We learn the basic physics of centripetal force at a young age, perhaps on the spinning apparatus in the playground. The one you have to hold onto for dear life to not be flung off. That was one of my favorite rides, mainly because I loved to run and because I was a sprinter, I could always spin that thing fast enough to get everyone discombobulated.
I didn’t grow up eating salads. I grew up eating vegetables, yes, but not salads. In Korea, vegetables and fruits are served almost as snacks before and after meals, rather than in or as salads with meals. And each dish is prepared with numerous vegetables of some sort, so it never occurred to me to eat a separate salad. It was not necessary.
When I moved back to the States, eating Korean food only was not an option, so my eating habits also had to adapt. I began exploring the world of salads and salad bars and the salad as a part of an overall meal. I found that when eating out it is most common I see salads for salad sake; the leafy greens used have little to no nutritional value and the extras and dressing piled on the salads probably make that salad useless for its original purpose in the end.
So I taught myself how to make robust, filling and healthy salads. In the beginning, I experimented with every type of green and various and sundry ingredients. At some point a friend recommended purchasing a salad spinner. I had seen those at kitchenware stores, so I picked one up and decided to make myself a salad spinner salad.
I took the greens, the tomatoes, cucumbers, all the other toppings, the balsamic vinaigre and put it all in the salad spinner. I sealed the salad spinner and pumped the button that makes the spinner spin. When I opened it up and removed my salad, I was certainly disappointed. Salad spinners were to wick away the water after washing the greens, NOT, as I had thought, to mix the salad. So there I stood, laughing to myself, because I had made a salad that was mashed up against the walls of the spinner and all of the dressing had been wicked away. Who knew there was an entire tool to wick away the water from your salad? Clearly not me. Centripetal force, I see you.
So yes, I am giving away a salad spinner for Day 348 of my 365 Release practice for non-attachment, letting go and change. I’ve kept it because I felt foolish for not knowing what in the world to do with it. Funny, though, that’s even more reason to let it go.
Also, for those who have been asking how they can continue to be a part of my journey even after this project, you can subscribe to my monthly email newsletter here, where I share life lessons, contemplations of awesomeness and updates on projects such as this 365 Release and much more.
[I created the 365 Release Project to practice non-attachment, letting go and change by giving away 1 thing a day for 1 year. The background, vision and guidelines to the 365 RELEASE project are here. The running list of everything I have released is here.]