One night at the beginning of a new year, a body lay tossing and turning for hours in bed. She searched for the path into dreamland, but every direction she took led her to dark places of worries and thoughts.
Her body grew restless of the searching, and in all the darkness and silence, she found herself in the safe space of her kitchen. Out of cupboards, her hands found the ingredients to a recipe she knew so well.
The flour was her worry.
The sugar was the dreams she hardly dared to believe in.
The baking powder was the growing restlessness.
The vanilla was the opportunities that were lost.
The cocoa was the bittersweet memories.
The oil was the ones who had slipped away.
The maple syrup was for those she hoped would stay.
The rice milk was the hope of something better.
While she mixed it all together, a song she didn’t know she knew came straight from her heart and flowed through the kitchen. Her hands worked through all that troubled her. The smell of sweetness brought peace to her mind.
She had let go of all her troubles, and sent them in the oven.
And what came out was cookies filled with love.
She sprinkled them with sea salt, for the tears she did not cry.
Packed them up to share.
She smiled and lay down on her bed.
The path was finally there.
©Christina de Vries
Christina de Vries 