The need and importance of cooking to me during this course!

The importance of cooking to me is a very difficult statement for me to comprehend. I automatically think... cooking pfft, I really do not like it! It’s long, boring and tiring! But when I truly start to think about cooking, my experiences and my skills I have around this activity I’ve realised that this automatic negative thought I get is really not that true. By participating in the activity of cooking for this class I have had to be mindful, conscious and aware of what I was doing, trying to really unpick the activity of cooking. Reflecting on my experience of cooking so far in this course I have discovered that my need during the weeks has changed. When I first began cooking for this course my need was to please my flatmates as peer pressure influenced this, and the need to be accepted. I disliked cooking and saw it as a chore that must be done, always looking for the easiest and quickest meal to cook so my job was over and done with. Now coming towards the end of this course and in the stage of reflecting back on my experience and really trying to draw out the meaning and importance of cooking, I have discovered that my views and needs at the start compared to now have changed immensely. I didn’t think that I would ever look forward to cooking dinner ever... but now I am constantly finding myself looking forward to and excited to cook. My need has changed from needing to cook because it’s something that must be done, which pleases my flatmates, into an activity that brings me excitement, gives me independence and a sense of defining me as an adult, it brings fun, lots of challenges to overcome and full fills a  need of enjoyment and satisfaction. Maybe there has always been a need for cooking to give me enjoyment and excitement in my life but I was not consciously aware of this. By engaging mindfully in this activity it has opened me up allowing me to feel these emotions and express this within the activity of cooking. Although my need is still to please my flatmates and provide them with yummy food and continue to belong within the flat, I think I have discovered that there is a deeper need within me that I am also trying to please.

This is a quote from the film Julie and Julia explaining the idea that cooking can be  more than just the doing. It statisfies needs of fulfilment and excitement.

“I didn't understand for a long time, but what attracted me to MtAoFC [Mastering the Art of French Cooking] was the deeply buried aroma of hope and discovery of fulfilment in it. I thought I was using the Book to learn to cook French food, but really I was learning to sniff out the secret doors of possibility.” (Ephron, 2009).

References

Ephron, N. (Director), (2009). Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen [Motion picture]. North America: Sony Pictures Entertainment.