I kept thinking of my father's personal mantra while I was reading this: Learn something new every day, especially from your failures. Dad was in some ways a perfectionist; he was always looking for ways to do something better. That didn't mean that he was OCD about it; once something was done, it was done. But next time he'd do it better. Sounds like you share his philosophy.
Love your absolute honesty, Hank! Been struggling as well... drinking too much, spending too much, not dealing w the real issues. And it helps to know that it’s a human problem not just a Linda problem ❤️
Maybe get to a place where you can think of all of these failures as Practice. If all of your breads came out perfect, you wouldn't be able to advise people when they reach out with their own mistakes. With skiing there is the hindsight, that comes through repetitiveness and error. And with talking to someone you're attracted to, hell. There's billions of people in this world. That, of all things, should take the most time, especially when you're rebuilding yourself inside. Be kind to your heart and your mind, and keep practicing.
Hang in there, Hank. With all of the changes you have been through this past year, it would be amazing if there were not any disappointments or failures along the way. I am also struggling with a few things right now, as are most people that I know (and some of their struggles are FAR more serious than mine). By the way, I was a cross country skier for 40+ years......it's great exercise, and not hard to do once you get past the initial learning curve. Hope you stick with it.
Hang in there. Without failures how could we grow?
And … it’s in a way strengthening to hear about other people’s struggles and overcoming them. 2023 — good riddance. 2x bone fractures, lost job due to the startup economy, massive tech unemployment with old colleagues unemployed 10 months after lay offs, all shot deer diagnosed with CWD, a busted boiler that had to be replaced when the income was shattered. The list continues.
Here’s to 2024, where I will continue to teach charcuterie, landing a new and amazing job, teaching kids hunter ed, getting to be 50y old, overcoming last years injuries, having a nice vacation, hunting in Alaska, and learning new foraging cooking skills.
Here’s to you Hank. Fail, Adapt, Overcome, Succeed!
I continue to applaud how you’ve addressed the new “challenges” in your life and continue to face life head-on. I feel bad many times and yet at the end your attitude is inspirational to me. I thank you for that and also wish you all the best in your journey in 2024.
One request….could you please avoid the use the “f” word? I was surprised to read it here and it has to be the first time I’ve seen it in your writings? It’s a word that’s obnoxious, offensive and so overused today. It saddens me that it’s almost impossible to stream a movie where it doesn’t dominate the dialog. Your writings don’t benefit from it.
I've been thinking along these lines - trying things and accepting mistakes / failure instead of standing paralyzed because I might not do it right. Thanks for this.
Hey Hank, as a professional photographer the mistakes I see many photographers make with lighting is; they try to create light and this tends to make thinks look over-lit. My motto is to try to mimic the light that God has given us naturally. So in terms of using artificial light, I would suggest perhaps using bounce light as fill. If you're using a hard light source, try bouncing it into a piece of foamcore or even the ceiling can work great! So I generally set the tone with my fill light like this. Then, I come in with subtle light sources and point them specifically where I want that accent if you will. Having grid spots or snoots really helps too. Another trick you can use is to subtract light from areas by flagging the light off with a black card or using a black card to take away light kind of like a shade. All these subtle trick will enhance your image and make things look more natural. By the way; your stuff looks great, just like your recipes! We all love what you do. Happy New Year and here's to new beginnings! Peace!
A friend of mine said to me recently when I was snarling about my struggles to improve my tango (a notoriously difficult and incredibly magical dance form) -- "Practice makes progress." I was uncomfortably struck by how difficult it was for me to let go of "perfect" long enough to even let that sentence sink in. But it's been marinating a lot since they said it, and I'm coming to like it. Maybe a lot of what feels like failure to me is just the necessary work of learning what NOT to do, and it isn't failure, it's just goddamn practice.
I am extremely personally familiar with the *feeling* that "not great" is the same as "not acceptable", but I've been coming to the possibility that maybe actual failure involves, like, a bank that doesn't have the capital to cover all its debts, or an oil spill, or an inability to admit mistakes when asked to do so -- and maybe I'm allowed to have some space for my efforts that fall between between "not perfect" and "stock market crash". Maybe "failure" is that which we don't grow from, and if there's enough mud in it to feed the roots of what's next, it really isn't failure at all?
Anyway, happy new year -- what a great post to start the year with. Hope lots of good things flourish in your compost bin in 2024.
Great post again! My son Zack taught my wife and I to remind ourselves that sometimes we win and sometimes we learn. Sounds like you are doing some good learning!
Where are you getting nordic lessons in this brown ( until recently) winter??
After basketball great Michael Jordan retired, he found himself focused on, not all the great shots he made and the victories that resulted of his play, but the shots he missed and the games he lost. But then, he realized that those things were what made him work harder and improve.
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Keep shooting the ball, Hank; the “wins” will start stacking up eventually.
I applaud your pioneering spirit.
