We live in an age of grind culture, or maybe that is just what the algorithm is training me to think. The constant drive, the constant hustle, built on the constant hope that if I work hard enough then success and financial stability await. I think that used to actually be the American Dream, and I assume it used to work for some people.
In my own life, I turned to farming because I wanted a few things: I wanted my efforts to amount to something tangible; I wanted my freedom from spending my life making someone else rich; and mostly I wanted my grind to directly benefit others in a way that I could see firsthand. In other words, I’m already accustomed to being overworked and underpaid; but I’m really just trying to do something with my remaining years of hustle that amounts to more than simply earning money to pay my bills.
How does all that relate to dessert? Because I may not be able to afford a vacation right now, but I can afford a dessert. This mini break from the hustle and bustle of daily life is regenerating if I stay in that moment and enjoy it for everything its got. Eating this beautiful mix of nostalgia and sweetness is more than just a dessert. It activates memories of good times from my childhood with my cousins enjoying a late night shopping bag full of sweet breads while watching horror movies. It’s a dessert filled with the new memories of sitting in the warm shade with BFF wife, eating and laughing. There’s even a dash of anticipation for the moment I get to watch my kids enjoy these this summer.
It’s these moments of dessert joy that remind me that life is to be savored. It is to be experienced and enjoyed. We were never meant to work ourselves from waking till death just to earn money and do it all over again. The hustle and grind can condemn us to living in pursuit of a future hanging like a carrot on a stick and perpetually out of reach. The antidote in my life is I often just stop chasing the carrot, look around and enjoy exactly where I am exactly as it is in all its wonder. Then, after these rejuvenating breaks, I return to hustling again because I do enjoy that part of the process too.
La Concha y nieve
Peace and play, one spoon at a
Time. The savored life.
It fills my mouth with laughter.
Each bite lets my heart run free.
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