Your journey
Life’s a piece of cake
Consider each day in your life as a piece of cake, even if they’re not. Each portion is necessary and without, the final cake can’t be complete. Our existence (and cake) are both a whole lot bigger than the sum of their parts EG the whole cake is far more complex than the individual ingredients I’ve mixed together to make it. The eggs, flour, butter and sugar would all still exist, but in a very boring way compared to a fluffy sponge form.
But, here’s the thing with cake. You can’t just hey presto it out of thin air. To get from a series of separate ingredients to a big slice, there’s no denying it, I have to get my hands dirty (and the work surface, and maybe even my clothes too). I am the creator of my cakey finale. Through conscious effort, it’s the ingredients that I choose to put in that make it. It’s my decision making along the way that determines the cherry-topped final product.
Occasionally, cake and life, aren’t perfectly fluffy and light. We can have days that are difficult, challenging, draining, upsetting and the rest. Perhaps my oven is hotter on one side, so some pieces come out more of a golden brown than the others. Here I have a choice. I can either see these as burnt, in-edible and throw them away never to know what they tasted like. Or I can look at them as different from the rest, begin to understand why they turned out the way they did, how I feel about them and what I can do differently next time. Perhaps the sugar has caramelised and they’re sweeter. If I had dismissed them, I’d never know this. Each piece of cake gives us insight, things to learn and knowledge to gain.
I choose both the ingredients I put in and how I feel about the outcome. I have full ownership of my cake, from conception to creation to consumption, it’s all on me. Much like life, how we create and digest the undercooked, overcooked and the perfectly risen pieces, is our responsibility.
Learn from your cake
Before wiggling into my prefrontal cortex and embarking on The Diary, one important thing I absolutely have to highlight is that this process in its own right, is very much a part of the overall whole (cake) for me. My bigger picture.
Much like each of your life experiences are important, valuable and specific to you, the whole point of this online adventure is for me to learn. This in itself is a valuable part of the journey I’m on. The realisation that I needed to do this and the subsequent act of fingers-to-keys to ensure it happens, are both intrinsically important parts of my collective whole. ‘Gestalt’ if you want to get technical. Less technical? Cake.
Enjoy your cake
“Live in the now, man” the only real way to enjoy the journey you’re on, is to embrace it. Rather than deny the burnt edges and uncooked middles (which we all have), be part of them. Indulge them by jumping in and finding out what you can learn from these less than appetising moments in amongst the bigger picture of your sugary whole. Life is what you make of it, and you are entitled to enjoy the journey.
Coaching provides a space to work through the unappetising pieces. Around only 5% of behaviour is consciously driven, so it’s pretty handy to have someone on team to help with the subconscious 95%. It’s really damn important to offload your stuff and believe me, I do. I have two coaches, one personal and one for business. The Diary is simply another conscious-brain space, to process my stuff in a different me-centric way. Spaces for you-centric expression are vast and varied. Consider painting, drawing, making music, writing, reading, dancing, baking and plenty more. Why not for once, have your cake and eat it? While this is the way I choose to digest my burnt bits, your options are plentiful. You do you.
