What Sourdough Taught Me After 10 Years Of Baking

My personal story of baking, burnout, and how sourdough, friendship, and commitment changed my path.

Most people would assume it’s about the bread, but it’s not.

Not exactly.

For those of you who don’t know my story, sourdough found me when I was at an all time low. 

I had two kids under two, was exhausted all the time, had a new blog I didn’t know how to run, was drowning in an endless loop of worry, and yet I forced myself to keep going because that’s what you do – mascara bags and everything.

Then I found Celia.

Celia’s the Australian queen of sourdough, an extraordinary human who blogged about sourdough before it became a rabbit hole. Her enthusiasm was infectious.

Like a lost puppy, I started commenting on her blog hoping she would adopt me (she did!). We became good friends. 

One day she causally said: “Can I mail you some of my sourdough starter?”

While on the surface, yes, this unassuming act jumpstarted my sourdough journey. 

But looking back, it was way bigger than receiving a little white envelope of dehydrated sourdough flakes in the mail.

I was heading down two paths at once.

The first path was obvious: I blogged about sourdough bread, wrote Artisan Sourdough Made Simple (inspired by Celia) and filmed a stretch and fold video on my parent’s kitchen table. That’s what the world could see.

The second path was happenning behind the scenes.

Sourdough dragged me out of my funk. The cadent flow of creating something with my hands (mixing, folding, shaping and waiting!) got me out of my head and into my body, grounding a shit ton of anxiety with no place to go. It sharpened my senses.

It also sharpened my baker’s intuition, a key skill everyone can strengthen.

I was healing. 

Sourdough was the medium.

And whether I was conscious of it or not, I had stepped through a massive gateway. 

So, why do I bake?

Because sourdough has been one of my greatest teachers.

It taught me how to stay curious, lean in, let go, take chances, nurture, and challenge myself under the guise of baking bread. It tricked me. In the best of ways.

And after a decade of baking, I’ll tell you that sourdough goes far beyond alchemizing flour and water into something new. It’s about personal transformation, should you see it through that lens too.

But don’t take my word for it. 

Over the years, especially during the pandemic, many of you have reached out sharing similar stories. It’s common to call bread therapy, meditation or even medicine.

One of my favorite stories is about a home baker who was inspired by my sourdough bread recipe to launch a cottage bakery. Another reader shared how baking from Artisan Sourdough helped her reconnect with her mom over Zoom. Even elementary school kids as young as 9 have used my sourdough starter in class!

I have to pinch myself sometimes, as a reminder of how powerful the sourdough ripple effect truly is, even if you can’t see it yet. I’d love to know: Why do you bake?