Talking To Myself
My grandmother, Mae Chronister, lived to be 103 and I loved her very much. I always felt like her favorite, like I was special, and it’s certainly possible that she made every grandchild feel this way. It was her generosity that helped me be able to marching drum corps my first year, and for this I’ll be forever grateful.
Throughout her life, my grandmother always talked to herself. I remember her most vividly in the kitchen, cooking up masterpieces and baking amazing cakes. It seems she was always talking, whether anyone was in there with her or not, and this was always a source of amusement and knowing smiles among my family.
Fast forward to today where I am an aspiring baker in my own kitchen. I continue to learn to bake and love bringing happiness to anyone who enjoys my baking. I certainly find inspiration from the example of my grandmother. And I find myself talking all the time, whether anyone is in the kitchen with me or not!
My process of baking includes saying the instructions out loud, keeping myself organized by talking about it as I go. “Add the eggs one at a time, and it’s okay if the batter looks a little curdled at this point.” I find it incredibly reassuring and comforting to talk things through as I go. I’m sure my grandmother felt the same way. It relaxes me, and keeps things flowing and organized.
Someone famously said that it’s okay to talk to yourself, as long as you don’t answer. But I think this is hooey. As I have learned to repeat positive affirmations and encouraging self-talk, I find it very helpful to have these dialogues with myself. “Okay Beast, breathe, you’ve got this….” So often our inner monologue can be negative, a list of our failures, or putting ourselves down. How much better to get into the habit of encouraging ourselves instead!
By the way, when I started Marching Arts Education years ago, I found myself abbreviating all of the files with “MAE.” It struck me early on that this was my grandmother’s name, Mae, and ever since it has brought me great joy to feel like my beloved grandmother Mae is supporting this project. It feel like she is with me every step of the way. I now see her name in all caps all the time, part of file names all over my computer!
I love you, grandmother, and appreciate the great example you set for me. Now, let’s talk through this next recipe….!
Tim Hinton
September 10, 2023
Read another blog post about my grandmother HERE.
I also wrote about my grandmother’s trivets, which are now in my kitchen. Read that here.
