Thank you for listening. I want to share with you snippets of my kitchen life. These recordings are inspired by the ones I exchange with my family on a daily basis. They live in Brazil. We trade audio messages (via WhatsApp) instead of texting or talking on the phone. It’s a simple way for us to drop into each other’s days, and maintain some steady contact.
My mom tells me she just got home and cooked green bananas and I tell her I am having garlic pasta for dinner. It is not formal, not attached to any particular point where we left off last time. These communications are a stream of conscience and come from a desire to connect, I guess.
The kitchen is a place I piece together life daily. The kitchen is home base for me, the place I digest all the things that happen, all the thoughts that occur. This is my thinking spot, and I welcome you to join it.
This morning I told mom I was having cereal. She messaged me back, “I want to sell the apartment.” I followed up with a call.
I have intentions of writing a long letter, or say I will call every night, or save the topic for a heart-to-heart talk for when we see each other, but these slices of life segments are so essential. I can’t save it up for big grand moments. Love is everyday stitching– would we grow apart if we did not share these mundane moments? Would we lose our stories if they don’t get repeated back to us?
We live apart but we echo each other. I hope that these ones I speak and write to you connect us – even though we are strangers – in a similar fashion.
Today’s vignette: Borscht
Story Cooking 
Suggestion: forget intro + music. At this length (10-20% of total timing), they create a significant listening overhead, and a sense of formality, which both interfere with the immediacy I think you want to create.
I thought I had replied earlier… I tried without the intro today… just made some changes to the text as I do want to make sure people get some context. I appreciate the comment.
Hi, I love the concept of exchanging audio messages with your family. It sounds like a great way to stay connected and share stories from your daily lives. It’s also really cool how the kitchen is your “thinking spot” and how it helps you digest everything that is going on in your life. Do you find that the conversations you have with your family are more meaningful and impactful than the ones you have with people who live close by?
Hi Kathy,
I would say so in many ways, my family and close friends can read between my lines and probably tell by the tone of my voice when things are different. I do use voice messages with other friends locally using Signal and WhatsApp and again, being able to laugh, cry or sound surprised does enrich communication for me. Emojis are helpful in text, but I find that a recorded message much better