Pink Simplicity

How about a Netflix Binge for some creative inspiration this week, girls?

I've mentioned here that my husband and I are foodies, that we love to cook and experiment in the kitchen, and that we love to watch cooking shows together! So, we found "Chef's Table" on Netflix while we were holed up this winter, and thought we'd enjoy it! And, oh my gosh, did we ever, but not in the way we expected!

It turns out that the series was about so much more than food. Each episode focuses on one world renowned chef. As you watch, it quickly becomes clear that these world-class chefs (from across the globe) are artists of the truest kind, and that their medium is food! And, regardless of your artistic gift and your particular medium (be it canvas, fabric, food, music . . .), these stories are incredibly inspiring!

This series is definitely a feast for the eyes! I've never seen such beautiful, edible creations in real life. But, what I loved most, what I found so inspiring were the stories about their journeys to discover their own creative gifts. Each of them shared their unique experiences of setbacks, confusion, and struggles. Many of them shared the challenge that confronts all artists – to stick with the norm, or to break with convention, follow their hearts, and do something completely different! Several of them found that convention and tradition just didn't "fit" them. And, many felt a profound sense of meaninglessness while stuck in tradition, and became so discouraged in their journeys that they wanted to quit.

Yet, each of them persevered. They found the unique gift that they had been given to share. And, they built world renowned restaurants as galleries to share their creativity and art with world!

These chefs really reminded me of another favorite poem of mine by Robert Frost:

"The Road Not Taken" (1920)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

These chefs defied convention, and took the road less traveled! How inspiring is that? ;)

TTFN,
Kelly