When You Feel the Pressure

I'm baking a carrot cake for my husband's birthday (Happy Birthday!), and I notice the instructions for "higher altitudes."  I see the detailed changes for baking when you happen to be up in the mountains.  Apparently, up that high, the altitude's low pressure creates a lower boiling point for water.  You have to cook your pasta longer in Denver than you do in Boston because the water boiling in Denver isn't at hot.

Even though it's boiling, it's a different temperature. 

It's not just boiling point.  Baked goods rise faster, ingredients stick to the pans more, and recipes need more heat to cook.  You can't trust what you're used to when your environment changes.  

A change in pressure changes everything.  Great cooks don't abandon their recipes; they adapt.  They measure different amounts to compensate for changes in elevation.  You add an extra egg, more flour, more liquid, more heat.  You diminish sugar, baking powder, and fat. 

All day, I consider how changes in atmospheric pressure influence behavior at the molecular level.  I think about "pressure" in a new way.

When my own "pressure" changes by forces around me (whether family or career), I don't need to lose control.  I just have to remember to make simple changes to accommodate for added stress.  I have to remember that I (my collective molecules) behave differently in different environments (as even tiny molecules do).  I might need to add in more of this and remove some of that so I can do what I'm supposed to do. 


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Journal:  When I'm feeling new pressure, what can I do to relax and keep perspective? 

Can a Small Adaptation Make You Happy?

As you know, we walk a mile to school every day.  I walk a mile to school and back every day.  As the weather dips below freezing into the single digits, I used to get grumpy about this.  I'd dread leaving my house to fight the bitter cold.

A Winter Coat! 

Not anymore. 

The Italian Mama alerts me last week to a sale on winter coats.  With my Christmas money in hand, I find a coat that promises to keep me warm.  I find one that will "keep me warm down to -15 degrees."  It's water resistant, has a "storm shield," and features deep pockets for my cell phone and camera (for all my outdoor photography sessions). 

Suddenly, my circumstances are no longer a problem.  In fact, I love this coat so much that I race outside each morning and tell all the neighbors how warm I am.  "I'm just wearing a t-shirt underneath this!" I cry out.  I think I actually skip part of the way down the hill. 

Living with flair means I embrace adaptations when my external circumstances cannot change.  I think about the supplies I need to endure and thrive. 

Bundling Up

It might be as simple as a warm coat.