Try Everything: A Recipe for Becoming

You are not just who you were born to be. You’re not even just how you were raised.

You are who you choose to become.

I believe that becoming is a process — a recipe, in a way— and the ingredients are all around us. The people in our lives, the experiences we collect, the trials we face and the joys we chase — they all contribute to the person we are growing into. If we so choose, we get to taste a little of everything. We get to decide what works and what doesn’t, and keep stirring until we find something beautiful.

I have a thing for food — and I love to cook and I cook for love. That’s probably why this recipe metaphor is a great one one for me. But my hands have been in far more than just flour and fire. I’ve always enjoyed crafting, and I feel most at peace when I’m creating something — whether in the kitchen or the quiet corners,  obsessing over a project that may or may not understand.

I’ve handcrafted flower-infused paper, stitched it into a leather-bound book, and filled it with doodles — pages I hope to pass on to my children someday. I’ve crocheted slippers and whole bedspreads, I’ve loom-knitted winter hats, sewn bedsheets, and even hand-raised lovebirds from eggs, building them a DIYed armoire-turned-aviary (best viewed from a distance!).

I’ve stitched a tiny three-piece suit for my toddler, made tofu and churchkhela* from scratch, and I know how to do laundry by hand. I’ve changed my own oil and soothed strangers in their final moments, learning the intimate and varied breaths of death. I can preach to a thousand, snuggle a snake or charm a ferrel parrot, and have been swimming in the black depths of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from land.

But I’m still afraid of heights. Of tight spaces. Of birthday parties and baby showers. I’m most afraid of getting lost. I’m not particularly excellent at most of the things I do — I just love trying them. My bucket list is more likely to include “taste ice cream shaped like a chicken leg” than “go skydiving.” But try? I will.

I’ve always loved floating — not just in water, but in life. In nursing, my favorite role was float pool — jumping between units, adapting, learning, helping. I guess I’ve always lived a bit that way: floating between disciplines, trying everything, soaking up what I can before (or maybe while) attempting to the learn something new. I’m a bit of a Renaissance woman, I suppose (Is that still a thing?).

I’m a Christian. I want to do what’s right. But I think my theme song might be Shakira’s Try Everything. Because I do. I try. I want to experience life in all its weird, beautiful fullness. I’m not an adrenaline junkie, but I am an experience seeker. And the richest experience of all?

People.

Of all the things I’ve tried — and there have been so many — I’ve come to realize the thing I’ve truly studied, practiced, and pursued is understanding people. I’m no collector of beanie babies or keychains (though I’ve had a few). I had a friend once who collected Rolex watches. Me? I collect people.

I love people. I like almost everyone I meet  — and I can usually tell quickly who I trust. I live by Howard Franklin’s rule number two: Use your resources (and be one). When you know you’re not the best at everything, you start to see the brilliance in everyone around you. You learn to listen. To appreciate. To connect.

Because in the end, I think that’s what I’m really crafting — not just soaps, suits, or sermons — but relationships. Understanding. Love.

I don’t know where the next adventure will lead or what new skill I’ll try. But I know this:

Every new ingredient adds something to the recipe.

And the best ingredients?

They’re always people.

🎧 And listen to the audio podcast episode: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/transformationship/episodes/Try-Everything-A-Recipe-for-Becoming-e33pkug

*Churchkhela is a traditional Georgian candy of walnuts on a string, dipped into thickened grape juice and dried them into chewy, candle-shaped treats. Sometimes called the “Georgian Snickers.”