Ambience.

"Ambience describes the feeling created by a particular nature of an activity when it is being done for itself".
(Butler, personal communication, 2011).

The fit between ambience and the environment for me, is the atmosphere and impression in the kitchen and how the mood in that specific environment affects how I feel while cooking.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and all I felt like doing was cooking a delicious meal to match the weather. My family and I were planning to have a barbeque outside because of the nice weather. I felt a peaceful and stress free atmosphere when I walked into the kitchen/lounge area and once I saw that the bench was clear, my mood lifted immediately and I started preparing dinner. Some relaxing New Zealand music was playing in the background and this created an ambient atmosphere for me to work my magic. The atmosphere is important when cooking as it not only effects how I cook but how the food tastes too! I am not one to have an interest in Feng Shui however, I believe a factor that influences our engagement in occupations is that if we want to enjoy our cooking experience it seems as though it is necessary we feel positive and comfortable in our environment! As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, depending on the influences and convenience of cooking dinner, labour is the framework I identified cooking to be. However, in this case it was so enjoyable it really only felt like work!