Thursday, May 5, 2016

Cutting and Cutting

I cut and I cut and I cut--not video this time, but vegetables. Once cut, they will spend hours in a pot, melding together to make a soup, which, hopefully, I and others will enjoy.

I am careful to follow the instructions--thinly sliced, or cubed, cleaned, or peeled, or diced. After all, if you follow the instructions of the recipe, your dish will end up looking like the pretty picture and tasting the way the reviews sound, right?

When I am cutting video, I rarely have such specific instructions. While there may be goals to be met, the method for meeting those is largely up to me. I cut not just with my hands, but with my gut. I make my decisions based on feel, not just on a picture or a "recipe." It is empowering, and freeing, and at times, daunting.

So today, as I cut vegetables, I enjoy the process of simply cutting to specifications, and taking on faith that the result will be true to the picture. Today, I don't have to think about how or why. I simply have to follow the instructions, one by one, until all the requisite pieces have made it into the pot. And then, if all goes well, I can enjoy the fruits (okay, vegetables, actually) of my labors. In editing, cutting well is about the tiny choices you make. But in cooking, and in life, cutting well is sometimes just about following the instructions.

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