The Calm in the Craft

Today, I set up a wedding cake. I haven’t done much of that in a while. The blessing called Amaka has held the fort for me at the bake shop for a couple of years now.
Every once in a while I get a day or two off work, and when there’s some baking to be done, Amaka almost always goes; ‘Aha, ma, you will work today. e don tey wei you work’.
I was off work on Thursday and Friday, so I worked on a wedding cake at the bake shop… And so today we set up at the venue.

There’s something about the final moments, the precision, the little adjustments, the way everything comes together… it feels deeply satisfying. Standing back to look at it, I felt it again: this is something I love…

…But alongside that feeling came another truth, just as clear… I am not ready to fully step into the hustle of it… Again.

I had to sit with that thought…Because we often tell ourselves that if we love something, we should go all in. Turn it into a business. Scale it. Push it. Monetize it. Build something big out of it.
But what if love doesn’t always need pressure to prove itself?

Baking, for me, is more than a skill or a side hustle. It is a soft place. A quiet rhythm. Measuring, mixing, watching something rise, layering, coating and frosting… it settles me. It brings me back to myself in a way very few things do.

I’ve come to realize something important: There is a difference between loving a part of something and wanting to carry the full weight of it… I love the setup, the artistry and the moment where everything comes together beautifully.

But the constant demand? The deadlines, the pressure, the expectation to always be “on”? That part feels heavy. I’ve done that full time and I’ve done it part time. I think I am more at peace with the part time.

And I am not ready to trade my all of my calm for that. So maybe the answer isn’t “all in” or “not at all.” Maybe it looks like this:
Choosing baking as my soft space first, and a business second.
Taking on only what excites me.
Saying yes slowly, intentionally.
Letting it grow gently, without force.

I don’t have to turn my passion into nonstop chase, I can choose to create at my own pace and become the kind of baker people are happy to wait for…
Because the truth is, I don’t want to lose the part of baking that heals me just to gain the part that pays me.

That feeling I had today… setting up that cake… it wasn’t a push to do more… It was a reminder of what matters.
I can hold both.
The calm… and the craft.

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Author: Emaistace

wife, mom, sister, daughter, aunty, friend. writing my everyday thoughts as they pop up.

24 thoughts on “The Calm in the Craft”

  1. Truth. I feel you completely. Baking is calming without the pressure and the deadlines.
    I’ve decided, I’ll bake only on my terms and convenience now

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  5. I love this thought, Mimi – and the process involved in clarifying the thought – the calm is the thing, and when the craft provides or enhances the calm, that is goodness. ‘The Calm’ brings to mind the Hebrew word ‘Shalom.’ Thank you for this! The cake is beautiful, too, btw. ~Ed.

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      2. Most couples here don’t share their wedding cakes. They dismantle it and take it home. I have never known or understood why, but that’s quite normal here.
        That being said, this was one of those couples. They dismantled it tier after tier and gave them to in-laws and other people.

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      3. Omg… They don’t eat the wedding cake? In the U.S. the bride and groom save the top tier and freeze it to eat on their first anniversary. The rest is served to guests. Where do you live?

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      4. Sometimes, some couples ask the cake decorator/baker to cut and share the cake to the guests… At the end of the wedding.
        Now that I’m talking about it, I think the whole idea is to leave the cake be a decorative piece rather than a desert 😂

        I live in Nigeria.

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      5. Yes the cake is a decorative piece on the bridal table in the U.S. as well, but toward the end of the wedding, the bride and groom cut a piece and feed it to each other..many times squashing the cake in the other’s face! Then a friend cuts the cake and shares it with all the guests. Sadly, I’ve never been to Nigeria, although I traveled around the entire coast of Africa in a boat, stopping at several places, then came back and lived in Ethiopia for more than a year. Africa was my favorite place visited in a trip around the world.

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