Baldly Forward

I could title every blog post with Baldy (fill in the blank), because everything I do, I do bald. This weekend, I baked sourdough bread. I baldly baked bread. I love alliteration.

I’ve been nurturing a sourdough starter for about a year now, and this was my best loaf yet. Same starter and ingredients as every time before: flour, starter, water, salt. So why was this loaf better? It’s because I stopped using the same method I’d used in every previous bake. I made one change in hopes I’d achieve a better texture, and it worked.

But what I believe was even more effective this time was that I wasn’t nervous I’d screw it up. I didn’t freak out about the outside getting too brown the way I had before. I left it in the oven longer to allow the internal temperature to rise properly. The bread improved because I wasn’t hovering over the process anxiously, micromanaging the outcome. 

I simply stopped obsessing over the crust and let the inside finish baking.

Okay. I know the metaphors are not subtle here, and it’s likely clear to you already that this isn’t a sourdough blog post. I’m not going to list my recipe and become the next “trad wife” on the internet. 

While writing about this bread-baking experience, I’m reminded that life changes when we change our approach to it.  

I’m not saying I’m wrong for thinking that my sourdough starter got healthier and that baking a better loaf of bread is often about environment and luck. I think these things can be true about baking bread and living life.  

Here are three key lessons I’ve learned through these baldly baking metaphors:

1. Try something new if what you’re doing doesn’t work. 
2. Don’t try the new thing nervously. Do it with curiosity and joy.
3. Stop obsessing over the outcome and be in the moment. 

Life tastes sweeter when you do.

Baldly Yours,

Jenny