Posted this photo of muffins on Instagram this morning with the following caption:
Today is one of those days.
I’ve been craving muffins for a while, and when I wandered down this morning and saw I had 40 minutes before we had to leave for preschool drop-off, some spark of hope inside me burst into flames and I just had to have muffins. Forget that both kids were still in their pajamas and only one had eaten breakfast. It was muffin time. Because if I wait for the perfect circumstances to make muffins, there will be no muffins on weekdays, and weekdays are exactly when you NEED a muffin.
When I look at my Instagram account, I see photo after photo of glorious moments captured during the craziness of everyday life.
Everyday triumphs.
And even on the toughest days, there’s a moment when the kids are too cute for words, the muffins turned out perfectly, or the fresh fruit we’re eating for snack looks so beautiful that I want it to brighten someone’s spring feed.
I’m not sure what my point is here, except to look for the muffins, and realize that when everyone else is posting muffins, it’s because muffins are worth sharing… but that doesn’t mean the rest of their life looks like muffins. Embrace the muffins. The muffins are real. Everything else is real, too, but when you look for the muffin moments, you realize how many beautiful, perfect little moments there are in your day even when the rest of that day is crazy.
Muffins are made from a recipe in Dreena Burton’s amazing cookbook Plant-Powered Families, which is a new favorite in our house.
Hi Kelly! I’ve enjoyed reading your posts lately (loved the washable marker post-priceless!)- thanks for sharing your life with the world! I love this post and LOVE how you made muffins in spite of chaos! You are definitely not alone in the chaos. I had a crazy morning too and made smoothies for my crew! But the craziness happened AFTER our smoothie time (It’s raining, I forgot my purse when I was halfway to work and had to turn around, go back and get it, traffic was a complete joke, with several “close calls” from people slowly moving into my lane, I almost got stopped by a train and was SUPER late for work!). I had to ask the Universe if it was playing a joke on me and decided to laugh along with it. I mean, what else can you do, especially when things are out of your control. Just ride it out, make lemonade (or muffins), and keep your light shining by sharing your love with the world (I kept saying, “I love you!” every time a vehicle cut me off on the road.) There are some crazy energy shifts happening, so hold on to your hat! Embrace the muffins! Love it! Sending you and your crew love and light, and wishing you a peaceful day. 🙂
Yeah, I do not say “I love you” when people cut me off. Intellectually I can appreciate how that level of compassion and positive energy might help, but I have not yet managed it. I can sometimes say “it’s ok, we’ve all been late… it happens” as people tailgate or aggressively swap lanes, but you sound like you radiate enlightenment with more frequency and success than I manage! Thanks for your nice words about my blog posts – I loved the marker one too! I find that writing a blog makes me more mindful of things happening in my life, because I’m always on the eye for topics. It makes me more reflective, and more appreciative, and helps me look for the humor in things.
Ha ha, I’m hardly a saint, but a work in progress, although people say I have the patience of one. 😉 Wednesday morning was one incident after the other, so I found it kind of comical. I was too giddy to get angry. And I was being silly, like, “I love you, dude! Please come on over into my lane! You’re very welcome!” But seriously, have you ever heard of Ho’Oponopono? It’s a mouth full, but really an ancient Hawaiian practice of forgiveness, with the mantra or prayer, “I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.” Practicing this has made a huge impact in my life and brought about much inner peace and calmness, especially in stressful situations. I recommend the book, “Zero Limits…” by Joe Vitale. I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s amazing so far. He talks about his meeting Dr. Hew Len, who healed an entire unit in a hospital of the criminally insane by practicing Ho’Oponopono and cleansing himself, which is such an amazing and profound concept. I’ve still got lots to learn, but so far, it’s made a huge impact on my life. Lots of love to you and your family! Have a joyful & peaceful weekend! 🙂
I have never heard of Ho’Oponopono – sounds fascinating! I’m signed up for a Yoga Book Club where we’re going to be reading The Joy Diet soon, and I’ll have to ask the instructor what she knows about it. (She’s a life coach and yogi who knows all sorts of cool stuff about mindfulness and living the good life).
I’ll check out Zero Limits – I love neat books like that. Thanks!
Awesome!!! I will have to pick up the Joy Diet as well!!! My goal for this year has been to find joy, and that book sounds like the perfect guide (I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of it before!)! Thanks for bringing that up! I’d love to hear how your book club goes, and how you like Zero Limits, when you get the chance. EnJOY!!! 🙂
By the way, how did you guys like the muffins? I made the same muffins, but they were not popular in my house. My sugar-loving family thought they were bland. I thought the molasses was a little too over-powering, but overall, not too bad. I will definitely play with the recipe a little to balance it out.
So we LOVED them… but we eat so few refined sugars that things taste sweeter to me and I often modify recipes to reduce the sugar. My 4 year old will eat two of these in a row. I also love molasses… so yeah this recipe is a good fit for us. If they’re bland putting a little cashew or coconut butter on them takes them to a whole new level! I also love Kathy Patalsky’s muffin recipes – her blog is great and she often uses things like orange zest and spices to give her baked goods a nice flavor profile.
That’s awesome. I don’t make a habit of bringing sugary treats into our home, but somehow my youngest manages to get a hold of them. You’re very fortunate their little taste buds have been trained on the good stuff! I do like molasses, but I felt they were missing something. I will definitely play with the recipe and tweak it to our taste. Thanks for sharing what you’re eating- it’s definitely inspirational for a working mom like me who needs ideas to keep my family (who I would love to be powered exclusively by plants) interested in healthy eating! 🙂
I hear you! I’m obsessed with cookbooks for that reason, always trying to find good meal ideas!