Egg-cellent Mother's Day!
I hope this edition finds you surrounded by warmth and joy. This week, I want to share a Mother's Day experience that was not only heartwarming but surprisingly enlightening.
The morning started quietly, with the usual Sunday tranquility. I lingered in bed, wrapped in the soft comfort of my sheets, filled with anticipation. Mother's Day had always been a simple affair in our home, yet this year felt subtly different. My son, usually not one to fuss in the kitchen, had announced he would be preparing breakfast. The suspense wasn’t about grand gestures but the simple curiosity of what he would choose to make.
After some time, the aroma of toasted bread and something rich and savory began to waft through the air, signaling that my wait was nearly over. To my absolute delight, he appeared at the bedroom door, a beaming smile across his face, balancing a tray with what turned out to be a meticulously prepared breakfast of poached eggs on toast, enhanced with a side of creamy guacamole and slices of crisp French bread.
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As we enjoyed this unexpected feast, he shared with me the behind-the-scenes trials of his culinary endeavor. The eggs, it seemed, were particularly challenging. He admitted to multiple attempts, each one teaching him a little more about patience and the delicate balance of heat and timing—skills that poached eggs demand in abundance.
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This got me thinking, and I wanted to share this little epiphany with you: if a task as simple as making poached eggs can require multiple tries, why should we be so hard on ourselves with more significant challenges in life? Every skill, every endeavor requires practice. If we don’t succeed initially, it's okay to try again. In our lives, whether we're learning to cook or facing tasks much larger and complex, the process of trial and error is universal. Each effort, each failure, is not a step back but a step forward towards mastering a skill, understanding a new concept, or even improving ourselves.
It reminded me of the Japanese philosophy of 'wabi-sabi,' embracing the imperfect and transient nature of life. My son’s persistence in perfecting a simple dish of poached eggs was a live demonstration of this beautiful concept. It’s a reminder to all of us that perfection isn’t a single attempt away but a series of small, often imperfect attempts that lead us to where we need to be.
So as we continue to navigate the complexities of life, let's remember the poached eggs on this Mother's Day. Let's not be too hard on ourselves for the mishaps and the not-quite-right attempts. They are, after all, the very essence of learning and growing.
Here's to embracing our imperfections and celebrating every small victory along the way. Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate, and may we all find joy in the journey, not just the destination.
With all my best,
Thuy