Eating is something that a good portion of humanity loves to do. Sweet, salty, spicy, acidic, the world is a palette of unique and delicious flavors that we are supposed to explore. Yet with a majority of these flavors, comes the task of cooking and preparing them. Boiling the water, pre-heating the oven, ex-cetera, ex-cetera. Now sometimes, this can mean going to a restaurant and having a professional make it for you, which is great. I mean other than the fact that it's probably going to cost more, there's a lot less risk in something going wrong. Other times this means getting things pre-prepared at the store, which is great because of it's ease. The downside however is that there still runs the risk of getting burnt and it's usually not as healthy due to the preservatives and sweeteners involved. Or, you can just cook. Yes, if you're not good at it, this may seem like the least savory of options. Cooking takes a lot of time and patience, and sometimes, no matter what you do, the dish cannot and will not be saved and the food that you put so much time and effort into just ends up tasting like something the refrigerator just threw up.

But I swear, cooking is a skill that everybody, no matter how untalented they may be at it, should invest time in learning. And that's saying a lot coming from the girl who's set fire while boiling a pot of water. But my mother was determined to teach me, and so I learned. Actually, "teach" isn't the best word for it, she would just tell me to make dinner and I would match the contents of our fridge to whatever recipe I could find on the internet and go for it. Sure, the first few attempts were pretty bad, but as time went on I improved drastically. Moral of this five sentence story? Anyone can cook, maybe not well, but something. So if you're in a rut and wanting to give up on cooking, here are some reasons to keep you going.

1. It's relaxing

Ok, so I know the first few times, especially with a new recipe, cooking can be stressful. From the moment you start to the moment you get to finally sit down and eat, you're in a race against time. There are things to be burnt, things to be spilled, and small annoying cuts to be gained before the stress starts to fade away. But once it does, cooking becomes this remarkable magical act that just melts all your stress away. Because of the heat and the time aspects, you feel more in the moment, with all your focus on your present actions. You begin to move more deftly and have more purpose to your actions. Measuring things out, maybe adding a little extra zest here and there, cooking can become a truly fun and relaxing activity. Not to mention the best part of any recipe being the putting it in the oven and waiting. I mean sure, the waiting can suck if you're hungry, but if you're not? It's amazing. Just sitting back and letting the whole house fill with the sent and the heat of the oven can truly brighten up any rainy day, and also provide a nice break in your daily routine.

2. You learn your limits

While some recipes may be easily mastered, others may not. For example I can make a pretty fantastic curry lentil bake, but boxed cake? Not so much. My cooking ability comes to an end the minute it hits baking. Which is fine, because where my limits ends, my sister's begin. I'd take her crème brûlée over my lumpy boxed cake any day. So realize that you're probably not going to be good at cooking everything, and don't loose confidence over your inability to make spaghetti sauce from scratch, because probability is you're just better at cooking other things. And if not? Well then it's a good thing that the grocery store sells that stuff in an abundance.

3. It makes you think about where your food comes from

It's a lot easier to not think about where the pork you're eating came from when you're the one who didn't have to chop it up. Cutting meat is easily the worst part of cooking for me. It's slimy and slips out of your grip. It doesn't necessarily smell the best, and some parts just do not want to be cut. I also get this tinge of guilt whenever I think about what kind of life this poor chicken, or cow, or pig, had before its butchering. I mean the experience still has yet to turn me into a vegetarian, but it's certainly a lot easier to go through with if I know that my meat wasn't crammed into a box, mutilated by knives and hormones, and mistreated its entire life before ending up on my plate. When I cook, I know that I have the power to pick meat that had a decent and happy life before going into my frying pan. And it's the same with fruits and vegetables. I want to know if my strawberries were locally grown, or if they were shipped halfway across the world before getting to me. I want to know if my apples were doused in pesticides and other chemicals or if they were organically grown. And I don't care about the health effects of GMO's on the human body, they still have a negative impact on our planet's biodiversity, and I'd rather not buy something I know has a GMO, or isn't organic, or was seriously abused before ending up on my plate. It's my own little protest against things that I find wrong and it's because of cooking that my attention is drawn to matters like these. You don't really get a say into what ingredients a restaurant or a pre-made dish contains. You do, however, get one when you cook it yourself.

4. It's a fun way to connect with others

I absolutely love cooking for other people. I love cooking with other people. I love learning new recipes from other people. Cooking is an activity that doesn't necessarily have to be done by yourself. It's exponentially so much more enjoyable when others are involved. One of my favourite feelings in the world is watching other people eat whatever I've just made. I love staring at them, and watching for their reaction for the first bite. Sure, it may be negative, but if they keep on eating it despite that you can still feel this love in their act of eating something that they dislike just because they love you and they know that you worked so hard to make it. And if they love it? There's this wonderful rush of happiness and good modest pride in what you've just made. It's a wonderful pay off for all of your hard work. Cooking with other people can also be just as fun, the compartmentalizing and sharing of tasks. Getting to work side by side and chat together. Learning new skills and techniques and also, new recipes. There's a lot of love and compassion that comes with cooking, and there's this spark of magic that appears whenever you get the chance to share it with others.