[2022-11-15] Sharing gifts
Pablo Picasso is quoted as saying: "The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away."
Today—as it is on many days—my gift was baking: a Sour Cream Coffee Cake for a loved one's birthday. I offered 12 choices, and the coffee cake was the winner. I may make this a new birthday tradition for family members: offer a menu of possibilities and make the one the person wants.
The coffee cake is not difficult to make; it simply takes time. I feel lucky to have the time to express my culinary talents (time on this earth, time in my day) and the health to do it (after undergoing cancer treatment in the fall and winter of the previous two years, I feel liberated).
Retired and feeling healthy, I fill my days with activity: cooking, baking, learning, writing, organizing, chatting, and walking with loved ones. I manage to achieve a balance among care for me, care for my family and care for my community. I define community as any person or organization beyond myself and my family that I value, such as friends, neighbours, former colleagues, local businesses.
Returning to Picasso's quote, finding our gift means figuring out what we love to do and what we're good at. For most of us, once we figure that out, we want to share our gift with others. Often, it's in that sharing that we find purpose.
