Isn’t it strange that we now almost automatically feel shame after doing anything pleasurable or relaxing?
I shouldn’t have wasted so much time in the shower this morning.
I should have skipped the tiramisu last night.
I shouldn’t have curled up watching 4 episodes of New Amsterdam yesterday.
While there’s wisdom in learning not to overindulge in any habit, the real shame lies in the fact that as a culture, we can no longer enjoy activities that don’t fall entirely under the labels ‘healthy’ and/or ‘productive’.
Part of the problem may lie in the fact that we’ve set up extreme dichotomies. To take food as an example, we swing wildly from bingeing on processed cookies to thinking we must have broccoli at every meal.
There’s something to be said for a healthy middle, and I found this almond mug cake was a perfect example of that. I tried it on a recent Friday evening and tweaked it to my taste with an extra spoonful of honey and some chocolate chips (it was Friday after all).
As I sat down to savor it after a warm bowl of Maggi noodles, I noted how much more satisfying it was than the packets of chocolate biscuits or Galaxy cookie crumble bars I tend to whizz through during stressful periods.
Best of all, it took just a few minutes and some fairly simple ingredients to put together (if you’re a bread and cake lover, and who isn’t, I’d suggest purchasing a big bag of almond flour which you can use as a filling and nutritious way to get your carb fix).
Part of the joy of eating this mug cake, one soft spoonful at a time, came from the way I consumed it — by giving myself the time and space to properly delight in it. Treats are so much better when we give into them fully rather than rushing through our time with them, all the while focusing on how we should be doing something else.
Try it and see — you may find that you want to create a weekend ritual around this recipe. It’s something you can enjoy alone or with a loved one.
Perhaps we can have our cake and fully enjoy it too.