Anyone can bake...

Is it true, anyone can bake? Ratatouille, a most beloved film of mine proposes the following claim, 'Anyone can cook.'  I have made my own adaptation to the phrase by superimposing my one of my greatest loves, baking. I suppose one could use the phrase to suit any of their passions, ie, Anyone can practice yoga, anyone can jump out of an airplane, anyone can quit their day job and pursue their passions, anyone can get married, anyone can fly, anyone can waterski (except me).  Anyhow you get the point. Anyone can _______. You get to fill in the blank. Ewww, that could go on for hours of fun!!!!

Jan 3, 2007 I made a bolder move in my life, one that was motivated by love rather than fear. On January 3rd I was at a crossroads having been given an ultimatum to quit my job or forgo a Yoga Teacher Training of which I was already enrolled. Thinking back, and as I often recount to others I think that the decision was made that day. In all reality the decision to quit my job in the world of Finance came several weeks earlier when I had enrolled myself in the training. Secretly I had always wanted to know what it was like to do something just because I wanted to, not because I felt I HAD to.  

Let me back up a bit to shed some light on my thinking process at that time.  I grew up in a home where self reliance and independence was encouraged. I went to school, paid my way, worked hard in the lower eschalons of life serving golden swirls yogurts and bagels to make my way to a corporate job.  I truly believed that if I sacrificed by mopping floors and dealing with crusties who didn't like their coffees that someday I would have a sweet corporate job that would compensate for all the HARD word I had to do as a youngin. Boy was I wrong.  After sitting behind a computer screen for 40+ hours a week for 7 years, I started to realize that a little yoga class at the community center on Thursday night was my only sense of sweet relief. For 60 minutes I was able to 'let go'. Literally I felt the demands of the world grow lighter, as peace and calm began to wash over the achievement-oriented, fear based life I had conditioned myself to live.  It was a simple thing, yoga, but it changed the way in which I perceived the world around me and my relationship to it.

I had a dear friend at the time who once told me of his inspiration from Steven Jobs, owner and creator of Apple and Pixar. Although my friend still has yet to purchase a Mac, I believe it may happen in his dying days, he is Asian after all, so we can't fault him.  He encouraged me to read his graduation speech at Stanford. I should rephrase, a graduation speech he gave, not his own as Steve Jobs never graduated from college.  The night prior to January 3rd I felt inspired to read it. I encourage you to take the time to read it at some point or reread it if you already have. Steve makes 3 main points, 1-connect the dots, 2- Don't Settle, and 3-Live every day like its your last. Now whether you like the guy or not, or purchase his products need not matter because his points are true.  Many things impressed me at that time, but mostly the words 'DONT SETTLE', not in a career, and especially not in your choice of marriage partner. He mentioned how the choice of marital partner generally dictated the level of success in career and other pursuits. As I considered my own 7 siblings which I believe all married great, and looked over their successes in life, I then realized his conjecture was dead on. It was at that point I decided to not Settle, not in a career, not in a partner, not in anything. 

I have been engaged a few times in my life, for one reason or another it hasn't worked out. The details aren't important, but in all situations I knew at that time something about it wasn't right. I'm 30 and single. I don't plan to settle and I haven't waited this long for crap.  Crap meaning anything less that amazing. That is all I will say about marital status for now.

So the day of Jan 3rd came with keen preparation to not settle for a life that didn't bring complete fulfillment.  It was an easy decision, one that I have never looked back from with any regret. One that keeps me grounded in the present moment, with deep anticipation and excitement for the future.  

On January 3rd, 2007 I also began a set of journals inspired by my dear roommate at the time Kimberly Calder.  She had been an example to me by writing in them each day about how she was living her dreams. On that day I began to write and something marvelous happened, an unleashed beast of dreams started to flood the pages, with almost an unendin

g amount of vibrancy for life. Today I sit and look at a shelf of 10 journals with all the pages filled since then. The journal I am currently writing in is a bit less than up to par with the binding falling apart. I realized a month ago there must be a way to capture some of these thoughts in a way with greater longevity, hence the blog.

