It’s been nearly ten months now since I’ve written anything and I never wrote much before that, on this blog at least. Today, I was reading a blog about making gluten free cinnamon rolls (http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/) and posted a comment to it. It made me think about some questions that have come up for me lately about passions in life and work. Since I hadn’t written in a while and had recently decided to start posting again, I’ve decided to also put my post here. Here it is:
Just this week I had a bit of a hard conversation with someone, in which they mentioned their concern over a lack of passion in my work. At the time, I was engrossed in other bits of what they had said and failed to take note of that particular comment. But after I hung up the phone, that one sentence stuck with me. It set me to thinking a great deal about whether or not passion was lacking from my work life.
Yes, it seems, with not too much reflection that it certainly is. I like what I do at work, but I don’t love it. Not anymore anyway. I just do it, day after day after day, in drudgery, with only little sparks of light now and then. Today, I sat staring out the window thinking about nothing much in particular, when a woman came into the shop where I was sitting. She started talking to the lady at the counter and asked, “What kind of work or passion does she have there?” That got me to really wondering what are my passions? Beyond what I do, what do I love? What sustains my spirit?
The answer–creating. I love being at home and in the kitchen. This is the place where my creative energy comes out most freely. I love to create and food, I realized only today, has become my medium. I have not painted or sewn now in over a year. Why, because I’ve been making my art in the kitchen, sharing it not through sight and touch like my other art, but through smell and taste. I love witnessing the laughter and silent moments of contemplation created by sharing even the simplest of treats.
This is why I love baking, just as so many others have said: it makes people happy. It feeds my family and brings a smile to their faces. It nourishes and sustains them. And, it does the same for me, more in spirit than stomach, as I realize more and more each time I open the oven door.
And, don’t tell my husband, but most days, I’d rather play in the kitchen than work in the yard!
