Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Labels & Identifications

Maggie week went.  I can't say for sure that it went well, or not.  It didn't go quickly, yet it is over. The cake pops turned out great after about the 4th batch when I finally perfected the method.  For anyone interested in that, please let me know, I'll be happy to share. I used the bake pop pans and they for me at least needed some adjusting to bake evenly.  Here's a pic of our final products on it's way to Maggie's class b-day party. And a pic of her cake for her party.
Her party's theme was "Monster High" hence Skullette on the cake. It was Red Velvet with Twinkie Frosting.  I got the frosting recipe from a friend and did NOT perfect the smoothing technique to my liking, but the flavor was awesome and Maggie loved it, which was the point.
See at our house you are allowed to choose the flavor of your cake, the design is up to the rest of us and you don't see it until the candles are lit and it's put in front of you.  I find that my daughters are challenging me more each year with their choice of flavors.  I'm raising foodie children.  Take the cake pops for example.  That was Maggie's choice for her school party.  Not cupcakes, not even the mini cupcakes in the pushpops I had made for the 4th of July and Halloween - are they already played out?? LOL Nope, Maggie had to be the 1st to have cake pops and boy was her class loving it.  "I saw those on TV" was shouted over and over again.  They had so much fun choosing which pop they wanted.  So great being around that much happy energy.  It really is invigorating. 

Energy is so powerful, don't you think?  The vibe of a room can affect you so quickly, usually a bad vibe works faster for some reason.  I don't know why. Ever walk in to a room and get a chill? Or the conversation just stops and the people sort of step apart from each other and you feel the need to fill that void with conversation?  (Or OCD about if they were speaking about you)You're changing the energy of the room or the situation.  We, as individuals have so much to energy ourselves it's amazing really. 
I titled this blog entry "Labels and Identifications".  Everywhere you go there are labels, to the right of this post, there's a link for me to label this.  (I'm so new at blogging I don't even know what that means, to label a blog post.) There are labels for everything, clothes, toys, shoes, people.   Labels apparently help us identify with these "items".  But who are YOU without a label, without your identity? I'm not speaking about a Jason Bourne thing here, suggesting pondering amnesia.  So don't go over to the nearest wall and bang your head 1000 times.  I'll start with my blog, I haven't been able to catagorize it because although I am a mom, it's not a Momblog. I am also a foodie, yet it's not that either. See what I mean? 
Who are you if you take away the labels you have put upon  yourself? If you say you are a parent then you are identifying yourself with your family, if you say you are a teacher, then you are identifying yourself with your career. But who are you? Who is your true self, your true face?  Do you realize we never actually see our true face?  Only other people do.  Even in a mirror or reflective surfaces, we see only what is reflected back, if the surface is dirty or smeared, curved or mishapen? What then? A photo? Just a moment captured in time.  Who you are, your identity is what you carry with you, your true face, your true self is what others see.  

Talking to one of the other parents the other day in the school yard I mentioned something about exercise and what struck me as funny was knowing that she'd have no clue that before I was the mom in a baseball cap and sweats standing in the rain waiting for my kid, I worked in the health field, in administration, but any one who works in administration can tell you they know a lot of stuff from typing all those reports! I was also a fitness freak, working out before work, walking over three miles during lunch hour, and so on.  She's known me for over 3 years, but she looked at me like I was nuts.  I'm still me, I haven't changed.  It's funny isn't it? She labeled me.  She labeled me a stay-at-home mom, which I am, but she didn't give me a past.    Hmmm, now come to think of it, what past had I given her?

The true you is always the same, but it's how you appear that changes.  If you detach yourself completely from all the things that you have identified yourself with, you realize yourself as the pure "I" and in that pure "I" there is no difference between you and me. 


1/25/12 ~
Well no wonder I never posted this - I can't seem to express what I'm trying to say quiet right.... oh well.  Maybe you can share a thought on this thread, see if you see what I'm seeing...