Success Cake & Metaphorical Walls & Literal Growth
Lately, my TikTok "for you page" has been flooded with people doing success cakes alongside their friends. The premise: write something you've achieved this year on a note, slap that note on a toothpick, put said toothpick into the cake. Repeat until everyone has placed all of their accomplishments on the cake. Enjoy the cake with friends. Ruminate in your mightily successful and accomplished friend group. I got to thinking -- what would I put on my metaphorical success cake? For awhile, I found myself in a bit of a funk. Life moved pretty slowly this year, sorta, and I just couldn't think of anything too pivotal that I would emphasize in a moment of celebration. How do you define a year of living into one or two notes that can fit onto a toothpick? What do you do if nothing particularly good stands out upon first thought? To rewind, 2025 started out horribly. In January, I came home for what was supposed to be a single week so that I could escape the crowd that would...
