Have Your Cake and Eat it too!

Of course I had to write about cake for my last AWiB blog of this year. Why? Because I had the best cake made for my son’s first birthday this weekend and it needed to be acknowledged. This year has been one amazing journey of growth and development for me; every speed bump, every traffic jam, every U-turn, with a little road rage and all. I have learned so much from others, and so much of myself. I have managed to, both, praise and disappoint myself, fall and get back up again, loose focus and redirect myself once more all in one year and surprisingly I am so much more aware of how much more I know is out there to learn. It never ends lekas^*!

I have been so caught up trying to work on a new project in my life and making sure my baby’s birthday bash is a hit that I couldn’t find the time to sit down, think and write my next blog. I was looking for inspiration and then it came to me. Cake, cake, cake! I know you have all heard of the saying “you can’t have your cake and eat it too” right? Or in Amharic we say “hulet wodo ayhonim” translating to “you can’t like/want two things at once”. It’s always been a rather perplexing saying to me, one that has never sat right with me because obviously why would you want to have cake and not eat it? 

Anyways, the main reason I wanted to write about cake is because one of the most important things that AWiB has thought me to do is to acknowledge and appreciate other women’s achievements and share it with the world because that is how we truly empower ourselves. So I’d like to introduce to you Fitsum, of “the Cake Studio”, of which I know most of you, if not all, know. “The Cake Studio” makes custom design cakes for any occasion, all cakes made to order. She makes some amazing creations, it’s sometimes impossible to think of actually eating it; but it’s not just beautiful on the outside, it’s also delicious! Personally, if I had a choice, I’d probably have my baby’s cake out there at the party to show it off, but then immediately place it in a glass box to preserve forever. 

But really though, it’s the personal passion of this girl that I deemed worth it enough to share with you all, as it inspired me, in hopes that it might inspire someone else too. This girl started out in finance after school but always had her heart in baking and sculpting artistically beautiful edible cakes. She made the decision to pursue her passion, took the necessary courses and she’s got her studio now. A talent worth appreciating and a story of passion pursued worth sharing, don’t you think? Sometimes all we need to pursue our own dreams is to be inspired by others that have done so themselves. Here, I stress again, AWiB is a strong believer of this notion.

I once wrote an article, for a magazine, entitled “Building Sandcastles: A Perspective on Change” in which I talked about the beauty of building and destroying. Building what and why would you want to destroy what, you ask? I know, it’s a little paradoxical, really. The article was all about how we look at change that is inevitable in all our lives, but whether we choose to accept it or to resist it defines our whole journey. For that particular article I, myself, was intrigued by an article I had read of Tibetan Buddhist monks that built startling, very detailed sand sculptures only to carry out a ceremony in which they destroy their creations. The whole concept behind this being to learn the importance of “letting go”; you must let go of your old goals and create new ones as you go through this life of ours.

And so back to “The Cake Studio”, how lucky is she to have the ability to built such beautiful designs that are to be devoured later on? And imagine the joy she must feel when her clients are so stunned by her creations and so reluctant to cut it and eat it, but must. Now, that’s something right? The whole concept of having your cake and eating it too is all about how you choose to look at it. Everyone has their choice of cake, and what I mean is cake in terms of goals and dreams. Your cake might be that new car model, that vacation to Brazil or to the next individual it might be that job promotion. Regardless, that car will devalue, that vacation will come to an end and that job promotion, well depending on you, it might just be the first step to a higher position. Whatever the case, in any situation, the journey must go on and as cake must be baked, only to be eaten, so must your goals, reached only to be able to create others, am I right? 

Therefore my fellow AWiBers, give your mind no boundaries and allow it to roam. Give it permission to test all it desires to try and see where it takes you; dreams do come true, but only if you first dream. AWiB gave me the opportunity to soar beyond my conscious knowledge of my potential only to bring me back to myself. I now sit before you, a year older but it seems many more years wiser because of its trainings, activities, seminars and most of all, its support group. Allow yourself the process of getting to your target by enjoying every moment of your journey but always keeping in the back of your mind, the joy of being to able to get to create new targets in your life. I’m so excited to get my baby’s birthday cake this weekend and I know I will be consciously enjoying every bite of it. So I part you with this, have your cake and go ahead and eat it too!

^* apparently

“The Cake Studio”

Facebook @cakestudioaddis

0947.35.89.98