I have just read my good friend and Idelica worker Graeme Wey’s (Coosticks – check him out at www.coosticks.com) music blog entitled ‘Health, Wealth and Happiness’ which has made me think deeply enough to prompt the writing of my first Idelica blog. This is something that I hope to be much more of a regular feature now I have got over the start line.
All about the money???? Of course not silly…
The search for a balance of these supposed tenets of society was one of the key contributors to me leaving the corporate rat race in 2019 to join Emma in what is now our family business. I took some persuading that this small business could support us both financially, but here we are nearly 4 years later and it is going from strength to strength. Back then, this was my primary concern – how do we generate enough profit to keep us in the manners to which I have become accustomed (yes even the roly-poly bald man can act like a princess at times). But Idelica (and of course Emma) is teaching me that wealth is a much more complicated concept than money or income, and that health and happiness may be symptoms of true wealth, rather than standing up in their own right.
Make it positive
One of the hugely positive outcomes of doing the things I love (food and music) to create an income, is that it rarely feels like work. Sure, it is a lot easier to reflect in an upbeat manner, when the sun is shining and I have a cool breeze blowing through the office as I write, than it is on a cold, wet November’s evening setting up heavy equipment for a public festival, but generally it is a good experience.
One of my favourite things to do to celebrate birthdays is to get together with family and friends over food and drink. If we are the hosts, the prep and cooking never feels like a chore – moreover it is a part of the experience of the celebration. Furthermore, another friend, whose birthday party we are catering at next week, asked me to perform a music set on one of the days and was worried that it would feel too much like work for me. I obviously assured him that it is, in fact, a privilege to be asked.
Wealth of happiness
Back to the question in the title then – what makes me happy. If happiness is an effect, rather than a cause, and health is a necessity in order to function and perform effectively, then the wealth that paella has brought, definitely raises the bar of the happiness scale. That wealth is not necessarily where we would like it to be from a purely financial viewpoint just yet, but it is way up there in the sense of enrichening our lives.
The things that make me smile visibly include meeting our customers, after working with them on planning their special event; the pleasure of seeing a customer at a public festival take the time to come and tell us how much they have enjoyed their paella; the (genuine) fun and laughter that is abundant, every time the team is together; the joy of seeing the look of surprise when a customer bites into a tiny tapito and receives a huge taste explosion on their palate. The list could go on and on and this in itself is all the evidence of wealth that I need.
Finally, a nod to the person who makes me smile every day, Emma. Emma created this company, it is her ethos that creates that balance of health, wealth and happiness and it is being a part of her crazy journey that provides me with the greatest pleasure in life.
In final answer to the question therefore – what makes me happy? Making the paella that you lot all seem to enjoy so much!
Love to the whole Idelica Familia,
Ian x
