Opening the (Oven) Door to Your Passions

Making time to challenge yourself in a challenging world

BY WREN FARRELL

So, you’re finally in college. Gone are the days of pre-planned class periods and buzzing bells: you’re free to do as you wish! With all this extra time, you should start a new hobby. Maybe it’s time to give bread-making a try... But hey, you’ve got a stressful week ahead of you: two extra-long shifts at work, a group project, and an exam. Keeping it simple and studying instead might be best. Of course, you can reward yourself with a comfy hobby when you get home, perhaps by reading that poetry collection your friend lent you or watching “Frasier.”

Alas, after two-too-many episodes and an hour of disinterested page- flipping, you’re left with a feeling of damp dissatisfaction. You normally love this season, and your friend gave this book a glowing review. What gives?

Well, especially during times of stress, we settle into familiar—if not particularly fulfilling—patterns. Inside the oven of our hearts, we’re burning for something, anything new. But with life, school, and work trapping us in comfort-survival mode, what can we possibly hope to change? In this state, starting a new commitment—even something as awesome as a sourdough starter—doesn’t seem worth the effort.

Why is that? Isn’t repeating the same tired routine, day-in and day-out, even more exhausting? Perhaps we owe it to ourselves to try something different. Indeed, just as dough must be kneaded to properly rise, so must we, as people, stretch beyond our limits to grow.

So, if you ever find yourself settling for stale hobbies, stoke those feelings of frustration. That heat your heart is turning up should tell you one thing: you’re unhappy, baby. Once you’ve established your once-Hedonistic habits no longer bring joy, it’s easier to make time for the things you truly love: like sinking your fingers into that sweet, sweet dough.