Why Now

For those of you who already know me, you might be asking yourself the question “why now?” And for those of you who aren’t asking yourself that question, but rather “where’s the food?”, don’t worry that’s coming soon enough.

The answer is short and long. The short version is why not now? I essentially started putting energy into something I was already doing and loved doing - cooking healthy recipes and sharing them with people. I started giving purpose to it and creating content which I believed offers value to people. Which, yes, is just a fancy way of saying giving yourself more work to do. But what can I say, I’m extremely restless.

The long(er) answer is that I started listening to people while simultaneously not caring what people thought. That sounds like an oxymoron I know. But what I mean is that I started acknowledging the positive feedback I have received from people on my posts and regarding my cooking videos. But I also had to wake up every day and start quelling my doubts about failure.

The fear of failure is like a weird monkey on your back whispering lies into your ears that everyone’s going to hate what you do and it will all blow up and that you might as well not even try. Even though I feel confident in my abilities and knowledge, I still have the damn fear monkey, I think that most people do.

But I’ve learned to outthink it, I’ve taught myself positive mental patterns and I repeat all my favourite cliche nuggets, like: you can do anything you set your mind to! Mistakes lead to new places! Do what makes you happy! People don’t really care what you’re doing (as long as you’re not hurting people)- and if they do you don’t need to care about their opinion (ok this is one’s less of a cliche and more of an attitude). But they are cliches for a reason - they’re true. And thinking that way is what inspired me to take the leap, to pour myself into something, to be passionate - fear be damned.

One thing that has kept the fear monkeys at bay, and my confidences up, is all of you. Every person who has sent me positive messages and taken the time to reach out because they liked something I posted - THANK YOU. You are what inspired me to do more, your questions, your praise, your asks for more, your willingness to spread positivity. You have inspired me not only to pursue my interests and develop my talents, but also to pay it forward and spread that joy into other people’s lives by complimenting and appreciating the work of others which I value. I will continue to be more vocal in my appreciation for the value I find in other people’s work and creativity. You are the inspiration (after food), so thank you.

And that’s it! It might seem like a weird thing to have to write a post about believing in yourself - and it’s the epitome of all corny cliches that I hate to have to perpetuate - BUT it’s true and I think of all the wonderful things we could accomplish in this world if we all believed in ourselves, our dreams, and ideas -no matter how crazy, stupid, or out of reach they might seem. So go forth and continue to spread those positive vibes you shared with me - and see what else it can bring!