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Life Arts    H4'ed 3/29/26  

Simmering down; how to benefit from our anger


Gary Lindorff
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Don't boil, but be angry.

There is unhealthy fear and there is productive fear.

I learned that yesterday.

So is there unhealthy anger and productive anger.

We should be angry these days.

Some of the sh*t that is coming down makes my blood boil.

The triggers are different for all of us,

The things that bring us to a boil.

But when you feel yourself about to reach that boiling point

Bring it down to a simmer.

Don't stop being angry necessarily.

Anger is a legitimate motivator.

But just turn it down slightly to simmer.

Simmering is boiling's super power.

We don't cook a soup by boiling the sh*t out of it,

We turn the stove down to between 185 - 205 degrees.

(Boiling is 212 degrees, that's something I remember

From chemistry 101.)

Simmering produces small, gentle bubbles

That barely break the surface,

Ideal for tenderizing foods (in this case,

Raw or otherwise undigestible feelings

Of being disrespected,

Violated,

Betrayed,

Bullied,

Ignored,

Used or abused,

Vilified,

Manipulated,

Cheated . . .

Whatever feeling

Or stew of feelings is coming to a boil,

All we have to do is a quick exercise of mindfulness.

Sit, breathe, fix a cup of tea, sit on the deck

(Just to remind yourself of nature)

Or go for a walk, which can be 200 steps.

That might be all it takes

To turn down the boil to a simmer

So our anger can cook without boiling over.

How about this: Generally, we don't boil tea leaves directly in water,

But we pour hot water over them and let them steep.

Boiling tea leaves can cause them

To release too many tannins

Resulting in a bitter, astringent taste.

I think that people who boil over alot

Go through life with a bitter taste in their mouths.

My point is, these days, it is only human

To be really pissed. If we aren't pissed,

Maybe we're in denial or depressed.

So, let's be angry, but let us learn to dial it back

A few degrees so that we might use that anger

To cook up a new world or world-vision.

Are you with me?


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Gary Lindorff is a poet, writer, blogger and author of five nonfiction books, three collections of poetry, "Children to the Mountain", "The Last recurrent Dream" (Two Plum Press), "Conversations with Poetry (coauthored with Tom Cowan), and (more...)
 

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