By Crimson Jordan
“When you do what you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”
This well–known saying may have some truth behind it, but it’s often terribly misinterpreted. Just because you love what you do doesn’t mean it isn’t work. At times, your dream job will be exhausting, difficult, and you will want to escape from it, even if just for a little while. When we turn our passion into a career, what we want to do, over time, becomes something we have to do.
I am a writer. I have been a writer since the day I could form sentences and put pen to paper. I studied at the University of Houston to further develop my skills, even taking extra creative writing classes beyond what was required of my degree. This course load meant I was writing all the time. Even though writing provided me with an avenue to manifest my imagination, it had become mandatory, required currency in exchange for a letter grade. It became something I would rather put off simply because I was writing so much. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about my writing, it was because I cared so much that it became overwhelming.
Almost every day after school, before starting my writing assignments, I would go home and cook dinner. Cooking was my time to decompress before the work began. The ominous blank page was just as intimidating as being judged on the completed composition. This was not leisure writing, such as my work on my experimental graphic novel, this was writing for a grade, a grade that would impact my GPA, a GPA that would decide my academic future, and so on. With writing, the end goal is always unclear, the path to reach it is full of twists and turns. Cooking, on the other hand, provides a series of progressive steps and a clear final product. While I still loved writing, it was now work and left me in dire need of a different creative escape.
Amateur culinary exploration was exactly what I needed. Cooking actively engages all of my senses, entices me to slow down, and creates an experience rather than a responsibility. Soon, I wasn’t just cooking to eat, I was preparing dishes and creating new recipes for fun. It improved my ability to focus and to see something through until the end, enjoying it at every step.
When I didn’t have time to cook and was forced to grab something quick to eat during a deadline day, I found myself more stressed than usual. I realized that preparing dinner was often the only free time I had during the day. And by “free time,” I don’t mean the spare minutes to scroll through our phones or take a quick catnap. Rather, I mean the time we have to do something innovative, creatively indebted to no one but ourselves.
Cooking became something to look forward to. When deadlines, projects, and a world of unexpected stressors begin to consume me, I find control in cooking. Whether it’s whipping up a quick turkey burger before an all-nighter, delicately preparing a seafood pasta for date night, or experimenting with caprese bites and zucchini pizza boats for a house party, cooking presents endless possibilities that can be adapted for any timeline or situation.
My passions for cooking and writing are actually very similar in concept and nicely complement one another. Just like when I write a piece, when I cook a meal, I am creating something that wasn’t there before, something that I can personally enjoy, share with someone else, and is artistic in nature. Finding solace in cooking has, in turn, taught me a lot about writing and even more about the importance of self-care. It has taught me that everything is a process, that the work is worthwhile. It’s also taught me that something is only monotonous if you make it monotonous.
Taking a break from our primary work, even if it is something we genuinely love to do, can help spring us from our slumps (be it stress, writer’s block, or other life pressure) by allowing us to exercise that creative energy in new and exciting ways. Having an additional outlet can allow us to use our hands and minds in ways we normally don’t, so that when the time comes to return to our regular work, we can find a renewed appreciation for the tasks at hand. By exploring a creative outlet separate from our professional passions, we simultaneously carve out a safe space to thrive within the chaos of our busy lives and, in turn, prevent ourselves from burning out by the same flame that ignites us.
