[listen]
[read, with compassion]
Yikes.
What else can anyone really say right now? At the time of this writing, around 75% of the restaurant force has been laid off (indefinitely or permanently). Thousands of restaurants have closed their doors. Millions are suffering from the fear of financial uncertainty, with no paycheck or income in sight. In this industry, most live paycheck to paycheck - so this is hitting us extra hard. Most of us do not have health insurance, paid time off, or any significant amount of savings. Everyone is on edge, to say the least - the collective anxiety is palpable.
What the f are a bunch of workaholics with already-fragile mental health issues, most of whom are prone to substance use/abuse as the coping mechanism of choice, supposed to do during a self-quarantine with no social interaction, no purpose, no creative outlet, no routine, and no real reason to get up in the morning? This particular combination of isolation + fear + uncertainty is a literal hell for many of us.
As an industry, we are collectively experiencing a completely traumatic sudden loss of identity.
The way we orient ourselves in this world has been ripped from us with absolutely no warning, and we are having a really hard time feeling the ground beneath our feet. For many, it still doesn't feel real. It's as if we've been thrust into a nightmare, and we're struggling to accept it as reality - holding on to some vague hope that this is all just a fever dream and we'll wake up and put our chef pants on, grab our knife roll, and head into work like nothing had ever happened.
These are weird, unprecedented times. The whole world is pretty much winging it day by day. People are fighting over toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Media coverage is obsessive and nonstop. The collective attention has been hijacked and replaced with fear and anxiety. It's unnerving and completely overwhelming.
We are all so, so lost.
For years, the industry has lamented how we "need a vacation" or how we "need a day off to catch up on chores" or we "don't have time to exercise [or do x, y, or z]." We're overworked, underslept, malnourished, overstimulated, and mentally unbalanced. As an industry, we notoriously suck at taking care of ourselves. We are chronic people-pleasers who do not know how to focus inward - for many, focusing inward is weird and uncomfortable and feels inherently selfish. It's much easier to direct all that energy outward into something tangible, like work or our friends/families.
For almost everyone who fits into the non-neurotypical category (ie, the majority of people who thrive in the restaurant industry), being alone with our thoughts isn't exactly on the top of our things I'd like to do for fun list - it's usually somewhere closer to the bottom, sandwiched firmly between "drown in the ocean" and "get a frontal lobotomy". We exist in an industry made famous for its use of self-suppressive escapism - more often than not, we tend to define ourselves by our hatred for the qualities that we possess, rather than a celebration of our values.
Self-suppressive escapism
Self-hatred is a debilitating state to exist in. For with self-hatred comes a whole plethora of distressing emotions – guilt, shame, anxiety and regret being primary among them. To cope with these emotions most people resort to what is called self-suppressive escapism. Self-suppressive escapism can take many forms, be it drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, social media, pornography, video game addictions, or a compulsive need to always be working or socializing. What all these behaviours share is that they induce a cognitive narrowing whereby both the awareness of our self and our critical evaluation of it is suppressed.
Let's rephrase this in kitchen terms, using a hypothetical example that we've surely all witnessed firsthand.
Joe the grill guy is the life of the party. He's the first to crack a joke or playfully shit-talk the crew. He comes in early and always stays late. He's the first to offer to cover whenever a shift needs it. He's the one everyone always wants to party with after work - he knows every bartender in town, and has the best dealers on speed dial. His social media is full of photos of food and friends and social events, and he's always surrounded by a vast array of beautiful women. Joe is FUN to be around - he's the type of friend that always leaves you with a crazy story to tell the next day.
Behind the scenes, Joe is secretly depressed. He dates a lot, but can't seem to connect with anyone who really gets him. His living space is a mess, his credit is fucked, and his cards are all maxed out. He doesn't take care of himself physically or mentally, and spends most nights drinking himself to sleep to try to silence the steady stream of self-hatred running through his head. At work, he can meticulously debone a quail, stuff it with a forcemeat, tie it, roast it to perfection, and serve it with artfully prepared vegetables and a sauce that took 8 hours to reduce; at home, his idea of a meal is instant ramen, maybe with an egg and some sriracha on top if he's feeling particularly ambitious. His career is great - but the rest of his life is in shambles.
