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I would have never learned to bake sourdough bread in my past life. Pre-quarantine me was very busy, and I certainly didn’t have time to start something as time-consuming or challenging as baking temperamental bread. Sourdough requires patience, time, practice, and mistakes. I’m a perfectionist at heart, and I usually have a packed schedule, so I never feel like I have time to fail. But here’s the thing, I WANT to be good at failing, as counterintuitive as that might sound. I’ve read tons of articles and listened to experts explain that a huge key in a successful life is grit, the ability to fail and move on from mistakes and keep trying. These days, sourdough has been my low-stakes way of learning to be more comfortable with failing, learning to flex the muscle of trying again and again even when I’m frustrated. This is part one of my sourdough journey, I hope you find it helpful and encouraging that I didn’t wake up baking perfect bread right away (and honestly, I’m not sure I’ll ever make perfect bread, and that’s ok).