A Hard Reset
Reviving this space | Reeling from a burnout | Preserving seasons & feeling inspired again
Hello dear readers,
I’m truly sorry for my silence here & on my Instagram (since most of you came from there). This newsletter launched in January was off to a good start and I really wanted to keep up with the momentum of being consistent here. While this hiatus was unplanned, in hindsight it was truly a long time coming and also much needed. I’m glad to have gone with the flow and allowed myself some time off. Sort of.
Reeling from a mental & emotional burnout
The pandemic has been hard for almost everyone and many of us are still reeling from it. The last 2 years were a mixed bag for me with a lot of experiences involving never-ending uncharted territories. There were some proud achievements on the professional front but some very depressing lows on the personal front, and finding a balance between the two had never felt more challenging.
A lot of difficult conversations have been taking place in real life. Navigating some heavy topics around inter-generational trauma and addressing it mindfully has been mentally & emotionally draining.
And the timing of my move to a different country along with the pandemic didn’t make it any easier. Some very big life changes have happened and while my life has been anything but conventional, it was tough this time around.
Time is, however, a wonderful thing and this phase has given me a lot to reflect on. One of the ways I’ve been coping during this phase is to put all my focus on the present. Some days are more difficult than others but I am hopeful to move forward with a better version of myself. The lows in life can also be very humbling and right now I am truly grateful for not giving up and making some life choices that I hadn’t fully appreciated in the moment, not to mention the new perspectives that came with it. It’s been an unending adventure.
Acknowledging the struggles of being a first generation immigrant and what helped me in this transition
Being a first generation immigrant means starting almost every aspect of your life from scratch. Imagine doing that in a completely new environment, with different rules and a completely different cultural construct. Sometimes it feels like restarting life EVERYDAY.
Having to make new friends and rebuilding a sense of community can be hard on its own in adulthood but doing so during the pandemic was unthinkable. It happened slowly for me too but I’m SO grateful for the people who entered my life along the way and who opened up their hearts and made this phase easier. Friends are the family you choose after all :)
Connecting with fellow immigrants and listening to their stories also offered many perspectives. Their shared experiences not only helped acknowledge this struggle in the first place but at the same time made it feel less challenging.
I cannot emphasize enough on how much the long nature walks have helped me. Being in a country that is so naturally beautiful has been a blessing in disguise. Thank you Mother Nature for having my back! You da best.
Behind the scenes
With life starting to fall back in order, some good things have also been happening BTS. And that has also kept me from being active on the online platforms.
I’m currently baking with 2 different bakeries. After working at a few places, getting to work directly with bakers whose food philosophies matches with my own has been very rewarding. It makes me hopeful about the world. I’m getting to learn so much that I hope to start sharing my learnings here consistently.
The transition from being a home-baker to a professional baker, now, has been an eye-opening experience in many ways. From learning alongside some of the most passionate, hard-working people I’ve met to witnessing the unfair practices/ problems of the industry first-hand.
I’m still new in the industry but feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions in this regard (since some young bakers have reached out earlier). I’ll be happy to address them to the best of my knowledge.
Preserving seasons
Spring in Toronto always brings me so much joy. I’m pretty sure everyone else feels the same after the very long, depressing winters. This year I also decided to extend my stay in Canada for the foreseeable future and have moved from a basement to a condo. And living in a brighter space again in itself has been like therapy! No kidding.
Super excited to share a lot of seasonal recipes with you in the future issues. In the hope of preserving the short growing season of Ontario, some fermenting/ pickling experiments have been happening in my kitchen. Most of these make for a great pairing with bread or other baked goods. And also a thoughtful homemade gift for your loved ones. Stay tuned.
As always, your support here means the world to me as it allows me to pour my energy into my passions and stay consistent. Thank you for reading and sticking around. It took me many edits to write this issue and to allow myself a moment of vulnerability. But I wanted to be true to myself and to all of you subscribers.
Until the next issue- much love,
Ekta