I tried something new this week.
Honestly, it started because I was in a house with two toddlers and needed a moment of escape. I was scrolling YouTube and saw a video about how easy it was to make bread. A little light went off in my head.
“Ah. Let’s make bread.”
Now, to be clear, I am not a baker.
But I wanted to try something new.
That first round? Absolutely not bread.
I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I improvised.
I thought I was making some kind of cheesy bread situation.
I had confidence that was wildly unsupported by experience.
I totally failed. And the funny thing is, I laughed. Not because it didn’t matter. But because it didn’t threaten me. It was just something new that didn’t work yet.
So of course, I tried again. This time, I slowed down. I actually followed the recipe and gave it the time it needed. And it worked.
The house filled with the smell of fresh-baked bread, and my first thought was, “I want to share this with everyone.”
As I reflected on it later (yes, I reflect a lot ), three things stood out:
1. Follow the recipe first. Improvise later.
There’s wisdom in learning the basics before trying to be clever.
A lot of frustration comes from skipping foundations.
2. Trying something new requires trust.
Not confidence.
Not certainty.
Just enough trust to stay present when things don’t work right away.
3. When things are aligned, you want to share them.
Not because they’re perfect,
but because they’re real.
Trying something new reminded me of this simple truth:
Growth doesn’t require you to have it all figured out.
It just asks you to begin.
Even if the first loaf is a little… questionable.
—Joel
