Woah. Deep freaking question, Tessa. It isn’t lost on me that I’m here about to dip a toe into talking about finding your purpose and I am a CANDY SCIENTIST. It feels silly even saying that sometimes, like it shouldn’t be a real thing. The number of unsolicited Oompa Loompa jokes that I receive should disqualify me from thinking this is a real career. But it is, and for right now, it is my purpose.
*And I still promise that candy recipes are coming. How do we feel about starting with caramel soon?*
There has always been an internal debate inside of me about what I do. If you know me personally, you might also know that I have a pretty strong interest in health and nutrition and used to give up sugar entirely for months and mediocrely compete in CrossFit. Too much sugar is not great for your body, that is not controversy. Total fraud of a candy scientist.
(More realistically, just someone that is not immune to body image issues and sometimes replaces moderate control with extreme self-discipline).
But I kid you not that regardless of the silly debates in my head, I’ve always felt that making candy is my purpose. Dang, I don’t think I’ve ever vocalized that or written it and by golly it does actually look…RIDICULOUS! Ha! Making candy is my purpose!?
For a while I thought maybe I was just placed in certain situations, roles, departments to have some sort of positive impact on the people around me. Which I do think is the case as I’ve had some wildly intense conversations with a variety of people in the workplace. At least I hope I left positive impact over the years anyway!
I entirely do believe that we can all have the ability to share a bit of light and love with those around us, whether they know we are doing it or not. And wouldn’t it be really great if everyone did that more right now? So maybe that was my purpose. But why the heck do I keep ending up around candy?
hang with me here…
Here is my current theory:
Everyone has skills, abilities, characteristics, or talents that are unique to them. We are born to bring goodness to the world, and these abilities can come easy (relatively) and natural in order for us to play our part. God gives us the desires and dreams of our hearts so that we are motivated to add to this world in a positive way. Live that out as a service or duty to the universe! It is not selfish or frivolous to chase positive desire and share your talents dynamically with the world. The world needs you and your quirks. Where you naturally find true joy, relaxation, and peace is where things are likely to be right.
Now this still feels ridiculous, but for me, I think my purpose is to make candy. Studying and understanding the molecular interactions of sugar and other candy ingredients comes relatively easy to me and I find it freaking fascinating… regardless of whether or not I’m eating sugar this month.
Just to really illustrate this, ask me about sugar inversion and acid…and I start moving around imaginary molecules in the air with my hands like I’m in front of a futuristic NASA control screen until I realize that no one can see what I’m thinking, and I need to find a white board of some sort. Just the other day I explained starch modification with a Sharpie on a paper towel. Total nerd, but gosh darn it if that doesn’t light me up! (Yes, still REALLY now realizing how strange this sounds)
Over the past couple of years, I’ve thought about this a lot though. So here is the next step: Candy creates JOY! Mother freaking JOY! It is momentary, but affordable and totally approachable joy. What I create has the potential to initiate positive memories in people of all age, race, and socioeconomic status. What I develop for my clients has the potential to create new opportunities and new experiences for them, which ultimately leads to a product that brings joy to the end consumer. We’re like just stacking up joy around here ya’ll! Get. In. Line.
So that is how I found and defined what I believe to be my current purpose: I create candy = I create joy!
I also think that as we learn new skills and gain new experiences, our purpose grows and changes too. Don’t stress on having ONE lifelong purpose. That is a silly limitation. Moreso, this is how I have come to accept that it is really cool to have a unique purpose. And I think we all have one. We just have to allow ourselves to find it.
What is your weird dream or desire that seems out of the norm but totally sparks your fire? Run with that until it leads you to something new.
Sweet Fact:
Sugar inversion is when a sucrose molecule is split into two separate components: glucose and fructose. This can happen via acid interacting with the bond that connects them to make sucrose, OR it can happen via an enzyme called invertase which also breaks that bond. Yadda yadda yadda…
Cool part: Invertase is an ingredient that is added to cherry cordials (chocolate covered cherries) to create the gooey liquid that surrounds the cherry. When they are first made, the cherry is coated in a more solid material (fondant) that can easily be coated in chocolate and hold its shape. Then, the invertase breaks the sucrose molecules down over time which destroys their crystalline structure and turns the sugars into a syrup-like substance. If you have ever had a hard cherry cordial, there is a good chance that the invertase wasn’t active or was exposed to too much heat, orrrrrr it was just hella fresh and hadn’t had the time to do its thing yet.