On The Side of the Angels

July 30, 2023July 30, 2023 / The Black Hat Baker / Leave a comment

It’s a day off, and I’m out walking. An early morning stroll up and down Mount Tabor wasn’t enough when it was nice and cool. Instead, I convinced myself that the best way to get around on an 81 degree day would be to walk down Belmont and Hawthorne, stop for lunch somewhere, and then camp out in a comfortable (ideally air-conditioned) bar to write in while I wait for an appointment.

The Kara-age Don from the new Japanese place was very good- strips of lightly fried but heavily spiced chicken thigh atop a bowl of pillowy and acidic sushi rice was at once refreshing and cripplingly filling, even with an ice-cold Sapporo beer to wash it down. Stepping back out into the sun, my legs felt like sacks of lead. I didn’t want to walk anymore as much as a nap… but that wouldn’t do.

An ice-pop and a shady conversion with an old friend got me more-or-less to my destination- the taproom of a brewery near my appointment with good beer, giant fans (and giant windows. No air-conditioning a space THIS big), and a chilly marble-veneered bar to rest my arms on as I type.

Today is good. I’m walking in the sun, drinking beer, thinking about food, and seeing God. What more could you ask for?

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Please Don’t “Engage” With My Work.

June 19, 2023June 19, 2023 / The Black Hat Baker / Leave a comment

I have read a few books about management, business, and leadership, so I can tell you this without reservation: If you start sounding like your read business books in normal conversation, 1. I stop taking you seriously, and 2. I will sign you up for a Turing Test.

A little dramatic, but I have my reasons- and those reasons have to do with suspecting you got nothing out of those books.
Why do I suspect that? Because you just put on the language rather than making it a part of you.

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The Kitchen Monk- Presence and Pie Crust

June 11, 2023June 12, 2023 / The Black Hat Baker / Leave a comment

What does it mean to be present? Not just physically but mentally? Spiritually? It doesn’t just mean being in a particular place, like during roll call at school. For yourself in your own life, no one’s checking off an attendance list.

We owe it to ourselves to stay present and keep ourselves aware of just who, what, and where we are if we want to live not just good lives but deliberate ones.

There’s just something soothing and beautiful about the folded flaky layers of handmade pie dough.

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Moving Right Along- Quitting, Sunk-Cost Fallacy, and Learning to Let Go

May 7, 2023May 7, 2023 / The Black Hat Baker / 1 Comment

Learning to let go is one of those skills that no really thinks of “mastering” until it occurs to them that they need to.

Depending on the circumstances, people can let go of things very easily. When whatever we are dwelling on feels inconsequential or already impermanent, we probably don’t care that much when we lose it or let it slip.

Other stuff, though- the important stuff, the intangible things- can keep us hung up for years as we learn that they were just as impermanent as everything else. Maybe we know that “this too shall pass,” but were hoping to get lucky in a macabre way- thinking we’d never get to see their end and thus it can feel eternal.

All things end, though. It’s the price we pay for getting to experience them at all, and it gives them their worth and rarity. Learning to let go with compassion and grace is vital to emotional wellbeing– and that can include letting go of goals and dreams as well. Giving up on an old dream can set you free to find a new one.

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Finding the Moments

April 29, 2023 / The Black Hat Baker / Leave a comment

Has it ever occurred to you that there is a opposite version of triggers?

By “triggers” I mean the actual psychological definition of the word, by the way. It’s not a synonym for “offended” or “thing that makes me angry.” Triggers in psychology are the things that cause negative reactions and flashbacks in people who have experienced trauma– not unlike why veterans with PTSD might get uneasy at the sound of gunshots or fireworks. If you insist on using the word with a sneer at people whose politics you don’t like or as a joke, you might want to consider the life-altering magic of growing up and having empathy.

Little things that pop up unexpectedly that cause feelings of safety, warmth, and joy on the other hand are apparently called “glimmers”- and I’ve been doing my best to recognize them in my life. The last few days have been full of them, and I wanna tell you about it.