Coming Full Circle

Circa four years ago, I was sat at the Ivy Harrogate at their Opening taster event with some friends; I shared my dream of writing a food blog and we joked about eating our way around Harrogate while I wrote about the food and experience

I shelved the idea after being prompted to start another blog which I eventually named, ‘PurposefulMe’. I felt I had to lay down my dream of writing about food to pursue a higher calling of writing about things that can help readers become better version of themselves.

Fast forward three years, I found myself on MasterChef UK in 2022 where I made it to the top six; on the back of the show, a number of doors opened up with the latest being the opportunity to pick up what I laid down four years ago.

I have another opportunity to write about food with the difference being that now, I do have some credentials behind me and an established platform. Four years ago, I was a regular ‘Joe Bloggs’ who wanted to write about food which would have taken some convincing but after following the due process and gaining some experience, I am now ready to take on the same challenge with renewed passion, joy and hope.

This is my ‘full circle’ moment; a moment that many of us have at several stages in our lives. Many mature students, working parents, career focused people and business owners know a little about coming full circle.

As working parents, many people make choices to lay down opportunities for promotion if it means work life balance would be untenable, but with time those children grow up and leave home with many parents going back to what they love and once gave up for the family.

There are many people with hobbies and passions that they couldn’t prioritise due to the need to put food on the table and pay bills. I have a friend who after retiring from nursing went into bee keeping as a hobby but now she is launching her own range of products including hand creams. She has now come full circle as she has been given another chance to do something she is passionate about – start her own business linked to a hobby she loves. She has ended up where many people would love to start from.

My father always wanted to have a university education but unfortunately didn’t have the childhood that made that process easy for him, but he never gave up on his dreams. He took jobs to raise the money for his own school fees which meant that he was years behind his peers. Ultimately he was married before his dream of going to university materialised. My brother and I watched him pursue and accomplish his dream of bagging his first degree.

He came full circle to what he had always wanted for himself; he then went on to do everything possible to make sure our own education was not stalled. Consequently, he invested his life not just in home schooling us but in making sure we got into the best schools and we were equipped with a well stocked library, and he made learning fun for us.

For my dad, coming full circle meant that he had a chance to give; and he gave to his children and others what his parents couldn’t or didn’t give him.

He paid school fees and bought books for any of his students who were struggling as he was passionate about anyone who wanted to have education having access to it.

The good thing about coming full circle is that you have an appreciation of the value and worth of the new opportunity. You know what it took to lay down your dreams, passions or visions the first time around, you understand the pain and disappointment of not being able to do what you love, you’ve felt the emotions of missing out on promotions because you couldn’t make it work with family and the lows of being left behind by your classmates or peers.

Coming full circle then becomes your gifted chance to do what you love, make up for past losses and create future opportunities for yourself and others.

Something for us to ponder on is, ‘what new opportunities are being presented to you as part of your ‘full circle’ moments or because of the phase of life that you are currently in?’

Getting an opportunity to combine two of my passions – food and writing – means a lot to me but beyond me, I am already thinking about how I can use the platform to help make the dreams of local artisans, businesses and people better. It is no longer about what I wanted four years ago, it’s now about why the opportunity has been approved for this season and how I fulfil purpose through the opportunity.

So for those who don’t know, I will be writing a weekly, Saturday, food feature for ‘The Stray Ferret’ in Harrogate titled, ‘Yemi’s Food Stories’. Here’s a link to my introductory post: Masterchef semi-finalist to write for the Stray Ferret celebrating district’s food – The Stray Ferret

It will be my opportunity to give back using the platform of my ‘full circle’ opportunity. Please support this and those I will be writing about by subscribing and following me on ‘The Stray Ferret’.

Thank you for being a part of my journey and feel free to drop me some ideas of what you want me to write about our County or any foods you want me to introduce to the wonderful people of Harrogate and the surrounding villages. Please share this posts with others and see you next week.