What a Baking Show taught me about Friendship
I love cooking competition shows. Whether it is a baking show or those genius chefs on Chopped that can make a whole meal from a can of tuna and cherry gummy candies. Seriously, how do they do that?
Flipping channels one night, I ran across a kid version of my favorite baking competition show. It has the same premise of the grown up version, they give them a flavor profile, a type of baked good and a very short window of time. These kids were in the range of 8-12, which is crazy enough, because I am pretty sure I wasn't even turning on the oven when I was 8, let alone whipping up a wedding cake in my spare time after school.
These kids are incredible, they have these intricate dessert recipes memorized and they come up with crazy delicious treats. One kid even recreated the Mona Lisa on a cookie puzzle. He is 12! I wouldn't even know where to begin to create that! At the end of every one of these shows, someone gets cut, until there is just one winner. Sometimes, the contestant knows it is coming because they screwed up a dish, sometimes they leave in tears because they were so close. Here is where these kiddos got me thinking.
Every time one of the kids get eliminated, ALL of the other kids, literally ALL OF THEM surround the eliminated child with a huge group hug and tell them how awesome they are. Regardless of the fact they are all in competition with each other, they consistently support each other and build each other up. I have never seen the adults on these shows do this. I literally teared up as I watched it. My immediate first thought was, what if adults did this for each other when we have failures?
What if we gave each other all a hug when we're struggling?
What if we all told each other how awesome we are, even when we fail?
What if we felt like the other person always had our back, even in competition?
What if made it a priority to find that kind of support?
"You are the 5 people you surround yourself with" is a saying I have hear ad nauseam. If you have read or even looked into anything self development, you likely have heard this too. Pretty sure this originated from Tony Robbins, who is the king of self development, but I digress. This baking show was the first time I saw a real life portrayal of what this truly means.
As an adult, it can be difficult to find your tribe. We spend so much time trying to be good enough for others, trying not to be judged, trying to fit in. It can be exhausting and heart breaking. There is an old joke about how you're never meeting the real person, you are meeting their representative. I think there is some truth to that, you can know someone for years and all of a sudden they become someone you can't recognize.
My goal for this week is to work on my ability to support and encourage people, even when we are in competition. To try and be that little kid who always gives someone a hug when they are struggling and tells them how awesome they are.
Do you watch cooking shows too? Leave me a comment and tell me your favorite one!
This week:
Reading: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont
Song on repeat: Better by Kahlid
Podcast of the week: Ed Mylett—A Hero’s Promise (watch the You Tube version, SO GOOD)
Quote I love: “Reading is a democratic craft. Writing is considered a fine art”