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)
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29 Comments
Florianne
February 14, 2013 at 21:04
Awesome! Maybe I should move to your building.
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 :)
Diana
February 14, 2013 at 21:45
Your blog is so awesome :)
Thanks for your comment :3
Magical Day Dream
February 14, 2013 at 23:48
Thank you :)
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!
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!
mariana
February 16, 2013 at 12:29
cute. :)
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.
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.
Kellie @ Delightfully Ludicrous
February 15, 2013 at 00:06
What a lovely thing to do!
Magical Day Dream
February 18, 2013 at 13:09
Thank you :)
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.
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
ktpland
February 15, 2013 at 09:07
what a lovely idea. you sure brightened up their days. :) x
Magical Day Dream
February 18, 2013 at 13:11
I hope so. But I think I did. At least for a few :)
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!? :)
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..
Vivika Vain
February 16, 2013 at 07:46
I wish I was your neighbor! What a nice move you made! Your cookies look delicious!
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
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
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
Aizzing
February 17, 2013 at 05:34
that’s pure awesomeness! i wish i have a sweet neighbor like you. :)
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 ;)
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
Magical Day Dream
March 3, 2013 at 23:31
Thank you too :)
Angel
February 22, 2013 at 15:10
Thats very sweet of you. You are an awesome person! :]
Magical Day Dream
March 3, 2013 at 23:32
We all are and can be even more awesome if we try!
Uvita Viruella
March 13, 2013 at 02:52
These look delicious!
Nomnomnom
such a heartfelt project of sharing!
♥
Magical Day Dream
March 24, 2013 at 21:55
haha thanks, they were quite good if I may say so myself ;)