Joe is engaging in self-suppressive escapism. Because he feels like the majority of his life is out of his control, he focuses all of his time and energy into ONE part of his life - his career. By doing this, he has earned one measure of quantifiable "societal success" - it makes him feel like less of a failure.
This type of hyperfocus on one single area tends to have a weird backfire effect though - it often gifts us with a completely irrational fear of shifting that focus to temporarily focus on another area of our life that needs our attention (be it finances, physical/mental health, relationships, self-care, etc). In this state (and thanks to the deeply conditioned mindsets ingrained in modern chef culture), we often think that if we stop working, it means we have failed. If we do not spend all of our time reading about food, we do not truly have the passion needed to "make it" in the industry. If we are well rested, that means we could have worked later or come in earlier - we must not want it bad enough. We feel guilty for taking a day off. We feel shame for going to the doctor when we've burned ourselves. We feel regret when we realize we've missed every holiday or family function for the last decade because of work.
Worse yet, we feel massive amounts of anxiety when we think about any of this - so we train ourselves to tune out the rest of the world.
If I'm not thinking about it, it doesn't exist.
I'll get to that eventually, if I ever have time.
Guess what? All we have now is time - and that is straight-up terrifying.
We are currently at a point where our usual methods of coping are no longer viable - and we are being forced to slow down, sit back, relax, and rest. We are being gently invited to turn our focus inward, to the other areas of our lives that have needed attention - the ones that have been simmering on the backburners of our awareness for years. Our distractions have been stripped away - it's just us and our minds now. We no longer have an excuse to ignore the things we have been "too busy to think about."
If you're not overwhelmed by all of this, consider yourself VERY lucky.
A few years ago, I found myself in a situation similar to what the world is currently experiencing. I had been working as a chef for over 12 years, and was fully immersed in the lifestyle to boot - I was a version of "Grill guy Joe" in the example above. I was juggling 3 freelance jobs while building my own company in my "spare time". I lived in Los Angeles and had a thriving social life - I went out 4-5 nights a week, always had epic stories to tell, and was literally never home. If I wasn't working, I was out partying somewhere - I worked hard, after all, and I deserved to have fun! I put a lot of effort into my body and my appearance, and on the outside, I really LOOKED like I had my shit together.
My dating life was a mess. I attracted emotionally unavailable, manipulative partners like clockwork - the non-committal type that seemingly loved to mess with my head. My credit card debt was mounting. There was a stack of unopened mail in my room that filled an entire box - even looking at it gave me anxiety. I had nightmares regularly, mostly PTSD memories creeping in to haunt me while I was at my most vulnerable. I had no idea what my expenses were each month - I just put everything on auto-payment so I wouldn't get charged any late fees, because I didn't trust myself to remember to pay anything manually. I hated myself, both for how I looked and how I continually allowed others to treat me. I hated the fact that I couldn't escape my head. I hated that I didn't know how to say no. I hated my life story - especially the chapters with a lot of trauma and sadness - and I spent as much time as I could trying to not think about any of it.
I was an absolute PRO at self-suppressive escapism.
The holiday season of 2017 really did a number on me. First, I was blindsided by experiencing two massive betrayals by long-term friends that I truly believed I knew - turns out I didn't, and I ended up having to file a police report against one of them. Several unexpected major expenses fell into my lap shortly afterwards, and I found myself shaken and completely overwhelmed with stress. Shortly before New Years, I was involved in a 4-car pile-up on the 101 in Los Angeles during the middle of rush hour - I somehow walked away without a scratch, but my car was totaled and my head was a mess. Two of my gigs had wrapped up for the season, and my other one was 30 miles away - I was forced to resign because I had no way of getting there.
I found myself - for the first time in my adult life - with no job, no car, and no place to go.
For an entire week, I experienced an onslaught of alternating panic attacks, hyperventilation, hysterical sobbing, and physical shaking. The rug had been ripped out from under me, and I was completely lost - alone with my mind for the first time in more than a decade. I didn't even know where to start, let alone how. It was the most suicidal I have ever been - I must have run through a hundred different scenarios and written a dozen letters in my mind. I fell deeply into despair, and - perhaps for the first time ever - allowed myself to truly wallow in it. I allowed myself to be consumed with grief and sadness, and to finally feel the enormous weight of my current life situation. I allowed myself to see just how fucked up my life had truly become - I was, after all, heavily contemplating ending my life at this point, so brutal honestly was no longer the most terrifying idea in my head. I allowed myself to see and feel my perceived failures fully.
