For Everything There is a Season

1There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

9What do workers gain from their toil? 10I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yeta no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

– Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

After much discernment and prayer, I have decided that the season for The Local Cook has come to an end. It has been an incredible journey, and I would like to thank you for taking it with me.

I started this blog to help me learn how to cook and perhaps lose weight, and to promote eating locally. I have definitely learned a lot about cooking, but ironically, instead of helping me accomplish my goals of cooking more and losing weight, it has become a stumbling block for me.

Instead of thinking, “what can I make for dinner?” I find myself thinking, “what can I make that I can blog about?” And as I have learned from my health/nutrition coach, surrounding myself with all manner of conflicting information about what is or is not healthy is not helping me find my true balance and develop a healthy relationship with food. I have made incredible internal progress when I am able to forget about my “Local Cook” persona and just make something simple for dinner. When I quiet those “real food blogger” voices of judgement and simply focus on what I know will make me feel the best, I am able to go ahead and use those bagged nonorganic frozen vegetables to go along with the venison instead of feeling guilty about using nonlocal nonorganic green beans and giving up and ordering pizza.

In addition to taking a different direction personally, I am also taking a different direction professionally. I continue with the same full time job, but with my free time instead of blogging here I will be working to build my business of helping small business owners and nonprofits establish marketing plans, social media presence, and strategic planning.

When my health coach asked me earlier this year what I had to let go of in order to take hold of something new, a still, small voice said The Local Cook. I resisted. It’s fun to blog! I get free stuff! I like my online blogger friends! But the voice grew. And as I look to the new year, I know it’s time.

Don’t worry, I know that many of you use this site as a sort of commentary  for Simply in Season, so I will keep the content online. Someday I may even make it a bit easier to navigate the archives. For now, though, I will simply let it be.

Namaste.