The fear of getting it wrong keeps you from starting.
Walter retired from teaching high school chemistry in June, and by July he had read four books about bread. He knew the word autolyse. He owned a kitchen scale accurate to the gram, a cast-iron pot, and a jar of sourdough starter he fed every morning at seven. He had not baked a loaf. He was getting ready.
In October his granddaughter Maya, who was eight, asked when she could try some.
“When it’s right,” Walter said.
In November, with a snowstorm coming and the whole family at the house in Vermont, he ran out of reasons. He baked the first loaf that afternoon. It came out of the oven the size of a hardcover book and about as soft. When he set it on the counter it made the sound of a brick being set on a counter.
Walter looked at it for a long time. He was reaching for the trash can when Maya appeared beside him holding the butter.
“Is that the bread?”
“It’s not ready.”
“It smells ready.”
She sawed off a slice with the big knife, which took effort, buttered it, and ate it standing up. “It’s like toast,” she said with her mouth full. “The good part of toast, all the way through. Can I have more?”
By supper half of it was gone. His son-in-law dunked his slice in the soup, which Walter had to admit was the correct use. Maya named the loaf The Brick, with great affection, and asked if the next one could be called The Brick Two.
Walter baked the second loaf on Sunday. It was better, and it was not perfect, and he did not hide it. That winter he baked sixty loaves. The family ate every one, including the one that collapsed in the middle like a tired tent.
Gerald, the starter, was never told how long it had been waiting.
What to notice
Walter spent five months getting ready to bake one good loaf, and the loaf that made him a baker was the brick. Nobody at the table was grading it. They were hungry.
A question to think about: What have you been preparing to do well that you could do badly today, for someone who would simply be glad of it?
Below are various topics that people often struggle with. Pick a topic and read a story that will give you some insights on the issue you're working on. These stories are for reflection, not a substitute for professional help.