I allowed myself to break down. I hit rock bottom.
After over a week of wallowing in the abyss, I realized that I had forgotten about a lot of things - showering, eating, cleaning, my cat, et cetera. I pulled myself out of bed, made myself something to eat, and decided to take a long, hot bath. I lit some candles, put my ipod on shuffle, and sank into the water. Without realizing it, the music had shifted to one of my favorite songs from high school, and my mind had drifted to a memory of my teenage self - full of hope and on a mission to change the world. I found myself overcome by sadness - how had I let her down so spectacularly? The life I was currently living was NOT the life she had imagined.
This thought stirred up quite a bit of anger.
"Whose life IS this?!" I remember shouting into the void. "I would never have chosen any of this!"
In that instant, a torrent of heavy questions came crashing down all at once - it was as if the mental floodgates had opened, and a thought box that had been locked deep in the back of my mind had suddenly spilled into my consciousness.
Wait - if I didn't choose this, who did?
Hold on - why have I been letting everyone else decide what happens in my life?
Holy shit, I've completely lost sight of my goals.
Where did this start?
Who the fuck am I right now? This is not me. This is not the person I wanted to become.
Oh my god. I allowed all of this to happen. I did not choose to say no when I had the chance. A non-choice is still a choice.
Holy shit. I'm responsible for all of this.
On the surface, that has the potential to look like a rather depressing self-inquiry. There's nothing easy about realizing that you're the one who's been standing in your own way - it's enough to make anyone lose their shit for a while. Thankfully, this line of questioning unlocked my intellectual curiosity for the first time in years - and I began dissecting myself like a scientist. I became obsessed with figuring out WHY certain events in my life had occurred - and, with a ton of effort, I found a way to trace them all back to a single moment. I found a lot of compassion for myself along the way, and learned to see my younger self from the perspective of the observer - realizing that she did the best she could with the information she had at the time.
With time and deliberate focused attention, I was able to break myself down, understand where and why I had stumbled along the way, and put myself back together again.
Solve et Coagula
If you're not the type who's naturally drawn to the obscure and the unexplainable, or if you've never had a fascination with ancient mystery schools or the occult, allow me to explain.
"Solve et coagula" — Separate and Join Together (or "dissolve and coagulate" in Latin) is a medieval alchemy quote, which is to say that nothing new can be built if not before we make space, breaking the old.
To use a more familiar metaphor, as chefs, we use solve et coagula every day in the kitchen. When making sausage or charcuterie, for example, we must first break down the meat we have - whether by grinding, chopping, or whipping into a paste (solve) before we blend it with spices, seasonings, and other ingredients, and then stuff it into casings to cure or cook (coagula) - transforming one ingredient into a completely different dish. This is kitchen alchemy.
On a personal level, in order for any transformation to occur, we must allow ourselves to go through a process of solve et coagula. We must allow ourselves to break (rock-bottom is a perfect example of solve) if we wish to put ourselves back together (coagula). If we never allow the dissolution, we will forever be slapping band-aids on the pain while attempting to super-glue broken pieces of our psyche back together. We have to allow ourselves the time and the space to see what exactly it is that we're working with if we ever want to make sense of any of it.
We have to go through a process of spiritual alchemy.
Back to the hot issue of the week: The Quarantine
With all of this extra time on our hands, our industry is going a bit stir-crazy.
Instead of defaulting to self-suppressive behaviors, perhaps we can take this as a gentle invitation to turn inward - becoming the Alchemist instead of the Habitual Self. Take this opportunity to connect with friends and family that work has caused you to neglect. Get to know yourself on a deeper level. Do some of the things you've put off because you haven't had the time. View this time as a gift - time is, after all, the only currency on this earth that truly matters. Sure, money makes things easier - but money can always be made and lost. Time only disappears as we move through life.
