Next time you’re craving a cookie, pie or even bread, you should try baking it yourself! A lot of people think they can’t do it, but everyone can. It’s not a skill only some people can acquire; with practice, you can improve over time. Once you start baking, you’ll learn that it requires a new type of focus that’s beneficial when you need some time to forget about other things in life.
Baking brings a new aspect of creativity. Even though you’re following a recipe, there are still decisions you as the baker get to make. You have creative control over how you want to make things, including if you want to add chocolate chips or how you want to decorate your cake. Included in creative control is choosing what you want to bake. There’s an endless number of options based on difficulty level, time needed and the type of food you want to make. I always like to try something new when I’m feeling extra creative and want a challenge. Baking can also let you take a few risks. For example, you can try estimating a measurement of an ingredient to test your skills or try something different with a recipe you’ve made before. The best part about taking risks while baking is that the worst that will happen is something won’t taste good, which is such a small concern compared to bigger things in life. This is an outlet for trying new things and not being afraid to fail.
There’s a great sense of achievement that comes with baking as well. It’s really exciting when you eat something you baked and it tastes delicious, especially when you’re first starting out and haven’t baked much before. It’s a great way to boost your confidence because it’s something new that you can now say you can do successfully. It’s even more exciting when you’ve been baking for a while and try a more advanced recipe that you succeed at. Trying something more difficult can be scary because new things are involved and it’s out of the “norm” but when you stay focused and create something yummy, the sense of accomplishment you feel is huge. Along with feeling joy internally, you can spread the joy by sharing your baking with others. This is one of the best parts because you get to make other people happy. I use baking as a way to show people love and appreciation and put a smile on their faces.
The number one thing to keep in mind when you bake is that it’s okay to make a mess. Don’t be afraid to have a messy kitchen while you work. To me, this just means someone’s having fun and enjoying what they’re doing. You can’t really focus on the baking if you’re constantly cleaning up. Cleaning is meant to be done while things are baking in the oven! Just stay in the moment. I think allowing yourself to just let go really lets you forget about the stress of real life for a bit by focusing on something else. Allow your mind to just think about what you are doing in the present moment.
So many people often say they could never bake because they wouldn’t be good at it, but I disagree. If you let your creative side come out and allow yourself to have an open mind about it, you can be a baker. There are so many benefits, and you don’t always get to do this type of experimenting in other aspects of daily life. Sure, it’ll take some practice, but so does everything else in life. So go ahead, take a risk and don’t be afraid to make a mess!