I probably should be finishing writing a listing description right now. Or reading. Or sleeping.
Instead, I decided to make whipped cream. By hand. For my first time ever (!!). For no reason.
Well, other than its handmade whipped cream.
Who needs a better reason?
I poured a little cream into the bowl, added some vanilla sugar and started whisking the cream. And whisking. And whisking.
And there came a point during the whipping of the cream when the cream was still liquid and my arm felt like it was going to fall off and I was about to throw the whisk in the sink and take out the electric mixer. That point where I looked at the clock and thought,
what kind of crazy person decides to make whipped cream at 10:30 on a Tuesday night for no reason at all?
I wondered if it was even possible to whip cream by hand. Well, to be fair, I knew it could be done. My brother-in-law does it often. I was doubting whether I could do it.
And then, suddenly, it came together. I was watching the bowl the whole time but it took a moment to notice.
There it was! I had done it. I had made whipped cream. By hand. Just some cream, vanilla sugar, a cold bowl and a whisk. And the strength of my arms and my determination to see it through. I didn’t give up.
It’s miraculous how that happens. How it goes from liquid to fluffy goodness in an instant.
I scooped a taste with my finger. It tasted so good. It was perfect.
I stood in my kitchen, tasting it some more and marveling in the miracle of how cream can be transformed within minutes from a liquid to a fluffy delicious almost-solid. I basked in the satisfaction of seeing it through. I basked in my accomplishment.
I made this thing.
And then I ate it. All of it. I licked the bowl clean. Because, how else does one finish off a bowl of freshly made whipped cream?
Keep your judgments to yourself, please.
Bonus 1: it tasted so good.
Bonus 2: killer arm workout.
The best bonus of all, though, was the lesson. Perhaps the calling to whip up some cream at 10:30 pm wasn’t so random. Perhaps it was simply a divine guidance to teach me a lesson.
So much of life is like making whipped cream. We invest so much energy and focus into transforming ourselves or the world around us. We work hard. It’s a struggle. And there are moments in which it feels like we will break apart before we reach the goal. It feels like our arms will fall off before it ever happens.
But if we stick with it, if we keep going, the change we seek will happen. Even as we witness it play out in front of us, we may not truly see it immediately. It’s funny how you can be watching something happen yet still not notice it until the moment of transformation has passed. And then suddenly it’s undeniable. It’s in front of us. No longer liquid, but fluffy whipped cream. And as we look at it, it’s like, “when did this happen?”
Once we notice the change, we must stop to appreciate it, to take it in and taste it. We will find it is indeed so sweet.
Just like whipped cream.
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