Brave New World of Baking

On this journey to figure out his new me – this banker turned baker – I realize I have neglected several important things.

Most particularly, I have neglected to look after myself as well as I could have done and this is because I have been unaware of the tradeoffs I have been making. I have put on a couple of kilos this year, have worn the same jeans and t shirts every day, have not taken enough exercise (baking does not count, sadly) and have not really focused on my physical self because I am doing something so radically different, I don’t really know what to do or how to express myself.

It’s hard to talk about tradeoffs because whatever I say sounds judgmental. Everyone has a right to make his or her own choices, within reason and the law, about how they live their lives and how they spend their money. We cannot have it all (no matter how much we may want to) although clearly some can have more than most. I am not in the business of denying people the chance to have a holiday or buy new things. It does bother me, however, when people tell me that my bread is too expensive whilst they are holding a venti caramel latte macchiato with creamy frapucino hold the foam – at £3.50 for an experience that lasts as long as it takes to guzzle it back and is nutritionally bereft. But that’s my own value system coming roaring out to judge all Starbucks lovers – and what right do I have to do that? My point is that we all make choices and sometimes the choices we are used to making are no longer the best choices for us.

In the brave new world of baking and social entrepreneurialism, there is not a lot of loose change. The obvious things for me to have cut out or traded down in include the whole range of ‘physical care and attention’: massages/osteopathy, facials, shopping, skin care, pedicures (manicures are totally out given I work with my hands), etc. I have continued, however, to go out for lunch and dinner with friends, drive around a lot, buy expensive coffee beans, and take taxis – the throwbacks from my previous life that I felt I could not do without, especially now that I am working from home which means:

a) I drink coffee at home and I want nice coffee
b) I work alone and so need to see people
c) It’s hard to break the taxi habit

Having won a make over with Alice Treanor from Dress with Confidence, however, has alerted me to the fact that I need to make some different choices and spread out how I spend any loose change that I find. This week, for example, I had a skin care consultation with Jenny James who lives in Balham and represents Arbonne (Swiss company making vegan, natural, groovy, ethical, etc. skin care products), and that forced me to focus on how my hands have suffered this past year (lots of dishes) and how not having facials requires me to use a broader range of skin care products at home. I also had a colonic irrigation and iridology at The Bodyworks Practice in Banstead. Don’t be repulsed! Nicole is most kind and discreet and the whole thing felt rather dignified. The treatment enabled Nicole to tell me things about my character that were most accurate! She was also able to council me on what I should start and stop eating for a while to boost my health.

Pampered? Yes! Thoughtful? Yes. These things are important and although they may feel frivolous, they are not. Looking my best is important for my own sense of self. I feel better having done something for my physical health and appearance I need to forgo a few lunches or dinners to do it - balancing out my social life and my internal life on this journey to figure out exactly who I am and what I value now that I no longer wear a suit.

This is a story to be continued...

Virtuous Bread is an SW London transplant from Canada. A former partner in a strategy consulting firm, she has become a baker, a writer, and a social entrepreneur, founder of Virtuous Bread.

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