What to do with your time as a newly-unemployed workaholic : 50 ideas
TURN OFF THE NEWS. The news is a one-way trip on the Anxiety Express. Use this time to intentionally disconnect from mainstream media. DO NOT BUY IN TO THE PANIC. For the record, I'm not advocating for denial - that's absurd. Stay informed, but limit your media consumption to cdc.gov. Fear is the mind-killer - do not willingly hand your brain over to the news stations who profit off of your panic. None of us can control what's happening right now - but we CAN control how we respond to it.
Set a timer for your social media usage. Monitor your consumption - it's very easy to get sucked down the Facebook or Instagram black hole for hours at a time. Notice when this is happening. Parent yourself.
Make a list of all the things you've been neglecting for way too long. Tackle one or two per day.
Organize your closet. Try on all of your clothing, and separate what fits from what no longer fits. If you're financially struggling right now, take a few days to set up an account on Poshmark or Mercari - both are virtual thrift store apps that allow you to buy and sell new and gently used men's and women's clothing. Make an afternoon of it - style the photos and list your stuff for sale. This could be a great way to make some extra cash during the downtime. If that's all way too much work for you, consider donating everything that no longer fits to neighbors, the homeless, a domestic violence shelter, or anyone affected by this virus. Find a way to pay it forward.
Deep-clean: Take everything out of your cabinets and do a deep-clean of your home kitchen, followed by an inventory of what you have on hand. Clean out your spice drawers and sharpen your knives. Scrub your refrigerator and organize it like you would at work. FIFO your supplies. Label and organize everything. Take pride in your home kitchen like you do your station at work.
Boost your immune system! This goes without saying, but it's a really great idea to give yourself as many advantages as possible during this period. Take vitamins. Eat as much fresh fruit and vegetables as you currently have access to. Make healthy soups in bulk and freeze them. Read up on immunity and inflammation. Research superfoods. Add them to your diet if you are financially able.
QUIT SMOKING. This virus affects the lungs, and smoking weakens them. Give yourself a chance and use this opportunity as the push you've needed to finally kick the habit. Smoking not only lowers your immune resistance and makes you more prone to lung infection, but it's expensive. Save your money for the things that will heal you instead of spending it on things that are likely to kill you.
Start exercising! Physical exercise strengthens the lungs and heart. Give yourself the advantage. Could you outrun a zombie if the apocalypse begins tomorrow? Start training today. There are hundreds of thousands of free lessons on youtube, and hundreds of free fitness apps on the market. Learn karate, brush up on your yoga, or teach yourself Krav Maga. The options are endless. Go back to work hotter and in better shape.
Get your finances in order! Make a spreadsheet an d list out all of your monthly bills and expenses - make a personal P&L. I know, this definitely does not sound sexy - but your life will benefit from it immensely. See where you spend your money. Go through your bank statements and add up how much you spent on drinks last month. It is a truly humbling experience to see the numbers all laid out on paper. To make this faster, apps like Mint and Truebill will create spending graphs for you based on categories - they're really only helpful if you pay digitally for most of your purchases, as cash purchases aren't included. If you'd like a free budgeting spreadsheet, email us at consciouschefs@gmail.com and we'll send a template your way to get you started.
Call your creditors - building on #9, most credit card and utility companies are waiving payments for a few months if you call and ask. Explain your situation, and give yourself some breathing room. Cancel all the subscriptions that you're not using. Call every place you owe money. While you're at it, do your taxes.
Call or skype your friends, parents, grandparents, and anyone important to you. A phone call or video chat is infinitely more intimate than a text message - take the time and connect with people you haven't talked to in a while.
Allow yourself to enjoy the time off. This one is huge - for workaholics, giving yourself permission to enjoy the space often feels REALLY WEIRD AND UNCOMFORTABLE. A lot of us feel like we don't deserve the time off - we didn't do anything to earn it. We are not used to time off. We don't even know what to do with ourselves! See it as a gift, not a prison sentence. You work hard - harder than most - and you are allowed to relax. Enjoy it while you have the opportunity.
Read (or re-read) a book that you've been meaning to read for a while now. Industry books and memoirs are a great start, but try to challenge yourself to explore interests outside of the culinary sphere. Re-reading a book that really resonated while you were younger can be a powerful experience when read from a wiser perspective - often, we pick up on details we missed the first time around.
