Ahh lamingtons. Such a great word.

Such a delicious treat.

Light, fluffy, coconutty.

Why am I writing about this, you wonder?

Well, one reason would be that I miss eating them. I can’t find them in London.

The other reason is that lamingtons are always fantastic.

From the cheapest ones at the supermarket, to the fanciest version from a prize-winning bakery, lamingtons are always enjoyable.

And they got me thinking about excellence. Sometimes I care so much about excellence that it’s almost crippling. I teeter on the brink of the pit of perfectionism, and refuse to call something finished, rewrite endlessly and never share what I do.

But the problem with this is that I make everything much too complicated.

So, lamingtons. Lamingtons are simple. And the reason they are almost always good is that people allow them to be simple.

That’s my challenge to myself, and to whoever would like to accept it.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, creating something new and interesting that ‘no-one’s ever heard before’, it’s okay to make something simple but fantastic.

Let your work be simple, and see what happens.

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Jena Ren (Jenny Guilford) – 2021