Creating Joy

On Sunday I heard an incredible lesson about our power/ ability to create.

We began the lesson by watching an incredible video. And then talked about a story comparing and contrasting the husband's view of his cooking with his wife's view of hers.

I’m sure it comes as no surprise, but the differences between men and women can often be quite striking—physically and mentally, as well as emotionally. One of the best ways I can think of to illustrate this is in the way my wife and I cook a meal.

When Harriet prepares a meal, it’s a masterpiece. Her cuisine is as wide-ranging as the world, and she frequently prepares dishes from countries we have visited. The presentation of the food is awe inspiring. In fact, it often looks so beautiful that it seems a crime to eat it. It’s as much a feast for the eyes as it is for the sense of taste.

But sure enough, no matter how perfect everything is, looks, and tastes, Harriet will apologize for something she thinks is imperfect. “I’m afraid I used a touch too much ginger,” she will say, or, “Next time, I think it would be better if I used a little more curry and one additional bay leaf.”

Let me contrast that with the way I cook. For the purpose of this talk, I asked Harriet to tell me what I cook best.

Her answer: fried eggs.

Sunny-side up.

But that isn’t all. I have a specialty dish called Knusperchen. The name may sound like a delicacy you might find at an exclusive restaurant. Let me share with you how to make it. You cut French bread into small slices and toast them twice.

That is the recipe!

So, between fried eggs, even when they are greasy, and Knusperchen, even when they are burned, when I cook, I feel pretty heroic.

Perhaps this contrast between my wife and me is a slight exaggeration, but it illustrates something that may extend beyond preparing meals.

Why would that be? That some people find themselves apologizing for not being perfect all the time and others feeling heroic for their commendable efforts? Where on that spectrum do I fall? Apologizing for too little curry? Or enjoying the greasy eggs and burnt toast? Focusing more on my imperfections or my accomplishments?

Do I acknowledge what I've done, or only focus on what is not done?

This lesson got me thinking about the candy corn rice krispy's I made for work for Halloween. I was worried they hadn't turned out - that I'd melted the marshmallows too long, that they looked funny since I made them with orange colored marshmallows...

But you know what? My colleagues loved them.

One of them told me I made candy core taste good. And people kept eating more.

Sitting thorugh the lesson on Sunday I realized that while I did create reice krispy treats, what I really created was joy. I shared with others and it made them happy.

That's awesome. That's powerful.