Texas Chili

This is the most unique chili recipe I've ever come across. There's three ingredients you wouldn't find in most chilies. Those are dark beer, coffee, and chocolate. I know it sounds crazy, but it works and it's amazing. I wouldn't have never thought these ingredients could be in chili, but I don't know what I don't know. This reminds me of a concept in therapy known as Johari's window. That's a square with four sections that represent what we know about ourselves and what we don't. First we have the open area and that's what we know about ourselves that others don't.

Then we have the hidden area, which is what we don't want others to know about us. Then there's the blind spot, which is what others know about us that we don't know about ourselves. And lastly, there's the unknown, which is what neither ourselves or others know about us. The Johari window model is used to enhance the individual's perception on others. This model is based on two ideas, trust can be acquired by revealing information about you to others and learning about yourselves from their feedback.

This exercise can be hard because it forces us to get feedback that sometimes we'd rather not hear. But if you're able to be vulnerable and resist defensiveness, this gives you an opportunity to get valuable information on what you can improve and how you can ultimately grow. Often people are too hard on themselves and getting this kind of feedback can help people see the good in them that they have a hard time acknowledging. By allowing others to give you intimate feedback, it can help improve the quality of your relationships and the relationship you have with yourself.

And just like with the chili, learning what you don't know can lead to something quite beautiful and in this case, tasty as hell.