My Awakening

I had never baked nor cooked in my life. The past two decades were spent putting my education to good use - understanding my strengths, matching them to interesting roles, delivering with passion and laughter, and picking up some decent money and diverse friendships along the way.

Like a circus monkey, I have been trained to be productive with my time and output and to never slumber nor slack. Every minute is precious as is every drop of water. In the name of efficiency, good time management was a skill much sought after. I understood people who could multitask and juggle their time in between various roles to be called "capable".

I attended workshops presented by people who got out of bed at 5am to swim 50 laps before they went back to make pancakes and bond with their children over breakfast. By 10am, they had cleared their 100 emails. Their speeches drew deep admiration from the audience, and instilled a strong resolve amongst young minds to grow up to be like one of them. I too saw that as a hallmark of success to aspire to. I owe it to my family, company, community and country to give off my best. "Be prepared to give a little more" - a National Day song rings in my head.

Society had implanted a whip in my head that would snap if I did not give of my best. It kept me on my toes and at the edge of my chair for decades and I had thought this was a good thing. Damn, I was grateful for it! Didn't it bring out the best in me so I could compete on a global level and assure myself, Hey, I'm there, top-notch material.

Like gluttony, words like "chill out", "pig out", "I just want to slack today" are sinful. If I spent more time "thinking" on the job than "doing", it could cost me a promotion or an increment. Do, do, do and when you're done, do some more. Don't try to day-dream - it will turn into a nightmare in a "high-performing" environment.

Well, I am going to jam the brakes at this point in my life and abandon all conventional wisdom that "Time is precious, so make full use of it." I AM GOING TO LEARN TO WASTE TIME. I have chosen to waste it in the kitchen. This blog captures my new learning journey.

Hello, I'm a noob in the kitchen, an Extra Virgin Chef. Pleased to meet you.