Quitting my job placed me in one of the happiest moments of my life. Over the next few months I discovered more about myself than I had in 7 years of corporate America.  I eventually did get a job but it was for a yoga studio, which seemed totally acceptable.  Once again a year and half or so later I find myself again without a formal job. I teach yoga and bake cookies, but once again I find myself in one of the happiest, freest, creative periods of life. I have the constraints of nothing but my own desires to find beauty and inspiration in this world. There is so much to be found, more than my words could ever express. I have recently developed a love for taking photos, of beautiful places, moments, people, family, whatever it may be. To capture a moment in time and refer back to it seems to bring great feelings to our remembrance, we seem to love and embrace this. Why, why do you we love to think back, is it because we want to be in that moment, living in the past, or is it because we want the moment, or more like it to come again? I'll leave the answer up to you.

About two weeks ago I came back from Utah to find a small furry uninvited house guest in my home.  I promptly set out rat poison, sticky traps with organic peanut butter, and even had a friends cat, Bonnie, come to stay for several nights in hopes of running this little pest out of his temporary human home. Surely he didn't belong with humans, or does he?  I find it interesting that Pixar chose to glorify the abilities of a rat.  The lowliest of all creatures, one that is a scavenger, carries diseases, and scurries across the train tracks for entertainment.  So while I have this disdain for the small furry rodent I realized that maybe this little guy has something to teach me after all. 

In the movie Remy (rat) says 'What's my problem? First of all I'm a rat, which means life is hard.  Second of all, I have a highly developed sense of taste and smell. What's wrong with a highly developed sense of taste and smell, rat poison.'  I'd like to think my little visitor was lured into my home because of the blissful smells of fresh baked cookies, that said a compliment he chose my place over the neighbors.  

Remy has some other great words of wisdom:

-If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat good stuff.

-What is so bad about being around humans?  They don't just survive, they discover, they create, just look what they do with food. (Again my rat must have realized my unleashed potential to create cookie magic and simply wanted to witness such miracles).

-All this cooking and reading, and tv watching while we read and cook, its like your involving me in crime, and I let you. (This one is Remy's brother, but I liken it to all those I subject as tasters of my cookies)

Gusteau, the inspired chef and owner of the restaurant also has his wisdom to impart:

-You must not let anyone define your limits based on where you come fro

m, you are only limited by your own soul, you must be fearless. (Yesterday I invested in $12 xanthum gum to perfect the Gluten Free cookie, a seemingly small thing, but anyone that understands my financially frugal personality to save a buck recognizes this is fearless).

-Food always comes to those who love to cook.

-Always do something unexpected, and for the rest of us, follow the recipe.

-Anyone can cook, that doesn't mean anyone should.

As I watch the movie,  I feel my sentiments for my houseguest soften and maybe even hope the cat didn't scare him away completely (ok maybe not but you get what I mean).  Remy, the rat has a deep adoration and appreciation for food:

-No brother of mine eats 'rejectamenta' in my town. (I feel the same way when friends visit me in NYC).

-Chew it slowly, only think about the taste. (he gets it)

-Change is nature, the part that we can influence, when we decide.

-When asked by his father 'Where are you going?' as Remy walks away, 

Remy responds, 'with luck, forward'.

Linguini is Remy's outlet of skills, using the boy to share his creations. Ego is the food critic which Linguini hopes to impress with Remy's talent. 

Linguini tells the food critic, 'You are thin for someone who loves food.'  I hope people say the same about me.

The food critic responds by saying, 'I don't like food, I LOVE it, if I don't love it, I don't swallow.'

And in the food critics conclusive commentary on the meal of Ratatouille he ex

perienced cooked by a rat and his rat family he says 'Critics rarely risk anything, but there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is the discovery and defense of the new.  The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The NEW needs friends.'

I've come across many inspiring rats and individuals over the past 20 months of my life, those that have given me a small taste of what it is to do what you love.  I hope to do the same, if a rat can do it, surely can I.

I once was told by a wise friend their are two emotions, love and fear. Every thing and decision we do in life is motivated by one or the other. I don't know about you but I choose love, its a lot more fun than the other.