Learn something new! The best way to alleviate boredom is by engaging the brain. Learning helps trigger neuroplasticity, and can help build new neurons and synaptic connections - helping to protect us from degenerative conditions like Alzheimer's and dementia. Apps like Duolingo will help you learn a new language (go back into the job market with Spanish on your resume, or finally understand what your porters are talking about!). You can take over 450 legit ivy league college courses online for free here (everything from science to computer programming to humanities and art) and if you're interested in academic journals, JSTOR has opened up its archives to anyone for free during the quarantine.
Organize your computer files + digital photos - this one will definitely take up a good chunk of time. Put on some music, close all your browser tabs, and organize your digital life. Delete photos of exes, go through all the mystery files on your desktop, and clear your phone camera. Organize all of your food photos into one folder. BONUS: get some photos printed and make a scrapbook or collage!
Experiment in the kitchen. There is literally no better time to take on a fermentation project than now - learn to pickle fresh vegetables, work with koji, brew beer, cure meats, or make jam. Your experiments might come in very handy if shit really hits the fan in the coming weeks. Prepare yourself!
Learn about edible native plants in your area. If you can safely go into nature without interacting with anyone, consider learning to forage in your area. What's edible? What do you need to do to make it edible? Study local field guides. Increase your survival skillset.
Make art. What was your creative outlet of choice as a kid? Were you a painter, did you play the guitar, did you love singing or sculpting or dancing or drawing or playing the piano? Connect with your inner child and create something. If you don't have the physical means to create, search the internet for a digital version. There are plenty of ways to learn an instrument, draw, or create with an app.
Journal. These are weird times, and everyone is feeling things they're not used to feeling. Get it out on paper. Don't let it fester in your mind. If journaling seems too lofty for you, write a memoir of world events for your future grandkids - to make it fun, write from the perspective of someone during the bubonic plague or the spanish flu - think old-timey, overly dramatic letters to your beloved. Love, in times of Corona.
Write out a bucket list of things you'd like to do in your life. Really let your imagination run wild - maybe you want to visit the Tokyo fish market or eat a baguette in Paris or hike the Himalayas or swim with turtles in the Galapagos or see Carnival in Rio or find true love and live happily ever after in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. Maybe you want to hunt and butcher your own animal or open up a cute breakfast restaurant or become the next Thomas Keller or smoke peyote with a native shaman. Get weird. Let yourself dream. Give yourself something to look forward to. Don't censor or judge yourself.
Get clear on your values. Have the courage to dive deep into your own mind - initiate the alchemical transformation. Are you the person you've always wanted to become? Does your vision of yourself match your reality? What would have to change in your life? What steps could you begin to take today that might put you on that path?
Learn meditation. Meditation is basically a bio-hack that trains your brain to focus and concentrate with a lazer-like intensity on everything you do. There are thousands of free guided meditations on youtube, and apps like Headspace and Calm are great free resources for beginners. Begin to learn to control your thoughts - it will change your life.
Tackle that home-improvement project you've been putting off. Build those shelves, spruce up your yard, clean your car, mop your floors, scrub your bathtub, organize your garage, unpack some of those boxes that have been collecting dust since you moved in, decorate a room in your house, fix that leaky faucet, et cetera.
Exfoliate and moisturize your body. I know most of you will scoff at this and think "I don't need that lame shit" - but here's a hard truth - yes, you do. Cooks put their bodies through hell. We very rarely take time to care for our skin-suits. You don't need anything fancy, either - mix some coconut oil and raw sugar (or salt, or used coffee grinds) together, and scrub every inch of your skin. This removes the built-up layer of crusty dead skin cells on the exterior, and allows your skin have a chance to breathe and regenerate. This also works wonders on your scalp for hair loss, gentlemen! One thing to note: facial skin is different than body skin - it's far more delicate, and if you're exfoliating your face, make sure the salt or sugar you use is a finer grain. You will take years off your face by doing this. Undo some of the kitchen damage. Soak in a hot bath afterwards.
