When We Slow Down: Lessons from a Loaf of Sourdough.
Making the mundane beautiful again...
We have officially completed the first six weeks of the year. With the coming of the strong winter winds here in Northern Ontario, my expectations are to settle in and be at peace with my lack of wildness adventuring.
I’m sitting here with my favorite drink: Kakao, and I’m writing from a warm home, with plenty of love, plenty of blankets, and surrender to relaxation. My husband gave me the duty to relax today, no house chores, no cooking, no to-do lists, and no stress. This is something I’m very unfamiliar with… and it’s something I assume most women aren’t either.
To be a good contributor to society, we must be productive… no? It’s in my DNA, in my maternal code, in my caretaker role, and in my bloodline to do what I must do to get ahead or to accomplish what must be accomplished. And even as the days go by, and I learn to lean into my feminine… there’s still this part of me that believes that stuff needs to get done, and that’s that (in this moment, I’m picturing a line in the Grinch movie… maybe you’ll get the reference).
I have never been taught the importance of intention, love, and care in everything I do, say, or become. It was always all about completion, never about quality, or care. It was always about doing…
Let me tell you a story.
There once was a woman, who baked sourdough bread every week, and with time she perfected this art. As it became easier and easier for her, she started paying less and less attention to the details of her ancient recipe. She slacked on the kneading, the measuring of the flour, and the taking care of her starter. She made the bread because she felt like she had to, and others were counting on her to do so. She lost the spark she once had when she had successfully accomplished her first bread.
And as weeks went by, her bread rose less and less and became flat like a pancake. She couldn’t figures out for the life of her why this bread was not rising as it had always done before. Hmmm, maybe it’s the cold weather, or the type of flour or even the water she was using.
On one fine morning, she decided that she would look at the recipe carefully once more, and make the bread as though she was making it for the first time. She read the instructions carefully, she kneaded twice the amount she had before, she waited longer, and she poured love and attention into her bread. In one of the loafs she even added rosemary and parmesan to dress it up and make it better. And as the 15 hours went by, she could see her bread rising once more. She was so excited and realized what her problem had been all along.
The problem was that she wasn’t as intentional about making the bread as she once was, making it the best bread she could every single time. She didn’t add love, tenderness, and care to the recipe. She became resentful, like it was another duty on her to-do list, and so the recipe was done quickly and poorly.
She put the bread in the Dutch oven, she closed the lid and waited 20 mins before opening it again. And when she did, the smell of fresh bread, with a tint of parmesan and rosemary filled the kitchen, her glasses all fogged up from the heat of the oven and a bread that was double it’s size. Once again, she felt the excitement and the feelings of the first time she made the bread so many moons ago.
And what I have learned from this story is that when you add more attention, love, care, and intention into the things that you treasure even when they have become easy or routine. you find new life. And the same as the bread, that part of your life rises or flourishes more. Whether it be relationships, creativity, writing, cooking, baking, or even gardening… the more intention and love you add to it; the better the results will come.
You see when things because habitual or easy, we don’t seem to value them as much and we even take them for granted. Our actions come from resentment or as a means to an end, and then we wonder why those parts of our lives don’t flourish as much as they would have if we had put our hearts into them.
With love,
Steph xo
Contemplation: which parts of your life need more intentionality? Which parts of your life need more love and care? Which parts of your life have you possibly taken for granted? How can you be more intentional about some of the mundane daily/weekly tasks? How can you slow down even more? How are you able to make small things matter?