Creativity as Healing: How Baking, Entertaining, and Everyday Beauty Became My Self-Care

For as long as I can remember, baking, arranging flowers, decorating beautiful table settings, and creating elaborate menus for guests have been my touchstone of creativity.

It all started with a lemon chiffon pie, which I made all on my own at 9 years old and served to our butcher who lived down the road.

Me baking at an early age

My chest was bursting with pride as I delivered him my masterpiece. A pie worthy of a bakery window in Paris, yet baked in a tiny, cramped trailer kitchen in rural Canada

Since then, each swipe of icing, clip of a stem, or sparkle of crystal on the table has brought a swell of joy and another thing to clean.

Long before I focused on writing as a source of healing, these simple acts of creating and sharing were how I brought beauty to my everyday.

Since my mother's passing, creativity has taken on a new, even more profound meaning. I have started writing more, journaling my thoughts and memories.

Art, which I once admired from afar, unexpectedly became part of my healing process.

What creative rituals ground you? I'd love to hear how you reconnect with yourself through simple acts of beauty.

If you're into baking, try making a dessert from your childhood. Let me know how it goes.