I've Been Thinking about Bread and Butter

and why I need more of it in my life

Recently, just by chance, I’ve happened to have some very delicious bread and butter. Truly, is there anything better than a good slice of bread? I like my bread soft, preferably a french, farmhouse or sourdough type bread. Fresh made, thick cut, or even a soft roll will do. Salted butter or a house-made butter is best. Add a great raspberry or strawberry jam and I’m the happiest. No matter how many amazing meals I have (and I’ve been fortunate to have a lot), my favorite food just might be bread and butter.

As I get older, when I really think about what I want most in life, it truly is the smaller, simple things. The bread and butter of life is what I’m most grateful for. It’s sitting on a patio eating brunch with good friends. It’s a Sunday afternoon lounging around my home with my family all together. It’s a nice dinner on a Saturday night with my husband followed by a movie with a Dr Pepper Zero. It’s a morning walk, a great book, sitting at the end of my daughter’s bed hearing about her day, running into a friend and having an unexpected great conversation; it’s a simple “thank you” from a client.

I have so many great memories that are associated with the grander, bigger moments in my life, like nice trips to beautiful places, times I’ve won something or been recognized for something I’ve worked hard for, birthdays, holidays and anniversaries, etc. I’m so grateful to have those moments as well, and often those are the moments I take note of, take pictures of, and document well but what if it is the filler times in between our big moments that really make the big moments what they are to us?

I’ve been too focused on the fancy meals, the document-worthy events, the big wins. I’ve been so busy lately that finding time to just sit and enjoy life has evaded me. I’ve had a lot of financial pressures at work and the economy has been really weird lately, which has me working extra hard to keep things running as smoothly as possible. With the stress and work, I’ve been doing what has to be done and going from thing to thing, just grinding. It hasn’t been until recently - until a couple of weeks ago when I had a moment to sit and relax in L.A. on a girls trip, sitting on a patio, eating some good bread and butter, that I realized I’ve been missing simple moments like these and it’s all I really need and want. I just want the ability to sit and eat bread with the people I love.

I remember listening to a podcast with Oprah a few years back where she said that with all the places she has traveled and people she has met she knows one thing for sure, that just because you are well-traveled doesn’t make you more interesting or wiser. She has learned just as much from reading a book in her home as she has from being on-the-ground and in-the-room with the very people she has read about. Learning and developing as a person is a mindset, a desire, it’s not a given byproduct of certain experiences.

I have not had the experiences that Oprah has had yet I know what she is saying is the truth. Working this hard to create the big experiences that may not lead me and my family any closer to wholeness is definitely not worth it. The bread and butter experiences of life don’t take a lot of money and don’t take time away from daily life like the grand meals can.

I’m going to shift my focus from working towards the big events and remember that what I really want to work for is having more small moments, because when it comes down to it, I just want the time to sit and enjoy some fresh bread with salted butter and homemade raspberry jam. Could it be that this desire might be the grandest, most indulgent thing of all?

Wishing you all a holiday season full of simple moments that feed your soul.

Sincerely,

Marianne