9/5/2022

Writing is sort of like cooking a steak. A steak starts off raw, unable to be consumed, just like your pure thoughts. In order to prepare those thoughts for consumption, you have to cook them, but that requires a bit of preparation before they meet the pan. The best essays are the perfectly cooked steaks, given the perfect steak depends on your own unique tastes.

Most often, at least in my home, steaks are stored frozen. They’re often better when you let them sit for a while. When the time comes, we thaw out some of these steaks. Naturally, these steaks might come with excess fat, which will remain blubbery and undesirable even after we cook them. So, we trim them. After that, we might want to add some salt and a few spices to make them a bit more exciting, but ultimately, they are only supplementary to the meat. Finally, the time comes to realize all of that preparation with a pan and some oil. If prepared well, you could end up with a delightful experience. If not, there’s always another thought. However, the cooking itself is just as, if not more important, than preparing those thoughts. Something that is cooked too thoroughly will be a chore to go through, while barely cooking at all leaves a indigestible mess.

Presentation only goes so far. A grey steak will always remain a grey steak, not even if you place it on your beautiful porcelain plate decorated with herbs and maybe some rice on the side. The steak speaks for itself, but you can decide how well it speaks before it arrives to the plate.

Look around you. Do you have siblings running around? Maybe you don’t have anyone around. Maybe you can hear chatter coming from the living room or the occasional tire screech from some reckless driver. This is your environment, and whether you like it or not, it’s going to affect your steak. It might motivate you; it might distract you, or you might find yourself becoming disinterested. We all have our ideal environment. For me, that’s somewhere isolated. A fan in the background might help and whatever is going on outside the window wouldn’t hurt, but the moment there’s someone else in the room, my steak disappears. For some it might be the opposite, but it doesn’t matter what the ideal conditions are if you can’t ensure those conditions. You are, to some extent, the product of your environment.

Steaks and essays, while one is food, the other words, both are meant to be consumed. Both are also made, the don’t exist inherently in this world. But above all else, they’re only as good as you. There is no instruction manual, there are only tips and pointers. Everyone has a different kitchen, and you are the only one responsible for knowing how to use it. Everything else, from the cutting board to the pan, comes after.