Invisible Ingredients

I want to figure out the ingredients I add through intention. What are they? How can they be measured? "They" have no physical mass, but I know that intention pours from my mental measuring cup every time I bake. Part of it is experience, like "I remember learning how to make this from grandma" pie or "my childhood favorite" almond birthday cake; part is your mood, like "Today was shit I  need chocolate" cookies or "I just had a marvelous date" muffins; and of course the person/people you think about who are going to eat your creation. (Personally, that last ingredient is my favorite extract!)

Here's a break down of the factors that affect my intentions:

1. Nostalgia (memories attached to smell & taste)
2. Mood (love, frustration, excitement, etc.)
3. Recipient (who are you baking for? "Yourself" is not a bad answer)
4. Confidence (whether you know a recipe or not, a tentative baker yields tentative flavor)
5. Company (who are you baking with?)

So next time you bake, try analyzing what you're adding to your list of ingredients. I mix intention in with the dry and wet, and dust my hands with it before rolling out the dough. It's not a matter of controlling what you do, but recognizing what leads to the best baked goods and how to mimic those mental environments.