LIVING

Oooops!

“It’s not supposed to look like that…”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not supposed to look like that. Your consistency is totally off. You’re supposed to be able to scoop out beautiful quenelle shapes, definitely not that though.”
“Okay…”
“This look like fucking mucus. This looks like what you’ve been blowing out your nose that last few days, this isn’t a fucking soufflé!”
“Well, how does it taste?”
“…ummm. It tastes fantastic, but everything else is off. You totally missed the boat.”
“I’m glad you like it so much, darling.”
“I’m just saying, it’s wrong. Are you sure you made a soufflé? “
“Yes, I followed the basic premise for a soufflé recipe.”
“Are you sure? This seems more like a folded mousse or a loose pudding…”
“Tim, I’m sure.”
“Okay, I’m just saying this is a fucking mess. I don’t know what you did, but redo this one again.”
“You think?”
“I’m just saying…”
“I know, I know, it’s a fucking mess.”

Nothing better than a little constructive criticism to add a little perspective. Tim was right. The moment we attempted to plate my orange-mint soufflé, I too could tell that something wasn’t quite right. And then it hit me. I forgot to add the heavy cream! Oh shit, how the fuck could I forget something so crucial? Where was my head? In between phone calls, attending to Leo’s running in and out of doors, I simply forgot and paid the ultimate price: failure when I least expected it. I wanted to feel sorry for myself, but for some reason, I just didn’t go there. I just pulled up my boots and got back on my horse to keep on ridding. There is no sense in dwelling on past mistakes when the future holds the promise of so much more potential growth. Even the smallest of deaths is an opportunity at rebirth. So I decided to choose life and remake the orange-mint soufflé until I got it right.


Photograph by Matthieu Ricard
Big Jump!
Vue Paris
Tibet Image Bank

June 8th, 2007 — 7:51 am

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