Life is like a Chocolate Cake

In many ways, the beauty of living can be compared to that of a chocolate cake. Layered in ganache, full of tiny gaps and layers by which your memories may fill. The dessert is not everyone’s favorite, and no slice can be cut exactly the same. Being born into the world is metaphorically similar. Some are handed endless riches and fame, while others never seem to escape a life of tireless effort for little reward. The decadence of a life well-lived is something incomparable, but in many ways, it is similar to the loss of words one experiences after feasting on a mouth-watering fork of self-indulgence. You can’t keep enjoying it forever but the taste lingers for hours on your tastebuds and the memory is something you aim to describe for years to come.

A heavy chocolate cake is positively, properly dense. Every layer is intentional and the descent you experience as your gullet fills with sweetness is a positive one, unlike the common negative connotation associated with falling. As the sugar high approaches, you realize that half the piece is left, yet half is gone. It’s a deliberate choice to savor what’s left or box it up and enjoy it once again, with the chance that it may not be of the same quality in a day or two. We take this chance because as humans, we want moments to last forever, and when we try to make bits of time last longer than they should, there’s often a price to pay, in terms of quality and enjoyment. For others, they’d rather enjoy as much as they can when they can, which can leave them with a bit of a stomachache.

There’s always been an uncomfortable association with the word ‘moist’. Some say it’s too much information and vivid imagery for them to comprehend. I personally believe that when the intent to create moisture is there, then it should be quite the accomplishment to describe a piece of delicacy as such. In terms of a metaphorical standpoint, this is interpreted as a fullness, and a successful aspect to whatever task you set out to accomplish. If you choke on something you intend to enjoy, then the experience is ruined in its entirety. Even if you are somehow able to salvage the slice with a glass of milk, the cake itself would no longer meet the proper criteria to be consumed alone, therefore making it inferior to the overall experience of adoring a slice. It’s the same concept as dousing a sandwich with ketchup or smothering veggies with cheese. If you have to cover something up to make it bearable, then how can it ever be considered worth-it on its own?

If I may close this piece with emphasis on the fragility and shortness of our time on Earth, I will say that a chocolate cake is born and dies, with a life span similar to that of the same gnats that find themselves to the cake through open windows and cracks beneath the door. While the cake’s beauty emanates, it also fades in a fast-forward approach and loses its glimmer with every hour that follows its birth. The dewy shine of frosting will soon turn matte and crack from the center. The saturated sponge beneath will eventually become dry as air leaks in and takes its breath away. In a worse case scenario, the cake will never live to see the ripe age of trash day or celebration, as some may squash the creation in angered frustration. Maybe its despair, or a moment of show, but regardless, the cake cannot be what it once was, in any capacity. Every particle can be misplaced for better or for worse. We are not here forever. A chocolate cake is not here for long. Together we aim to create a positive legacy. We want to exist boldly and portray our highest selves, inside and out. We will not be liked by all, but we will be liked by some, and to those, we hope the impact is nothing but good… a smile left upon an aging face. Life is like a chocolate cake.