photo Valentinesdayturqoiseandpinkicingcookies_zpseb1c3d08.jpg photo Valentinesdayhearticingcookies_zps308a9a86.jpg photo Valentinesdayturquoiseandpinkicingheartcookies_zpsd5131dbb.jpg photo Valentinesdayturquoiseicingcookieinhand_zps06209713.jpg photo Valentinesdayheartcookiesinenvelope_zps4beb15a3.jpg photo Valentinesdaycookieenvelopedescription_zpsbfed61fe.jpg photo Valentinesdaypinkcookieenvelopes_zpsb7321853.jpg

So I had this idea to bake cookies for my entire building for Valentine. That is 7 apartments filled with people varying from category ‘I never spoke to you before’ to ‘I might have had a little chat with you but don’t know your name’.

We have patterns and social norms and ways we ought to behave. Like you are not supposed to play hopscotch on the street. You are not supposed to talk to strangers on the bus and you are not supposed to bake cookies for your neighbors. But the thing is, some of these rules are there for no reason. It somehow just ended up being the main pattern in which people choose to behave, but that doesn’t mean that we should be limited in any way by them. If you want to make positive contributions to this world it is very likely that you will have to break these invisible patterns. So I challenge you to take a look at your daily life and question everything you do. And then question what things you might want to do. Just because no-one does something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

Baking was the easy part. Well, apart from the cookie-bake test I did last week to ensure result. My oven is broken so I baked 1 cookie at once under different conditions to find out under what circumstances I can bake cookies without burning them (150 degrees Celcius 14 minutes I found out after 4 tests). But that was not the point I was trying to make. The point is that ‘creating’ is my comfort zone. It is what I do. Now, when the time came to ring the doorbells of my neighbor’s houses I suddenly wasn’t too sure anymore of my plan that had seemed so awesome until then. I thought: ‘what if they think I am weird and that I have some kind of Valentine complex’ or ‘what if his girlfriend wants to hit me because I give him heart-shaped cookies’ and all these kind of thoughts that hadn’t occurred to me before. But hey, I had baked all my cookies, and I couldn’t eat them all myself. So I bravely rang doorbells.

The reactions were overwhelming. People smiled. They kissed me and hugged me. They invited me for Saturday night pizza and coffee. They invited me to future summer garden parties. They screamed enthusiastically and said they were gonna ‘Facebook it’. They liked it, very much.

I still can’t help but smiling with a big big smile when I think about it. It really is true that the way to be happy is to make others so.

(Oh and if you liked this story, you might like my last year’s Valentine action as well)

29 Comments

  • Reply

    Florianne

    February 14, 2013 at 21:04

    Awesome! Maybe I should move to your building.

    • Reply

      Magical Day Dream

      February 14, 2013 at 21:12

      Ok. I think the apartment above ours is for sale. And then we can bang on the ceiling/floor to communicate :)

  • Reply

    Diana

    February 14, 2013 at 21:45

    Your blog is so awesome :)
    Thanks for your comment :3

  • Reply

    mariana

    February 14, 2013 at 22:43

    I can’t complain about my neighbours, but I wish i had neighbours like you! We all should have neighbours like you!!

    p.s.: What is written on the bag – second photo from bottom? :)
    p.p.s.: Your Valentine’s cookies look great!

    • Reply

      Magical Day Dream

      February 14, 2013 at 23:51

      It says: I baked cookies for the entire flat. Hope they taste good! cheers, Marielle (number 165 = my house number in case they are confused about who I am and where I live :p)

      And thank you :) It is the first time (well apart from my test last week) that I tried to do it in such a way and I am very happy with how the icing turned out!

    • Reply

      mariana

      February 16, 2013 at 12:29

      cute. :)

  • Reply

    bekswhoknits

    February 14, 2013 at 23:31

    how awesome!!!!

    I know I have a lot of horrible stories about my neighbours, but I don’t think I have a single nice ones.

    I’m obviously living in the wrong place.
    And good on you for getting out of your comfort zone and meeting all those new people.

    • Reply

      Magical Day Dream

      February 14, 2013 at 23:52

      Well the good thing is that we can make these nice stories by our actions, which is pretty cool if you think about it.

  • Reply

    Kellie @ Delightfully Ludicrous

    February 15, 2013 at 00:06

    What a lovely thing to do!

  • Reply

    Loulou

    February 15, 2013 at 04:50

    What a great thing to do Marielle. And they turned out so beautifully! I love the colours of the icing.

    • Reply

      Magical Day Dream

      February 18, 2013 at 13:10

      Yes I bought the food colouring in a very cute shop in Antwerp: I have had it for over a year but never used it before

  • Reply

    ktpland

    February 15, 2013 at 09:07

    what a lovely idea. you sure brightened up their days. :) x

  • Reply

    Kristin

    February 16, 2013 at 01:39

    Aw, such a sweet thing to do! It’s always nerve-wracking to do something that you’re not sure of how people will react to. Some things aren’t done due to social norms, like you mentioned, but I think it’s silly. Why not make cookies for your neighbors!? :)

    • Reply

      Magical Day Dream

      February 18, 2013 at 13:11

      I know right? :) But I also think you should never let that fear whit hold you from doing good things..

  • Reply

    Vivika Vain

    February 16, 2013 at 07:46

    I wish I was your neighbor! What a nice move you made! Your cookies look delicious!

    • Reply

      Magical Day Dream

      February 18, 2013 at 13:12

      If you ever decide to move to the Netherlands and be my neighbour I will definitely bake you cookies :D

  • Reply

    floating thru fields

    February 17, 2013 at 02:19

    this is awesome!! You are amazing to actually do something like that.
    You totally made their day I’m sure and the cookies are very pretty :)

    thanks for the inspiration

    • Reply

      Magical Day Dream

      February 18, 2013 at 13:13

      You are welcome :) I really enjoyed the experience: it was great to see all the faces light up first from surprise and then joy

  • Reply

    Aizzing

    February 17, 2013 at 05:34

    that’s pure awesomeness! i wish i have a sweet neighbor like you. :)

    • Reply

      Magical Day Dream

      February 18, 2013 at 13:14

      Haha ahh thanks. I guess that’s hard to influence, you can influence the neighbour you want to be though ;)

  • Reply

    Isabelle

    February 20, 2013 at 02:06

    Sweet cookies! :) They look delicious! Thank you so much for the sweet comment you left on my blog. It really means a lot :D

  • Reply

    Angel

    February 22, 2013 at 15:10

    Thats very sweet of you. You are an awesome person! :]

  • Reply

    Uvita Viruella

    March 13, 2013 at 02:52

    These look delicious!
    Nomnomnom
    such a heartfelt project of sharing!

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