The Parable of Kefir and the Power of Commitment

 

My husband is lactose-intolerant, but I missed milk. We started hearing all about the health benefits of kefir, and how the greatest benefits come from kefir made from organic whole milk, not skimmed milk.

Lots of kefir in the stores, but only low- or non-fat kefir. Only Whole Foods and Central Market carried any whole milk kefir, and in very small amounts for a very high price.

So we decided to get some kefir grains and make our own.

We, meaning mostly me. :-)

The grains have to be ordered by mail. Then they need to be slowly activated in milk until they're awake and producing regularly.

And now we have a kefir 'pet' on our hands. One that is fairly demanding.

We had to buy special bottles to hold the kefir, that now (according to my ultra-careful foodie husband) have to be washed and sanitized each time they're used. Every 24 hours those kefir grains need to be fed, or they will starve. They're eating up two and a half cups of milk a day now. They could eat more, but if they did, I would be standing in a river of kefir every day, so I keep them on a strict diet.

Every morning I strain the kefir grains out into a clean bottle, and rotate it. Then I have to figure out how many ways I can stand eating kefir. Over rice? Good on potatoes? Yes. In a smoothie with some banana and mango and a little cocoa powder? Oh my, yes!

So why am I doing all this? Truthfully, I've never felt better internally than I do now since I've started eating this way. The gut bacteria is flourishing.

And...I think there's a moral here when it comes to my writing.

I think, for most of my life, I've written, and enjoyed writing and having written, but I've never taken it seriously. I've never 'turned pro' as Steven Pressfield would say.

A pro does what it takes to succeed. A pro moves through challenges to get to the other side, even if it hurts (and it does hurt from time to time).

So what does it take to turn pro?

It takes a decision...that something is good for you, and it's worth going through the pain and the drudgery and the constant cleaning up and battling to create something worth creating.

If I can be consistent enough to keep my kefir grains alive, I can write consistently.

Not every batch of kefir turns out good...and not every story posted here will be award-winning. But every story is one step in the direction of better writing. One step closer to the mountain.