Hello…and welcome!
I’m grateful you're here at Verses & Veggies.
I’m Shane, and this is where my love for good food and deep thoughts come together.
Sometimes, I share my journey through the meals I cook. Other times, I share my thoughts as I try to make sense of the world. Let’s be honest; Nothing feeds the mind quite like a good meal.
Lately, I’ve come to appreciate cooking at home. It’s one of the ways I take care of myself—being responsible for what I put into my body. Some days, I make soup. On other days, it’s pasta. I just cook what feels right and whatever’s left in the fridge.
But sometimes, I indulge in a few chips or a drink on a hot year-round day in Bangkok—as long as I know what I’m doing and keep myself in check. After all, the seasons here are just ‘Hot’ and ‘Hot with Rain’. 😆🙄
Cooking, to me, is more than just feeding my family. It’s therapy—a mise en place—a grounding ritual that keeps my life together.
Mise en place? Yes! That’s just my fancy way of saying, “I like chopping things while contemplating life.” This is when life feels a little lighter and clearer. 🔪🥒🤨
Verses & Veggies is where I experiment with food and learn about ingredients, explore life by applying ethics to my daily routine, and improve my writing ✍️ based on what I’ve learned and experienced, which helps me get to know and understand myself better.
Sometimes, life is all over the place—tears, laughter, and nothing certain. I get so caught up in the whirlwind of it all that I forget to check in with myself, to notice the hard feelings creeping in. And that’s when I start losing my mind.
In all that, applying ethics, to me, is to be kind to myself 💙 and daring to accept my negative feelings with awareness and clarity even when I want to yell at the world.
As I go through life, I’ve learned to recognize when my emotions feel like a wreck. Instead of resisting them, I roll with them. I embrace my vulnerabilities with courage, take ownership of those feelings of hardship, and remind myself that I’m experiencing what it truly means to be human. This is a fact I should never forget, every single day. Even though I'm fragile, I strive to be resilient. I get to choose how to respond. This is my way of being kind to myself. 💪🌻
Along the way, I practice gratitude by recognizing my authentic values—a sense of basic goodness, generosity, and humility I was born with. I believe we all have these qualities within us. I work to strengthen them and use them meaningfully in every aspect of my life.
In this self-reflection, I’ve learned to love myself—imperfections and all. I can choose to walk on the sunny side of life. I welcome the chaos and see the beauty of life in its uncertainty and everything in between. 🛤️✨
Verses & Veggies is where I grow and express myself, build meaningful connections, and cultivate a positive outlook on the world—one meal at a time. 😋
