Hand Crafted

Last week, we decided to make some cookies. We pulled out the ingredients and the cookie cutters and we got to work.

As my little loves have gotten older, I have tried to step back a bit and to let them take the lead in these types of activities. I let them follow the recipe, add the ingredients to the bowl and mix everything together. My only involvement was to make sure that everything was mixed well and to roll out the cookie dough to the proper thickness so that the cookies wouldn’t fall apart when being transferred to the baking sheet.

I looked on with a smile as each love took their cookie cutters of choice and pressed them into the dough. They had a great time selecting an array of holiday-themed shapes.

After a while, one love asked whether she could set aside the moulds and make her own shape. “Of course!”, I exclaimed, eager to see what she would do.

She scooped up a spoonful of dough, rolled it into a ball in her hands, and started to gently press it into a shape with her fingers. When she was done, she lay her carefully crafted creation onto the baking tray destined for the oven. “I’m only good at making hearts”, she reasoned. She sounded almost apologetic. “That looks beautiful to me!” I assured.

We used the cookie cutters on the rest of the dough, put everything in the oven and waited for our sweet treats to be ready.

After the allotted baking time was up, I transferred all of the cookies onto a cooling rack. As I inspected the perfectly formed shapes, the hand crafted heart caught my eye. I had almost forgotten about it! I couldn’t help but smile when I saw this golden brown creation. Amidst all of the perfectly cut out shapes, this heart lay on the cooling rack with uneven edges and less than ideal symmetry.
It wasn’t as smooth as the others.
It wasn’t as big as the rest.
And it wasn’t exactly on theme.
But you know what? It was the most beautiful cookie on that tray!
It was hand crafted.
It was moulded with love.
It was imperfectly perfect.

The longer I looked at this heart-shaped creation juxtaposed against the perfectly-formed holiday-themed treats, the more meaning it took on.

I didn’t see uneven edges. I saw a work that came from an earnest heart.

I didn’t see a lack of symmetry. I saw the boldness to create something new – even if it didn’t quite fit in.

I didn’t see a shape that wasn’t in keeping with our theme. I saw a symbol that simultaneously captured and represented not just the holidays, but each and every day.

And, just like that, a cookie lying on the surface of a tray has embedded two resolutions deep within my heart:

The first is that, in a cookie-cutter world, I want to dare to be one of a kind. In a world marked by what “they” look like, what “they” do and what “they” expect, I want to be “me”. To show up just as I am, with my uneven edges and lack of symmetry – understanding that the world needs my imperfections, for in them lie the greatest works of an earnest heart.

The second, and most important, is that I want to remember that love is always in keeping with any theme. Whether the shapes that surround me are of snowmen, stockings and trees, or of briefcases, calendars and clients, or of tears, overwhelm and grief – a heart always fits. It does not need to be a perfect heart – just a sincere and loving one.

I know what it is to doubt what I have to offer. To compare my gifts. To second-guess my contribution. I wonder if I will measure up. I wonder if I will be good enough. I wonder if my uneven edges negate my effort. But, here’s the thing: there will always be someone smarter, more talented and better organised. Someone who fits the mould and blends in perfectly. There will never, however, be anyone who can give the very best of me to those around me. Only I can do that.

And so, I may have ended one year thinking, quite apologetically, that I’m only good at making less-than-perfect hearts… and wondering if that’s enough. But I purpose to begin another year completely assured that a hand crafted heart that may not look exactly like everyone and everything around me, but which is full of love that only I can give, is in fact the most beautiful thing that I can offer.

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Friends, as we near the end of a very different- and very difficult- year, I want to extend my best wishes to you and yours. May the coming year bring for you a boldness to step into your dreams, a contentment in being fully you and a deep appreciation that love is the greatest gift that we can offer – not only to those around us, but also to ourselves. Thank you for walking with me on this journey.