Baking is Magic

March 1, 2026

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Baking is like magic. Sure, we are entirely aware of the chemical processes that occur when you mix ingredients and heat them, but to collect together a handful of ingredients and create something entirely else seems almost fantastical, like transmuting several things into one cohesive result that you then get to enjoy or share. Perhaps baking feels so magical because it reminds me of childhood, as if I've returned to the way I used to live for a moment. I think this is a sign of a deeper yearning I have had as of late.

Put simply, I was depressed for most of high school and college, the latter of which I am still attending. Having found a way to begin my journey out of that darkness, I've come to understand myself better, to rediscover my love for the natural world, and to contemplate what it is I wish to do with myself. This led to the realization that things that used to bring me happiness needn't stay in the past, in my childhood. Building with my hands, exploring nature, crafting stories and worlds, expressing myself through music and art, baking (of course), and just . . . having fun. These are all things that I used to do, and now that I find myself rediscovering my happiness, are all things that I wish to do now and forevermore.

- Ember