Sometimes, writing is hard.
The words don’t want to cooperate and the page stays blank no matter how many words I put on it.
Each idea I have lasts about half a page and then fizzles into emptiness. One voice in my head is sure that I don’t know what I’m talking about, while another one is equally sure that whatever I’m saying, I’ve already said before (or someone else has said it, only better).
While those voices argue with each other, I stare at the page and nothing continues to come together.
My foggy brain is just not really up to the task of putting together something insightful or engaging. It’s times like this that I just want to give in to my favourite cloudy-minded passtime.
I like to look at cookbooks.
Reading cookbooks doesn’t require the mental acuity of reading other kinds of books. I don’t have to retain ideas or make sense of anything. Instead, I have pages and pages of beautiful pictures (only interested in reading cookbooks with appetizing pictures) that can inspire me to dream about what I will make on the days I feel well enough.
Baking and cooking are creative outlets for me. As much as I love to read cookbooks, I can’t (or more likely won't) follow a recipe exactly. Recipes are there as encouragement. They’re an enthusiastic guide saying, “hey, this sounds delicious, now, what can you do to make it even better?”
I live in a family where we need to have meals that are nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, legume-free (you get the idea), but rather than that feeling like a barrier, to me it feels like an invitation to get even more creative. I think I have at least 6 gluten free flours in my pantry.)
When many activities feel like closed doors, making fun and delicious food continues to be an open window. Someone wise once said, “food is the ingredient that binds us together.” and I think they had it right.
But, I don’t think it has to be food.
I think it’s more the act of making things and sharing them that really brings us together. Food is easy to share and most of us are less self-conscious about sharing food than we are about sharing other kinds of art or crafts. There isn’t the same level of imposter syndrome or insecurity. (Imagine all the fun and joy that would be out there if we all just regularly shared paintings, songs, poems, crocheted animals, bird feeders… with our friends and family.)
Whatever the creative outlet, the joy of imagining, making, and sharing is the same.
Next time, your brain is too muddled to be useful, give yourself a break and a bit of inspiration by perusing a beautiful book full of possibilities (the library has soooo many waiting for you. Remember, free books!).
