Bread

​Yep- that's the point of this post.

Bread.

Why?  There are a number of reasons that are quite timely to me, in this season of life:

• the recipe that I'm pursuing has three ingredients
• this recipe contains nothing but core, unprocessed ingredients
• it takes time, which forces a slowdown
• it's part of the Old Ways of doing things
• I'd like to learn how to cook at least one thing from scratch
• it's a fantastic peanut butter delivery system

OK, so maybe bread isn't exactly the point of this post, but the vehicle to the point of it: the Old Ways.

I believe that technology has been more of a plague to humanity than an aide (without going into any of my conspiracy theory/spoiler alert details).  I remember reading that the government once wrote that, with the advent of computers and the new technology age, humans would work much less, and therefore have much more free time to enjoy life.  What has actually happened can't be any farther from what they wrote.  Granted: technology does provide instant access to knowledge that we wouldn't otherwise be able to find...except that this isn't necessarily true, either, if we haven't constructed the destruction of the family and the disposal of the only ones who could pass on the knowledge of things correctly- our elders.

That, though, is a post for another day.

I absolutely MARVEL at the idea that three ingredients (flour, water, and salt), time, and heat will produce a loaf of amazing, healthful food.  The recipe is for sourdough bread, which requires a whole other time-consuming step, as well- the starter.  This makes for an amazing adventure into something so simple and potentially rewarding that it will probably change a number of things that I do, and towards my goal of simpler, slower, and less-tech-dependent times.

I'm sure I've written before that I don't care for the direction that this world is headed, but I'm going to say it again, anyways: I'm disgusted.  We've traded relationships, time spent living real life, and money on useless technology that does nothing but draw us obsessively to a screen, away from other people, and away from tangible life (outdoors as well as indoors).  I, myself, have been guilty of living this type of life for years; I was a fan of this saying: 

I went outside once.  The graphics weren't that great.

I could say that I regret those years, but it'd be a waste; I lived what I lived, and am no longer living in that place.  It's fine, but I'm not going to live there anymore.  Call it time, maturity, God's Will- whatever you'd like- it's time to hurry up and slow down.

I guess the main point is that we've lost a lot of the Old Ways of doing things, which is a shame for a number of reasons.  Sure- we have YouTube- but what if we don't?  What if the Internet disappears, or if the electricity goes out for whatever period of time?  What if we just plain-old come to our senses and actually want that old-time, slower lifestyle back?  I, personally, have learned enough to believe that we're headed towards the complete destruction of our traditional human selves due to too much technology coupled with laziness and greed.  Companies need to cut costs, so they produce lousy, processed fake food that in turn makes us hungry or sick, which causes us to enter the Disease Management System, which in turn will kill us.  We, ourselves, in seeking the Ultimate Pile of Chinese Plastic Junk, are typically in a hurry to turn a fast buck, then rush to do whatever we do, and buy fast food or cook the fastest meal available, which invariably comes out of a box or tray.

This must end, or we will die.

I think on that note I'll end this post, lest it turn into a Monster Rant of Doom and Gloom.  I enjoy those, but not today.

Take care of yourselves.