Weekly Breadcrumb is a weekly series where I look back on what baking has taught me, shown me, or reminded me over the previous week. A lesson, or gift, I have received from baking.
My 15-year-old has taught me something very important about tenacity. I think of tenacity as having a relentlessness in your pursuits – determination and persistence. My youngest son Owen has this gift – when he decides to get better at a sport, or an activity, he goes all in. Owen will practice and practice until he has mastery, like with learning new sports, like baseball and football, as well as other things like solving a Rubik’s Cube.
Owen has demonstrated that serious persistence really does pay off. If he experiences challenges, his response is not discouragement, but to dig in to figure things out.
My natural tendency when I struggle might be more to accept that I’m not very good and move on. Maybe not give up, but sometimes just not keep trying very hard. Can’t throw a ball very well? Okay, this is the best I can do. To clarify, I do push myself and try hard at things that come naturally to me. But for the things that don’t come so naturally to me … not so much.
Owen has pushed me to improve – I’ve seen firsthand how this has played out well for many things in Owen’s life, and I strive now to get better at things that I’m not very “good” at.
So here we are – I’m baking with fresh-milled flour. I’ve had some failed loaves. See Exhibit A for proof! Baking with this kind of flour is different from conventional flour – it is trickier to work with and there’s a lot to learn.
I’ve had some bread turn out just okay, and I could think, Okay, this works.
But now that I’m working on being more tenacious like Owen, I’m practicing and learning as much as I can – and in turn, I’m growing more confident, and learning how to make bread that rises properly, cooks well, and turns out really nice.
Here’s some bread I baked this week, with 100% freshly-milled flour. A huge improvement, and very satisfying to make something like this.
Last week, I posted that I want to remember the reasons I bake, and not focus on analyzing technique. So this message might seem to contradict that – and maybe it does, I contradict myself all the time. I think I can strive for both: remember the reasons for why I bake, and at the same time get better at this.
What’s something you would like to get better at? A certain task at work, or maybe an activity you shy away from because you haven’t had much success with it? Challenging you here to get in touch with your tenacious side!
