I went to a wonderfully amazing raw food dinner the other night, with guests….all unknown to me prior to the event. We all came from different parts of the world representing Australia, Germany, Whales, Vietnam, the USA (a New Yorker now living between Bali and Berlin), and well, there was me (my response as to where I am from changes depending on to whom I am speaking, or where I am at the time).

Our gracious host Boris Lauser, a raw food gourmet chef,  provided us with some of the best raw food dishes I have ever tasted. His possession of culinary artistry combined with the great intuition for flavour combination and presentation is remarkable. I was impressed throughout the evening and I could see, feel and taste the love and passion, authenticity and apparent ease with which our host created his composition. (Here is a wonderful video impression of that evening put together by Boris with photos taken by another guest of the evening – a fantastic photographer, khang Nguyen, followed by some of my own photographic attempts to capture this meal below):

Authenticity is key.

Speaking of authenticity, at one point before we began to eat, one of the guests sitting next to me looked at me directly into my eyes and posed a most interesting question-one which I was most certainly not expecting at a dinner party where I assumed that small-talk would prevail.

The question was: So, Paula tell me..what makes you tick?!

I realised at that moment, how infrequently people actually really look at you into your eyes. I mean directly into your eyes and pose honest questions to which they expect honest responses. They may be looking, but hardly really into your eyes-”seeing” the person at question and hardly ever expecting or really wanting a real response. His look took me aback at first, as I felt as if he as peering into my soul. I felt naked and vulnerable. I quickly broke the gaze, sinking my eyes downwards as if embarrassed. In fact I was for some strange reason.

He posed the question once more:

“What makes you tick?!”

I had never been asked that question before, and it definitely hit a nerve within my body. After a while, I smiled and pondered. He honestly wanted to know WHO PAULA IS. He honestly wanted an authentic response.

My response, albeit after a long while was:

“To connect to my essence, being authentic to my self, exploring my creativity in whichever form that may be, whether it be through piano, writing, singing, or dancing. I need to release my creativity in a manner which can feed my soul, while touching others…moving others…creating moments of happiness in the lives of others.

I rambled on and my neighbour nodded his head and listened attentively. I spoke without pausing….and then I smiled and looked directly into my “questioners” eyes and concluded: That is what makes me tick!

I believe that who we are is actually not necessarily what we are doing, nor where we are from, but the motivation behind our decisions and dreams we hold.

When I returned form the evening, filled with and full from the heavenly fragrant raw gourmet food, my thoughts raced on and on reviewing the evening, and the question, preventing me from falling asleep at a reasonable hour.

I thought about the question further and responded to myself saying that: What makes me tick is being able to express my creativity, children smiling and laughing, being able to cook and bake for people, making people smile/happy, working with youth and allowing them to see what greatness they have within!

What would make me really tick is to see a world within which there is no discrimination, where there is peace, and where all is safe. What makes me tick is working towards that vision, and having hope.

My thoughts awakened quite an appetite and in the wee hours of the morning, I scoured my kitchen and found some raw corn chips I had made with my dehydrator several weeks earlier. I ate a few chips, went to bed, had wonderful dreams, and woke up feeling so alive, so inspired and full of plans!

Here is my basic Raw Corn Chip Recipe, (for which you need a dehydrator…sorry for those of you who do not have one) and, think about what makes you tick!

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