Things Worth Passing On

Links, quotes, big ideas, and small joys — all worth passing on.

The Wand Chooses the Wizard

Sometimes the work that will define your life is not the work you set out to do. (Raises hand). It’s the thing that finds you –– often quite inconveniently and with an annoying persistence. It may start small –– a nudge, an unexpected curiosity, or a task you didn’t sign up for. But over time, it becomes clear: this isn’t just a thing you’re doing.

Something is choosing you. The calling finds the person who will carry it, not because they are the most qualified, but because they are humble enough to listen and courageous enough to begin.

That is the unspoken truth about purpose. You can’t strategize your way into it or force it into a cute pitch deck. It tends to show up in the middle of your real life. For me, it was a moment in a college class when an unexpected message dropped into my lap, as if from nowhere: “You are meant to be a teacher,” it said. And I knew at that moment it was absolutely true.

Purpose will ask you to set aside your self-doubt and begin imperfectly right where you are. Shortly before I finished my teacher education program, after I had spent years studying both the content and the pedagogy, I went to my advisor and tearfully told her I had no idea what I was doing and how on earth was I supposed to know the answer to every question I would ever be asked in a classroom? My advisor –– a kind woman in her 60s –– crinkled her eyes into a smile.

“Well, you won’t,” she said. The silence filled the room.

“And?” I asked, waiting for her to continue with some wisdom about how I could quickly get up to speed before walking in front of a room full of 16-year-olds.

“There’s no and,” she said. “You simply will not know, and you’ll have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

That answer was not satisfying at the time, because I desperately wanted to learn all that there was to know. But in hindsight, I can feel what my advisor was trying to communicate.

There was nothing to panic about. You’re right where you’re supposed to be. You can’t see the entire staircase right now, but one step at a time will appear, right when you need it to.

The work that chose me — the work of education — changed everything in me. It softened what needed grace and strengthened what needed courage. The wand that chooses you isn’t a reward for talent. It’s a responsibility you owe the future. To wield it is to say: I will use what I’ve been given to serve. Not for my own sake, but so that something enduring can take root and continue long after I’m gone.

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Another thing worth passing on:

Kathleen Ashmore (@katcancook) is one of our go-tos when we want something fresh, healthy, beautiful, and absolutely delicious to eat. This baguette recipe has taken the internet by storm: Same Day Baguette.

She spent nine months perfecting the recipe for a baguette you can make in four hours. It’s a recipe for someone who has been too intimidated to try to make bread, but wants that “I can’t believe I made this” feeling. Can confirm: 5/5 stars.