Turn Off the Soup

I love making bean stews and big pots of soup where I throw in whatever I can find in the refrigerator that looks edible. Those stews feed me for days during the winter: a late-night snack, a filling breakfast. They can simmer for days, too, depending on how busy I am and whether or not I am able to throw in all the ingredients at the same time. This reminds me of my work since I do tend to work in bits and pieces. I throw my creative ideas into a soup and let them simmer, sometimes for much too long. The hard work is turning the soup off and deciding that the percolating process needs to shift into something more concrete.