Just like you and your kitchen, Love Letters to Chefs is completely taking over my life and I’m loving it. It’s fulfilling me in a way that no other work has, and I’ve all too easily given up wanting to do anything besides this. And it feels great to be devoting so much energy to it, because building anything, whether a career or a project or a family takes focussed attention.
But this is where I check-in with myself: is my identity getting wrapped-up in my work? I would say no, but to be honest, I don’t know for sure. It’s true that I’m spending a lot of time on it and always thinking about it. But wouldn’t you agree that it’s hard to look at yourself objectively when you’re so passionate about something?
This is the question that we should ask ourselves: are we being anyone else outside of work? Even if we can devote little time to it, are we fully engaged with being a parent, a partner, a volunteer or a neighbour – any other role outside the workplace that perhaps engages another side of our personality?
If like me, your answer is a tentative yes, then it would be a good idea to give this some attention, chef. Step up our game outside the workplace. Even those of us who aren’t surrounded by loved ones can surely be a better friend or mentor to someone. Because even though we love our work, life can only be rich when we’re being all of who we can truly be.