainly get behind better management of expectations as a contributing factor to ongoing happiness. However, that last part - moderate aspirations - seems to imply that perhaps we just grow content with our dullness. I hope I can avoid that fate, and keep doing fun and interesting things.

So is the pursuit of happiness a fools quest? Well, this fool plans to carry on a while longer,

Cheers

Adventures in Hedonism – Photo Shoot

On thing that tend to generate a lot of hedons for me, is to engage in creative projects. Recently, a friend proposed participating in a 30-day photo challenge – a photo a day on list of daily topics.

The Challenge that started it all - 8 days later

We started late but with a growing bunch of creative participants, the submissions have been fun and clever.

Day 1 - Self Portrait in Car Wash

While I started out just taking quick snaps from my cell phone, I’ve been having more and more fun, thinking of different ways to approach the topics, setting up shots, and playing with all those camera settings I usually ignore. Then there are those topics that inspire an adventure…

30 Day Photo Challenge – Day 4: Favorite color

Yeah, that has all the makings of a rather dull photo – find an object or two in your favorite color and take a pic. However, I have a certain specific  favorite color –it's blue, electric blue - specifically the electric blue of airport taxi lights. Now, I suppose I could have found a substitute. Blue reflectors are typically used to mark fire hydrant locations, squad cars sometimes have an electric blue in their flasher ensemble, and somewhere I think I still have my pair of electric blue spandex…

Many Years Ago in a Far Away Place - My Pants were Electric Blue

But I live in Long Beach; we have an airport here, and more importantly the vantage point of Signal Hill that should afford a nice view of the airport at night, so I should be able see all those electric blue taxi-ways.

Next thing I know I’m in the car with Lisa and the dogs headed for Signal Hill. We parked and headed down a service road to get a clear view of the airport through the tree line and I snapped my first pics.

View from Signal Hill - Tiny string of Blue Lights

Unfortunately, while I had a good view of the airport, those blues lights, even when concentrated in certain patches, comprised a small fraction of the total image. I tried several camera settings zooming in to where I could capture the most blue, but the results weren't that satisfactory. Even at the highest zoom, those lights but were dots on the horizon.

View from Signal Hill - better exposure but less Blue

I thought perhaps a time exposure would do, letting the blue bleed in intensity, but lacking a tripod, of any other good surface to keep my camera stationary I found I couldn’t keep a clear focus. Of course this was my first accidental discovery of how I might just capture that blue in the best light. The blur of my unsteady hand had an effect of painting with light, so now I started doing time exposures deliberately moving the camera in certain patterns to wash the blue over the image. I liked the effect, but now was wondering if somehow I could get closer to the runway.

View from Signal Hill - The less steady my hand, the more Blue

Back in the car and down the hill, we started a slow surveillance around the perimeter of the airport. The airport businesses obscured most of the sight lines, but we found a service entrance with just chain link and barbed wire, hardly a barrier for a camera. Out of the car and pressed against the fence I tried my luck again to capture a field of electric blue – all the while wondering how long before the Department of Homeland Security might come and shut me down for the night.

Best spot to take a picture - don't tell DHS

Planes so close you could almost touch them

Best not to linger...

We stopped at a few locations around the airport. I didn’t want to stay too long in one place, an while I got closer to the lights at the fence, I still liked the effect of painting with the time exposure. They were like a blend of electric Rothko and Pollock, with a little Kandinsky thrown in.

Looks a bit like a physics experiment

I see a shark in this one

I swear this one has electric blue monkeys line dancing

I was quite happy with my end product, happier still over the whole adventure or stalking the airport, and happy to play in this whole Photo Challenge. 

My Day 4 Submission

I hope there's more adventures to come, and hope if you haven't done so yet, that you take on this challenge and see what adventures it take you on.

Cheers

Link to my 30-Day Album
Link to my out takes