How I’m Coping by Baking Bread and Telling Everyone I’m Baking Bread

Everyone is dealing with quarantine in different ways — binge-watching Ozark, spying on neighbors not wearing masks, going live on Instagram — but I’ve decided to channel my anxiety into baking sourdough bread and letting everyone know I’m baking sourdough bread.

“Very first attempt at bread making. Sourdough! Not bad for a first go! Thanks @mrsallensworth for the starter!” I posted the first time. When an old friend from elementary school responded, “Looks yummy!” along with an emoji with its tongue sticking out, her encouragement gave me the inspiration I needed to continue baking bread every day and — this part is key — making sure everyone knows I am continuing to bake bread every day.

Initially, I struggled to make sense of the stay-at-home orders, but now I know it is the universe’s way of telling me to bake loaves and slap pictures of those loaves on all of my social media channels — my meaningful contribution to society during this stressful time.

I hope I can inspire others with my bread-making, and even plan to expand my reach — perhaps by going live on Instagram as I take it out of the oven next time.