I am not great at following recipes. I measure by heart, and when that doesn’t turn out – I assume it’s because I forgot to sift the flour. The same principle applies to how I am in life. And I am clearly missing an ingredient because when we put our cupcakes on the table, everyone else’s seem so perfect. ‘ah yes, I forgot to sift the flour‘

Even as I write this, I am adding vanilla and a touch of cinnamon, hoping the flavour will stand out amongst all the other cupcakes. I am still searching for that secret ingredient, and so I keep trying and testing and failing. And wondering is it just me?

I wanted to write about being real in a world that has become so unreal. Put your hand up if you are not an influencer, or tik tok famous, or create makeup tutorials selling your latest serums. I am not sitting at the table with everyone putting down social media for creating unrealistic expectations, I think this has always been a thing and we just got better at doing it. I come from the generation that had the first round at internet in the home – ‘a small step for man-a, huge step for mankind’. I think we can all look back and agree that we should have sifted the flour on that one.

Write what you know. Every aspiring writer knows that line. Well, turns out this has taught me exactly what I don’t know. I can write honestly that you will not get any keys to success from my story. If I had them, I most certainly would have lost them by now.

This life does not come neatly packaged in a box with easy to follow instructions. We don’t all have the same ingredients. This, is me trying to make a cupcake. ‘remember to sift the flour’