Over the years I’ve been advised that I am “in a box” and “follow too many patterns” which makes me “boring.”
OK, so in the spirit of breaking those patterns and slicing through the box (or boxes) I find myself in, I took the idea of breaking up my day with an event or activity that helped destroy these barrier.
So I baked a batch of cookies.
Oh, not just any cookies: Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate morsel cookies. Yeah, I used the recipe off the package, but give me credit: I didn’t buy the Nestle chips and follow that recipe–I’ve done that for years. No, if I was going to break the mold, I was going to smash it. Or sift it. Or add stuff to it.
Seriously, what does baking cookies have to do with anything? Well, as a self-employed writer, communicator and networker, it caused me to get out of a pattern. Instead of building my day around another useless or repetitive meeting, I found myself concentrating on ingredients, process and timing related to something that didn’t have anything to do with self-employment, writing, communicating or networking. And it it had a final, tangible result.
My goal is to try something out of the ordinary each day. Ride the bike, walk the dog, go to a museum, bake, cook, paint, whatever. I’ll think about other things and not be weighed down with worries about cash, jobs or deadlines. This time of year can be brutal on your emotions what with the holidays, relationships, the weather and business slowdowns and expenses.
Geezzz…I think I need a cookie.