If you're quarantined with a romantic partner: give each other massages. Tell stories from your childhood. Go through old photos together. Plan ridiculous indoor dates. Create scavenger hunt lists for each other. Take turns watching your favorite movies together. Pay attention to them. Remind yourself why you love them. Tell them these things when you think about them. Appreciate each other. Take a relationship inventory - what's working, and what isn't? Play board games or card games together. Get dressed up and have a nice candle-lit dinner together at the table. Go for a walk together. Teach them how to cook. Use this time to connect with your partner on a deeper level. Fall back in love.
If you're single: use this time to get clear on exactly what you want in a romantic partner - and no, I'm not talking physical appearance (although that's important, to an extent). What kind of person do you fantasize about? What kind of things would you do together? How do they make you feel when you're together? How do they express love and affection? How do they react to change? Are they adventurous or more reserved? What kind of interests do they have? What's their sense of humor like? How do they treat you? Learn about the 5 love languages. Read about relationships. Identify your patterns. Be intentional in your search - stop simply accepting whoever crashes into your orbit. Get clear on what you want. Where would this type of person hang out? What do you bring to the table in a relationship? What are your red flags? Use this time for self-development and clarity. Subscribe to our blog. ;)
Learn breathwork. Breathwork seems like one of those very woo-woo things on the surface, but there's actually a ton of scientific evidence to back up its effectiveness. In a nutshell, there are two types of breathing - chest breathing and belly breathing. Chest breathing exacerbates anxiety, and belly breathing calms it. This is because the vagus nerve links the sympathetic nervous system with chest breathing, and the parasympathetic nervous system with belly breathing. Triggering the parasympathetic nervous system will take your body OUT of the fight/flight/freeze response, and will begin to halt the production of cortisol (the stress hormone that causes many diseases). Breathwork is basically a way of telling anxiety to fuck off. It's very empowering to realize that this power lies within you. Again, search youtube for hundreds of free breathwork sessions online.
Learn about the brain and human psychology! Do people often confuse you? Use this opportunity to learn why people do the things they do. Learn about mental health and the brain. Recommended youtube channels: Academy of Ideas, Charisma on Command, The School of Life, TedX Talks, Julia Kristina Counseling, Therapy in a Nutshell, The Holistic Psychologist.
Go into nature if it's safe to do so. Disconnect. Enjoy the peace and silence and listen to the sound of the wind. Observe the animals and plants. Feel the sun on your skin. Connect with the earth. We spend so much of our lives in darkness, working in dingy basement kitchens from sun-up to sun-down. Get outside during the day. Build a fire at night (if you're not in the middle of a city, anyway).
Listen to a new podcast. There are tons out there - some of my favorite hosts are Jason Silva, Joe Rogan, and Aubrey Marcus. The Art of Manliness is great for developing life skills and becoming a more interesting person. Impact Theory explores a broad range of topics relevant to daily life. Search for a topic that interests you!
Write menu ideas! It's a great time to practice your creative conceptualization skills. Take a theme, and create a menu around it. Holiday menus, themed menus, period menus, movie-themed menus, apocalypse menus - let your imagination go wild! Type it up, and add it to #34.
Create a business plan: If you could start your own business, what kind of business would it be? Have you always wanted to have a bar, or do pop-ups, or transition into becoming a personal chef, or work on yachts, or do creative meal delivery, or start a food truck? Read up on what it would take to do it. Download a template for a business plan. Practice writing it out. Use the knowledge you have to create your dream job.
Build yourself a digital portfolio (and/or update your resume!). It's very easy to find free web hosting, and having a dedicated digital portfolio will help build your industry credibility. Compile a list of any articles or media you've appeared in, and put it all in one easy place. Update (or create) your LinkedIn portfolio - this is usually the first place a hiring manager will look. Take a good headshot if you don't have one - make it nice, clear, and professional.
Organize + digitize your recipes and kitchen notes! I cannot even begin to tell you how much I wish I had done this in my past. It's a beast of a project, but having it all typed out and handy is SO incredibly helpful. Future you will thank you for this one, big time.
SLEEP! So many of us have such messed up sleep schedules. Turn off your alarm and rest your body. Get your energy back. Catch up on all the sleep you've missed over the years. Feel absolutely no guilt about sleeping for 12 straight hours, if that's what you need right now.
