posted by WeirdWoollyDesigns at 8/22/2006 01:57:00 PM
Are you a natural-born pessimist? Do you struggle just to enjoy your everyday life? If so, I can tell you from personal experience that you are not alone. There is hope for you.
Let me tell you my story…
I’m a natural worrier. I was born worrying. If there was an award for being the best worrywart in the universe that prize would be mine. I worried before my first day of pre-school. I worried before my first day of kindergarten and I continued the tradition before my first days of school for the next 16 years. If my parents wanted me to go shopping or out to eat with them on a Sunday, I’d go along in the morning, but once it got to be later in the afternoon, I couldn’t go. I needed to be focusing my full attention on my anxieties about the upcoming week. And believe me, my worries were not confined to school-related issues. I irrationally worried about everything and anything. To this day I still fight the reflex to carry this habit with me like a dysfunctional friend.
Cultivating a New Way of Life
Some people are just born gloomy and pessimistic. But that does not mean we have to stay that way. So what is the antidote to this miserable way of life? I’ve come to believe that cultivating an ability to experience joy is the answer.
How I came to this realization…
About a year ago I was sitting there wallowing in yet another anxious bout of self-pity and at the same time wondering how I could get more enjoyment out of life. There was nothing special about that particular day because obsessive worrying was something I routinely did. The only thing that made that day unique was that I happened to pick up a copy of the book The Martha Rules by Martha Stewart. Out of the pages of this unlikely source came an answer that I had been searching for.
In this book, Martha talked about teaching herself to cook by studiously preparing each and every recipe in the two volumes of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. That’s over one thousand recipes!
Now I can just hear you saying; "Yah, that’s impressive, but what does Martha’s cooking project have to do with finding an antidote to worry?" Well, at the time I didn’t really know how the two things were related. What I did know for sure was that I somehow needed to apply this concept to my own life.
The Grand Plan
So what exactly would my project be? I had little interest in cooking in general, however baking (or maybe just eating baked goods) did interest me. Up to this point I had been too preoccupied with worry to pursue any other pastimes. Without a doubt, now was the time to do it. I would take a break from my constant worrying just long enough to learn something new and maybe even have some fun in the process. I didn’t know at the time that this new hobby would turn out to be a life saver, it just sounded to me like a pretty good idea.
My plan was to use the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. I already owned the book for the purpose of drooling over the pictures, but now I would actually use it for it’s intended purpose. I would bake one recipe a week until I had every recipe in the book complete- just like Martha had done with the Julia Child cookbooks.
So how did the project go?
Once I got started, I was hooked. I couldn’t believe how fabulous baking was! Why hadn’t I tried it sooner? Baking was a completely multi-sensory experience. I felt an inexplicable sense of joy every time I sunk my hands into a warm, pliable, ball of dough! Handling a soft, floury square of pastry dough was delightful! The yeasty scent of rising biscuit dough was so tantalizing that it was practically unbearable. Not to mention the joy of eating the fruits of my labor!
I started my baking adventures with some cookie projects. I baked up one batch of cookies after the next, making everything from chewy, sugar-coated, raisin-filled Rugalah to rich, sweet, buttery Shortbread and Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies.
When I got to the pie section of the Baking Handbook I learned how to create melt-in-your-mouth, flaky, pie crusts. I whipped up mouthwateringly delicious pies and tarts from a simple pumpkin pie to a gourmet coconut-lemon-buttermilk tart.
Puff pastry has a reputation for being somewhat difficult and time consuming. Knowing this just added to my sense of accomplishment when my very first puff pastry project, blueberry turnovers, turned out perfectly. They were impeccably light, flaky and delicious- if I do say so myself.
In the end…
Through baking, I created edible works of art, but I got something even more important out of it. I discovered this thing called "enjoying life"- what a concept! Every time I went to pull one of my baked goods out of the oven, I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. I got a taste for a way of life that is far more enjoyable and productive than that of the chronic worrier.
Now, how about you?
If you’re like me and enjoying life does not come naturally for you, there is a simple, painless and in my case delicious cure for this condition; find something that you love to do, that brings you true joy, then practice it often. If the queen of gloom and can turn things around and learn to enjoy life, what’s stopping you?
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Ruth,
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Ruth,
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Making Joy
3 Comments:
Stephanie, thanks for posting your work to PPTP. Please also post comments on our other writers' entries.
This is a very nice article, and I call it that because it reads like an inspirational magazine article to me. Have you had it published? If not, you should try. I'm sure Martha Stewart must have her own magazine so that would be a good starting point since she was your inspiration.
I can sympathize with being a natural worrier and your suggestions on how to overcome it by immersing yourself in something delightful, creative, and fulfilling is a worthwhile and excellent solution. I've repressed a lot of my worries in quilting and poetry and can attest to the values of keeping busy.
By
Ruth, at 8/22/2006 11:15:00 PM
Thank you Ruth for reading my article and commenting on it.
I haven't tried to have the article published yet. I wasn't sure if the format was quite right. That is a good suggestion to try and have it published in one of Martha Stewarts magazines. I'm not sure if it's in the right format/style for that, or if it's good enough, but it would be worth checking out.
I feel like the article needs a little more work, but I'm not sure what else to do with it at this point.
By
WeirdWoollyDesigns, at 8/23/2006 10:33:00 AM
Well, I don't know what needs to e added. I might also suggest a venue such as Family Circle or Good Housekeeping, or any of the supermaket magazine rack family/cooking oriented magazines as a publishing possibility. You'll neer know if you don't try. Do you have a Writer's Market book so you can research addresses and guidelines for submissions?
By
Ruth, at 8/23/2006 05:08:00 PM
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