Pancake Philosophy

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them” — Aristotle

Pancakes. For the very first time in my fairly long years, I made pancakes. Pancakes have been my favorite thing to eat for a while now, not only because of how amazing they are but because they are apparently also enough to inspire a whole article. A multipurpose meal. I have been both lazy and scared to make them by and for myself so I always resorted to ordering from my favorite pancake spot until today, I decided to put on a “cloak of adventure” and just do it. I opened the YouTube application, searched for different recipes of how people get it done and honestly, it did seem like a very arduous task which discouraged me even more. I did not want to go through all those procedures only to end up not getting it right. I had the option to NOT do it but unfortunately, my adventure cloak was lined with hunger. Intense hunger. Although there were options of other things to eat, this intense hunger was further accompanied by the craving for pancakes ONLY. At that point, I did not want anything else and for someone who had never made pancakes, I was surprised that I had exactly all that I needed to get it done. Did this mean that I had unconsciously prepared myself for this day? Or were the odds just in my favor?

I mixed and churned repeatedly. The first few attempts were frustrating and disappointing to say the least. I failed woefully and trying became exhausting. Before now, I had seen people refer to pancakes as a meal that required high effort with low reward and a part of me started to believe it was true, regardless of my love for it. Curiosity about how something as trivial as making pancakes could make me feel weak and like a complete failure was raised. Churning became vehement, making sure that my mix did not have any lumps of flour as the recipes suggested. As I continued, questions about what exactly I could do to make my pancakes turn out better ran through my mind. I started to think of how problems are identified through questions and the moment you can answer those questions, solutions automatically follow.

“Problems raise questions; answers bring solutions” — Ifeoma B. Nwobu

My first solution was to use less oil. I had noticed how oily the first set of pancakes turned out and that was not exactly the most pleasant thing to look at nor eat. My second solution was to add more flour. My pancake mix was too watery and at that point, whatever came out of the pan could not be considered pancakes. I realized how this process reminded me of everything I have ever learnt about moderation, how nothing will turn out right if something in the mix was too little or too much. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?Subsequently, I noticed how the newer sets of pancakes turned out better than the last. The more attempts I made, the better the turn-out. It was in that moment that the opening quote by Aristotle came to play right before me. I had seen that quote and reworded versions of it online and I always agreed to it being a valid philosophy. However, there was something more profound about receiving a real life understanding of a philosophy I had held on to. Even more fascinating is how this understanding came through making pancakes.

My pancakes were not perfect, neither did they match up to standards of previous ones that I have had or seen on the internet. Honestly, I’d rate it a solid 5 out of 10, a pretty fair rating for my very first attempt but they served two remarkable purposes: I did not have to suppress my craving and settle for just anything else. I got exactly what I wanted. Secondly, it reiterated the philosophy that if I truly want to learn, I have to do. It wouldn’t matter how many tutorials I watch or how much training I receive, it is only in doing that I would get results. Perhaps everyone should make pancakes more often, I wonder how many more philosophies lie within those mini circles of fluffy goodness. It will always be fascinating to me how we can learn big lessons just by doing the small, simple things.

Now, think about that one thing that you really want to learn how to do and do it to learn.