Practice somatic awareness: Somatic Awareness simply means learning to feel your body. As simple as it sounds, this is the one skill that is both supremely important and utterly lacking in most relationships. It's the reason why most people's relationships are so painful and dissatisfying. Learn how to notice, label and identify the different bodily sensations you experience on a daily basis.
Clean up your social media. Delete (or at least archive) old photos from college/your early 20's and anything unflattering that shows you drinking or partying. Download Snapseed and edit your food photos to make them look more professional. Adjust the brightness, lighting, and color. Practice your plating and food photography.
Teach someone how to cook. Maybe it's your significant other, your roommate, or your kids - spend time with them and teach them some kitchen basics like how to hold a knife, how to cut an onion, how to debone a chicken, et cetera. What can the people you're with teach you? Have a skillshare day.
Help out a friend or neighbor. Volunteer at a local community kitchen.
Pretend like you're a contestant on Chopped. Get someone to organize a mystery basket for you based on ingredients you currently have. Set a timer and challenge yourself to create the best dish you can possibly make. Make this a competition if you live with others who know how to cook.
Write a memoir. We all have a story - and those of us that end up in kitchens tend to have some really wild ones. Have you ever told yours? Write yours out as if you were a novelist. It's really humbling to read about yourself, and the perspective shift is incredibly cathartic.
Interview your parents (and/or grandparents) if they're still with you. Often, we don't know anything about our older family members' younger lives. Ask them what the world was like when they were your age. Ask them what dating was like in their teens. Ask them about their favorite food memories! Books like this can help if questions like this don't come naturally to you.
Purge. This one is pretty self-explanatory - sell, throw out, or donate all of the things you no longer use or need. Marie Kondo your life. Start fresh.
Listen to audiobooks! If you don't have the patience to sit and read, download and listen to an audio book. Choose something inspiring and really tune in.
Diversify your skillset. If you're a savory cook, learn to bake; if you're a pastry chef, learn to cook. Challenge yourself to make *gasp* a vegan dinner one night. Many big time chefs are doing free cooking classes on social media right now - tune in and pick up some new tips!
Consider online therapy. What we are dealing with is beyond the rational scope of human experience, and it's normal to feel completely overwhelmed right now. You are not alone. Apps like BetterHelp, Talkspace, and others offer low-cost therapy from home.
Plant something - whether it's edible flowers, herbs, hardy greens, or vegetables, now is the perfect time to start to grow your own food. Anyone can manage a few pots of herbs (even if you live in a tiny city apartment) - plus, we all know how overpriced they are at grocery stores anyway. Besides, it's infinitely more satisfying to eat something you've grown yourself.
Volunteer at a suicide hotline. The world is in crisis right now, and hotlines are ringing off the hook. If you are stable enough to be a good listener, consider volunteering. You just might save someone's life.
Create a profile of your future self. What bad habits would you like to break? What patterns would you like to end? What kind of person do you want to be a year from now? 5 years from now? What goals would you like to accomplish? What qualities would you like to embody? If you're having a hard time and don't know where to start, try watching videos of people who inspire you. What is it that you admire about them? Write this all down. Be specific. You are who you condition yourself to become.
Really take this time to think about the restaurant industry. Let's be honest - our industry has been long overdue for a reckoning for a long time now. I love cooking just as much as any of you, but it's possible to love something and see the flaws in the industry that surrounds it. Is now the time we finally band together and create a union to demand things like paid time off, fair compensation, and health insurance? Do you have ideas? If you want to contribute to our blog, send us an email with your ideas.
And lastly: TURN OFF THE NEWS.
TURN OFF THE NEWS.
TURN OFF THE NEWS.
(And wash your damn hands.)
Can you think of any other ways to creatively use this unexpected time off? Post your suggestions in the comments. Come say hi in our forum or facebook group.
These are weird times, friends. We cannot control what happens in the world, but we can choose how we respond to it. Tune in to your body and notice when you're feeling fear, anxiety, negativity, or uncertainty. Breathe. Do something productive.
Enjoy your well-deserved vacation, chefs! You've earned it!
[absorb]
please consider supporting this project - even $3 helps 🙏🏻
© 2020
Commentaires