Blogniversary: My Four Little Things

Wow!!! Three years behind me and the road ahead seems even more promising and exciting!. Who would have imagined that a silly idea of starting a blog on July 27th would have grown stronger with time? I certainly did not! But it has been without doubt one of the best decisions I have made in my entire life! Has it been easy? Hell naw! But has it been worth it? Heck yea!!

Looking back on my three years, I am nothing but grateful for each one of you for enriching my journey, critiquing me, encouraging me, laughing with me and of course, making BOMB food with me. As I start my fourth year today (OMG how fast has time flown by!!), here are four little things about my journey, random ones about my self and anything else that I have learnt and have carried me through.

Four things (good and bad) I have learnt about myself over the past three years:
I second guess myself a lot 🙁
You know when you think of doing something, you know very very very well that you can do it, but somehow talk yourself out of doing it? That’s me! I do not know which demon has made a permanent home on my shoulder whispering into my ear that I cannot do what I want to do. I get so scared! But I decided deal with that by doing exactly what I fear doing. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? This involves a lot of mirror pep talks to get myself out of that funk, and when I do, I shock myself with the might and power I wield. Let me tell you, those mirror motivational speeches you give your self work!! So as I start my fourth year, Here’s to gassing myself up more! Reminding myself more of my power, my strengths and abilities instead of downplaying them. (How dare I???) Here’s to greatness!!

I feel guilty while resting
I can’t possibly be the only one who struggles with this! It is one of the very very bad things I picked from highschool; where if you actually rested during break-times, you were seen as lazy and rebellious. It was almost an unwritten rule that you had to be seen studying 24/7 except only when you were asleep, at mass or eating. Funny how seemingly innocent things drilled into your mind over 4 years can affect you years later….That toxicity of believing rest as a sign of laziness is something I am slowly getting over.  Rest is so necessary, especially as a creative when those blocks come at you hard! I will do my long hours and have my late nights; squeeze in a million activities in my day as efficiently as I can, but when it comes to resting tome, I let go and completely unwind. Resting is not laziness, it is *explentive* necessary!

Quiet assertion >>> Violent aggresion
As an entrepreneur,  I have found that quiet assertion gets one further and leaves a lasting impression compared to violent aggression. Yes, there are times when you have to be mkali sana , but most times, a little assertion goes a long long way. It is much easier to get a lot done by firmly but warmly getting your message across rather than aggressively and coldly putting your point across. I have learnt when to use force and when not to. You can always own the situation and control the narrative without being overly aggressive. Quiet assertion has always been better than aggression when you want to get things done well.

I love that my success so far is a stepping stone for those coming after me

I am where I am because of those who got into food blogging long before I did and paved the way for me. They are African Kaya, Pendo la Mama and Leo Tunapika?. Because of them, I am here. And because I am here, I too hope that each barrier I break and every possibility I turn into a reality will pave way for those coming after me. There is room for all of us to prosper, so if you want to get in, DO IT! If you need, help, ask me! I will not shut you down. If you haven’t, please read this post about Food blogging and how to get started.

Four places I hope to travel to in my fourth year

Just to be clear, my MAIN motivation for going to these places is to experience the amazing food scene (no shame in the greed game!! *snort*) and everything else that influences it.

1. Cape Town: Food capital of Africa! I am ready to taste the finest the continent has to offer. I am ready to sink in a boatfull of your wines! I am ready to learn, to savor how fearlessly you combine flavors! I. AM. READY . FOR. CAPETOWN!!
2. New York: Mighty concrete jungle with restaurants more that I could count with influences from all over the world. I want to eat New York with a shovel big spoon!! I want to delve deep into the restaurant scene  and really see how amazingly other people are modernizing their native cuisines.
3.  Marrakesh: Mainly for their bold and fearless use of spices, this Morrocan city has it’s hold on me! I want to taste the everything they have as prepared by the locals. Plus have major photo shoots in their beautiful towns because a travel trip is not complete without taking 1,287,356 pictures a day, right?
4. Kyoto: This is where you really get to experience Japanese food at it’s best! I have always been fascinated by Japan since I started studying Japanese in Uni. Their food is so different from ours and that peaked my curiosity even more. Top on my list when I get there: Natto

Four feelings that power me:
Love
Surely my work would have no substance if I did not love what I did! Deep deep love for what I do! Nearly all inspiration for my recipes come from people I love,  and made for people I love. I always hope that each time you prepare one of my, you feel the love too! Coz plenty of it goes in there! <3

Fear
This is the one negative emotion that drives me to excellence. I fear average. I fear not being fulfilled by what I do. I fear of regretting that I never did my best. Fear of ordinary. Fear of forgettable. I never ever want to look back and see that at one point I was not my very best. So I do put in my very best every single day!

Pride

You know that glowing feeling you get when you share what you did that’s feel is beautiful? I feel so so proud when I share my best work! I feel proud when my country is noticed on the global scene as a result of my work! I feel proud about owning and building something that will be spoken of for generations to come! And that keeps me motivated in putting in my best and always placing my best foot forward. It is not about being the best, but about being my best!

Vulnerability
I own my mistakes and I am not ashamed of them. No one is perfect . And I feel by owning them, and even openly speaking about them, is how I grow and let you guys know where I went wrong so that you too shouldn’t make the same mistakes.  Remember this post about my worst food fails :D?

Four things I hope to achieve in the coming year:
I don’t know LOL! I have plenty going on so let me just go with the flow…
* My own spice range maybe?
* A kitchen ware and dinner ware line maybe?
* My own show on Food Network Maybe?
* #KK Sauces and dips maybe?

I do not know 😀 . Let us just take each day as it comes and let us see how the rest of the year all unravels <3. Which ever way(s) I go, you guys will love it and I would be honored to have you on my new exciting path! <3 <3 <3

*ROLLS UP SLEEVES*

Four things I hope for my darling readers:
<3 That you will find your life purpose and relentlessly follow your reams. That you find a way to make a living our of your God given gifts. That you live life full of uncontainable zest. That you are kind to everyone you meet. Believe that you are unstoppable (coz you are) and the world is indeed your oyster!

<3 That you will try out a good juicy perfectly seared medium rare steak at least once each month as a treat!

<3 That you will deliberately seek to add value to the lives of those around you, be it through your work, through your words or through your actions. Make it deliberate to be a good human being.

<3 That you will find absolute peace and happiness in everything you do!

To exciting times ahead!

-Kaluhi