Best thing about coming back from a massive absence? Nothing has changed (including this blog homepage, a tad bit unfortunately)

But when I write nothing has changed, I mean the feeling of it all. Of being back in the Bakery, back with the Training School, back with the crazy Café, the bakers, pastry and packers. It’s a healthy feeling – the buzz that permeates this place, it keeps you going, on the move, that constant whirring of activity and excitement.

In taking a break, I took a step back. Not to look at the bigger picture, but taking a step back, and turning to face the opposite direction. 180 degrees, no eyes in the back of my head, being completely lost, irrelevant, living each day as it was on the road which meant a lot of thinking on basic survival (what to eat, turn left or right, fight or flight).

At the same time, while refusing to think about the Bakery, it felt as if I was waiting for the motivation to return to work complete with new ideas: On the plane to Beijing, Day 2 on a train in Siberia, eating up the contents of Eric Kayser’s bakery on the Parisian Left Bank, panicked thoughts of ‘Have I lived aka achieved my career aspirations!?’ during particularly turbulent flights, or in the midst of Time to leg it sessions arising from ‘unfortunate circumstances’.

Arriving in Sydney, there was no motivation, no feeling of elation being back. Where was that much talked-about sense of renewal, that drive to hit the ground running? Day 1 back was overwhelming. Jetlagged, struggling to keep up with what happened in 5 weeks, what was about to happen (Crave Sydney Food Festival, events, new products, new people, holiday baking, projects from July, paying my bills)

But 1 week in, you realise motivation does not just happen. It grows from being immersed in an environment that demands it. Staying still and not moving ahead isn’t about laziness; it’s about a lack of inspiration. Just as inspiration moves you ahead, the reason ‘why’ keeps you from falling behind – motivation is reinforced by these two polar forces. It’s all about the message- Education, healthy eating and the love of good bread to share. It gets baked and delivered 7 days a week, 365 days a year. And that’s just our wholesale customers, what about the rest of us working in this living, breathing bread behemoth?! We truly are living it – Living, breathing and digesting it. (We will talk about excretion only in the metaphorical sense of ideas)  🙂

With breathing in, life comes naturally. I approach the Bakery on a blank slate, and I’m glad for it, because everything old is new again, and the opportunities coming up are boundlessly exciting.

So live well, eat well, but always know why and what for. You’ll never fall behind by being curious.

M