Today is a majority of the world's Un-Birthday... there are a few who have birthdays today and to them, I wish a sincere Happy Birthday, the world is a better place with you in it and the day you were born, a new light was added to the timeline of history; may you use that light to illuminate the world and do something amazing to leave a mark that inspires the best in others.
So, this post is actually for all of us who will live vicariously through those fortunate enough to have a cake and candles to celebrate their day- to all of us who will sing a "Happy Birthday" to someone who may or may not like being the center of attention but will endure the clapping and out of tune kind gesture because it is polite. It seems we as humans tend to live vicariously through a lot of people just as a course of everyday living, birthdays or not. It seems we often play a part and act a role more out of obligation, etiquette, or fear rather than being honest and genuine. I read a very thoughtful and well written blog post today. What struck me about this post is how it applies to each and every person, each and every day. We think celebrities are the folks in front of the camera when really, the whole world is a stage and you friend, are an actor as well and famous to someone somewhere (be it a child, a co-worker, or some random passerby on the street). Whether it's make-up or frosting, we all hide behind something.
I had a wonderful opportunity to share this with some highschoolers when we celebrated a famous celebrity's birthday at an impromptu party (last remaining obligation from a lost bet...). These girls are homeless, they have nothing but a whole lot of scars and this one celebrity brings them hope and allows them some escape from their reality. They dream of being rescued and loved in spite of who they are- broken little girls with more baggage than any person should be allowed to carry. They did not ask for these circumstances yet, here they are... kinda like a Vampire who had no choice to be what they were to become once bitten ;) We made a cake and I shared with them this analogy afterward.
"Ladies, here are the ingredients of this cake (we took them from a box... I explained that I would have liked to have flour I ground myself, raw sugar, and the real chocolate from Europe but, that having the eggs from my chickens would have to do in terms of "real" ingredients). We mixed them together and followed the instructions on the box, made sure the temperature was just right and that we had it baking for exactly 29 minutes. We had layers and stacked them carefully. The girls worried when part of the layer stuck to the pan. I told them not to worry, frosting (like make-up) covers a multitude of flaws. Then we frosted the cake with premade frosting (most of which they had spooned directly from the container into their mouths... we opened another container and "spackled" our layers together). We wrote a sweet sentiment to someone we do not know and blew out the candles making a wish on their behalf... My question is, how much of this cake and this celebration is real? The cake turned out the way it did because we followed the directions and now, it looks like the image here on the box exactly like we figured it would. The only thing we actually knew where it came from and had any connection to, was from the chicken... everything else came from a box. In life, how much "real" do we actually get AND, once it's covered with a lovely frosting, how much do we get to see? I explained that my job seems very glamorous on the outside but that there is very little "real" in my work. I create for clients according to their needs and follow the directions I am given to make it turn out like the image they see in their heads... There is a huge difference between a boxed cake and a real, made from scratch cake. I will tell you, the "scratch" cake is called that because there are many false starts and mistakes but, in that refining process, the recipe emerges. I explained to these girls that they were made up of the finest ingredients and that great care was taken when they were chosen. That they were not some boxed mix,that baking them would take some time, some false starts, some fallen cakes, some cakes that crumble and stick to the pan, and, that when all was said and done, they would be the best darn cakes ever. And, I explained to them that this celebrity that they had taken a shine to was not a boxed variety either but that the version they were swallowing most likely was... it was the image of the guy on the DVD box or the one they had contrived in their heads between the covers of their dog-eared paperback, not the "scratch" version. Furthermore, that the "scratch" version of him is someone none of us would most likely ever know sans a select few (afterall, every cake only feeds a certain number right...) but that we could still be inspired by his work just like anything or anyone else we see or meet in this world. It takes a special person to get beyond the frosting and a wise one to be able to discern real ingredients from the fake stuff but, doing so is where the proof in the proverbial pudding lies. " I guess at the end of the day, my wish when we blew out the candles was that we as a culture would take the time to feed kids the good stuff from the beginning so that they would have a taste and appreciation for the real rather than the artificial, that they would see past the surface and seek substance first in themselves and then in others.
Happy Un-Birthday girls, may the wishes you wished as you blew out the candle come true. Here is the cool cake I told you about, this one took time and was crafted by hand... XOXO
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