These are happy cupcakes.
The ingredients are good for you in every way. They are healthy, wholesome, delicious and easy to make. They are lovely to look at, and fun to share. They are a mini celebrations of all that is good in this world!
You might think I am giving them too much credit, but I have to tell you something: when you're as happy about life as I am right now, they really do seem this great. The past couple weeks I have been focusing much of my time to meditation, being outdoors, and most importantly, enjoying the little things and living in the moment as it happens. Of course I know meditation is important, and that when I am outside with my music is when I am happiest and feel the most fulfilled. But knowing that and maintaining it are two different things. When you have a ton of other responsibilities to take care of every day - no matter what they are - you tend to put your "me-time" on the back burner, and that's a huge mistake. I am pretty sure we all do this, right?
So a couple weeks ago I basically had a melt down because I felt so stressed and anxious about aaall the things I think are so important that I need to get done. School work (essays, readings, exams, presentations), blog stuff (recipe creation, photography, social media sharing), and another project I am working on that may or may not a be a cookbook about savoury vegan recipes. On top of that there are the endless little tasks of simply maintaining a social existence (meeting up with friends, being polite, loving my partner). I am not saying I do not enjoy school, "work", friends, family or Jack. But I am saying all these responsibilities add up to a whole lotta pressure to be perfect and please others. I think most of us spend the majority of our days (and thus our lives) working to make other people happy, in ways that often don't really matter. For example, yes I have a paper this semester that is worth 40% of my grade, and in some ways it's important I do it and get a good grade so I can graduate with a decent GPA aaaand of course writing the paper will open my eyes to a whole story I didn't know existed (I think I'm gonna write about the history of abortion in Canada). But REALLY, does it matter? Even in the worst case scenario all that will happen is I fail the course. But I will still be healthy, loved, comfortable, able-bodied, able-minded, self-aware, and alive in this amazing world!
I don't know how much sense I am making. What I am trying to say is that I think so many of us - namely middle/upper class people in developed countries with access to stuff we take for granted like food, internet, human rights, fridges, mattresses and Netflix - let ourselves become perpetually stressed about shit that doesn't actually have anything to do with us being happy. We worry way too much about deadlines for papers and numbers instead of saying "Hey, I am alive today and that feels pretty great." Stress is a catalyst for virtually every lifestyle disease. Let's throw it out. Let's be grateful for what we HAVE and who we ARE. Let's look at the sky, stars, moon or sun and recognize and that we are merely fragments of energy in an organic multi-verse of scientific amazement and spiritual connectedness, here for a moment until our cells are once again recycled into the elegant, magnificent cosmos. Does that report due on Friday REALLY matter? It's time to ask yourself if you are truly happy. If not, find a way to be happy.
My goal? Travel the world and then settle down in the interior of BC, buying my own patch of property and building an off-the-grid home. Sounds pretty unrealistic, but I'm gonna make it happen. You'd be surprised at how affordable land can be in certain spots. You'd also be surprised at how inexpensive homes can be to build. For inspiration, look no further than this. You don't HAVE to stay in a job you hate, you don't HAVE to keep paying rent or a mortgage, you don't HAVE to be in this never-ending state of stress and irritability. You can live simply, happily and peacefully as soon as you want to. Enjoy the things in life that actually matter. For me that's being with people I love, hiking to the tops of mountains, eating baked yams, dancing like no one's watching, and improving my own self every day with meditation and yoga. There is no reason you cannot have the life you want. Go for it! And on the way, try out this cupcake recipe.
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES with BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
Makes 5 big cupcakes; 5-10 servings (with leftover frosting)
Cupcakes:
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup dried coconut meat
1/2 cup dates
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons carob powder
Use this recipe.
1/2 cup dried coconut meat
Frost with the buttercream, then sprinkle with your powdered coconut, and enjoy!
SUBSTITUTIONS: use buckwheat, almond, coconut or quinoa flour instead of rolled oats and/or coconut; use cocoa or cacao instead of carob.
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