I lost my muse. Baked it into one of my cakes.

It has been a MONTH since I have put anything on my blog.  It's not that baking hasn't occurred, it has.  It's not that it hasn't been delicious, it has but I momentarily lost my muse. In case you didn't know, muses are kind of a crucial element to all things of passion.  The pursuit of a greater purposes are often driven by the presence of one such muse.  Just ask my friend who I fondly refer to as drummer boy.  Upon approaching me on the dance floor at my usual Sunday salsa spot he decidedly made me his muse and was inspired to spin me, flip me and even drum on my stomach and go into some whimsical pickup line about me being the drum and he the drummer, being the lyrics to his song blah blah blah *vomit*. Yeah it happened.  Inspiration sparked this relentless pursuit and quasi stalking for weeks on end all under the guise of "you're my muse." 

 

So... muse? Necessary.  My muse? Missing. Until this very delightful cake with a whole in the middle (that I couldn't bake without quoting a million lines from My Big Fat Greek Wedding) came into my life. 

Let's talk about the magic that happens when you combine chocolate and pumpkin into a fantastically moist and marbled creation and add 3 times the spices the recipe calls for and cover with a little bit of cream cheese glaze and a whole lot of love.  I would like to propose this very recipe as one of the top ten reasons autumn is the best season, right along there with the ability to wear scarves and boots (boots of course being reasons 1,2, AND 3 because everybody should enjoy one or five good pairs of boots).  Meet my muse: Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake. This little glory re-lit the dying flame in my heart and inspired a visit back to my blog.

So, friends? Finally, I'm back and I'm planning my next adventure.  I aim to spending many nights covered with flour and turning our kitchen inside out for hours at a time to build great creations at club350degrees. I have so many ideas for future projects, I am fairly certain brain explosion is a likely occurrence.  Inner spontaneous combustion. Hey, you never know, it could happen!

In the recent days, my passion has slowly began to build momentum, and I cannot deny that it feels good to be getting back to my overachieving-doing-5-people's-worth-of-stuff-in-one-day way of being.  There's a comfort in the busy for me.  I know y'all are probably reading this and thinking, um...Kirsten? When you wrote this I had already been asleep for hours, but I just haven't ever been the plop-on-the-couch-and-veg type. I've been more the go-to-bed-at-12-or-1-wake-up-at-6-complain-I'm-tired-guzzle-liters-of-caffeinated-products-repeat-type.

The caveat to my energizer bunny pace of life is that often there are not near enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I want out of life. So there comes a point when a reality check is necessary.  So many activities can fill a day. So many days fill a year. Years fill a life. These activities, then, demand a purpose, to be pursued intentionally and with great expectation.  This reality does not require a scaling back or muting of me but it makes necessary the careful selection of what fills my life. Each step taken, each decision made with boldness unveils the path set before me.  I am by no means claiming that everyone needs to be consuming masses of caffeine and never standing still like me, but I do believe that our life can have great meaning if we pursue our passions relentlessly. For me? For now? I'm gonna serve my God, teach the socks off my kiddos, shake and bake. Readyyyy, go! Yup.

"Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counselors they are established"
Proverbs 15:22