Dear Readers, It was middle school, and we were working on a science fair project. My cheerleader friends and I had grouped up as lab partners to unravel the burning scientific question: “Does the number of eggs affect a cake?” It was one of those questions real scientists have been investigating for centuries, obviously.
We carefully counted and measured, jotting down all our data in composition notebooks. As our cakes baked, they started overflowing and oozing out of their tiny round pans. It was a disaster! I called our teacher in a panic, asking what to do with our failed experiment. She calmly replied, “Failure is part of science — just be sure to record what happened.”
Today, that overflowing batter feels like an oddly perfect metaphor for life — especially right now. I keep finding myself with all the “right ingredients,” but things keep spilling over in ways I can’t predict or control. All I can do is keep trying to clean it up as I go.
