Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Showing Up

I'm glad my last post resonated with you. Isn't it validating and motivating to know that others struggle, too, and that ruts and disappointments don't have to equal defeat? Thank you so much for the encouragement. I need it. We all do.

For further inspiration, check out these recent posts by Megan Gordon (A Sweet Spoonful) and Penny De Los Santos (Appetite), who seem to know exactly what I (we) need to hear these days.

Visions of Greatness Or Something Like It  - Megan perfectly articulates the trick of balancing the monotony of commercial baking with the reward of connecting with people through hand crafted food -- something I struggled with when I was baking professionally. She shares some great insight from Ari Weinzweig's book, A Lapsed Anarchist's Approach To Building A Great Business (which I promptly ordered), putting it thusly: "Crafting a Vision of Greatness... differs greatly from a mission statement in that it's more specific and is really a full-scale picture of what things will look like when you've arrived at where you're going and things are working well... [It's] a statement of optimism in the future and you've got to have this... It also allows you to create your reality instead of just reacting to problems... Regardless of what business you're in or what personal goal you're pursuing at the moment, it takes a lot longer to make something great than most people think. So many of us put such high expectations on ourselves for things to fall into place in a short period of time... Some of it has to do with our fast-paced culture and increasingly short-attention spans, but some of it also has to do with limited knowledge on the importance of staying power in most creative pursuits. There's something to be said about just showing up."

What If You Are Good Enough - Penny argues that no matter how many times our pursuits are rejected, we are good enough. "Whatever it is you want to do, you can do it.  Whatever it is you want to be, you can be it. So go do it.

So I've been showing up. I've cooked, styled and photographed a few recipes in the past two days. A sneak peek is below; the images are straight from my camera and need a bit of processing, but I like them.

Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb, Lemon Mint Pesto, Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Broccolini, Lemon Mint Pesto, Slow Roasted Tomatoes, Feta



I'm going to keep showing up. Promise me you will, too, okay?

3 comments:

  1. Showing up is what life is about. Sound advice. (and the lamb looks delicious). xx

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  2. Still showing up right here.

    Ruts are just that... ruts. You just drove over 'em, but only if your rims don't cost too much, and/or you're in a 4x4.

    That said, the moment the outlet becomes a burden, especially because it is NOT our income provider, we should be able to walk away for a breather without one iota of guilt.

    Hope the move went well?

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