I kept thinking of my father's personal mantra while I was reading this: Learn something new every day, especially from your failures. Dad was in some ways a perfectionist; he was always looking for ways to do something better. That didn't mean that he was OCD about it; once something was done, it was done. But next time he'd do it better. Sounds like you share his philosophy.
Love your absolute honesty, Hank! Been struggling as well... drinking too much, spending too much, not dealing w the real issues. And it helps to know that it’s a human problem not just a Linda problem ❤️
Maybe get to a place where you can think of all of these failures as Practice. If all of your breads came out perfect, you wouldn't be able to advise people when they reach out with their own mistakes. With skiing there is the hindsight, that comes through repetitiveness and error. And with talking to someone you're attracted to, hell. There's billions of people in this world. That, of all things, should take the most time, especially when you're rebuilding yourself inside. Be kind to your heart and your mind, and keep practicing.
Hang in there, Hank. With all of the changes you have been through this past year, it would be amazing if there were not any disappointments or failures along the way. I am also struggling with a few things right now, as are most people that I know (and some of their struggles are FAR more serious than mine). By the way, I was a cross country skier for 40+ years......it's great exercise, and not hard to do once you get past the initial learning curve. Hope you stick with it.
“To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom”
Happy New Year Hank.
Hang in there. Without failures how could we grow?
And … it’s in a way strengthening to hear about other people’s struggles and overcoming them. 2023 — good riddance. 2x bone fractures, lost job due to the startup economy, massive tech unemployment with old colleagues unemployed 10 months after lay offs, all shot deer diagnosed with CWD, a busted boiler that had to be replaced when the income was shattered. The list continues.
Here’s to 2024, where I will continue to teach charcuterie, landing a new and amazing job, teaching kids hunter ed, getting to be 50y old, overcoming last years injuries, having a nice vacation, hunting in Alaska, and learning new foraging cooking skills.
Here’s to you Hank. Fail, Adapt, Overcome, Succeed!
I always love your writing ✍️ Thanks 🙏
I’ve found that gratefulness really helps keep my perspective on failures and so forth.
I continue to applaud how you’ve addressed the new “challenges” in your life and continue to face life head-on. I feel bad many times and yet at the end your attitude is inspirational to me. I thank you for that and also wish you all the best in your journey in 2024.
One request….could you please avoid the use the “f” word? I was surprised to read it here and it has to be the first time I’ve seen it in your writings? It’s a word that’s obnoxious, offensive and so overused today. It saddens me that it’s almost impossible to stream a movie where it doesn’t dominate the dialog. Your writings don’t benefit from it.
I've been thinking along these lines - trying things and accepting mistakes / failure instead of standing paralyzed because I might not do it right. Thanks for this.
Hey Hank, as a professional photographer the mistakes I see many photographers make with lighting is; they try to create light and this tends to make thinks look over-lit. My motto is to try to mimic the light that God has given us naturally. So in terms of using artificial light, I would suggest perhaps using bounce light as fill. If you're using a hard light source, try bouncing it into a piece of foamcore or even the ceiling can work great! So I generally set the tone with my fill light like this. Then, I come in with subtle light sources and point them specifically where I want that accent if you will. Having grid spots or snoots really helps too. Another trick you can use is to subtract light from areas by flagging the light off with a black card or using a black card to take away light kind of like a shade. All these subtle trick will enhance your image and make things look more natural. By the way; your stuff looks great, just like your recipes! We all love what you do. Happy New Year and here's to new beginnings! Peace!
A friend of mine said to me recently when I was snarling about my struggles to improve my tango (a notoriously difficult and incredibly magical dance form) -- "Practice makes progress." I was uncomfortably struck by how difficult it was for me to let go of "perfect" long enough to even let that sentence sink in. But it's been marinating a lot since they said it, and I'm coming to like it. Maybe a lot of what feels like failure to me is just the necessary work of learning what NOT to do, and it isn't failure, it's just goddamn practice.
I am extremely personally familiar with the *feeling* that "not great" is the same as "not acceptable", but I've been coming to the possibility that maybe actual failure involves, like, a bank that doesn't have the capital to cover all its debts, or an oil spill, or an inability to admit mistakes when asked to do so -- and maybe I'm allowed to have some space for my efforts that fall between between "not perfect" and "stock market crash". Maybe "failure" is that which we don't grow from, and if there's enough mud in it to feed the roots of what's next, it really isn't failure at all?
Anyway, happy new year -- what a great post to start the year with. Hope lots of good things flourish in your compost bin in 2024.
Great post again! My son Zack taught my wife and I to remind ourselves that sometimes we win and sometimes we learn. Sounds like you are doing some good learning!
Where are you getting nordic lessons in this brown ( until recently) winter??
After basketball great Michael Jordan retired, he found himself focused on, not all the great shots he made and the victories that resulted of his play, but the shots he missed and the games he lost. But then, he realized that those things were what made him work harder and improve.
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Keep shooting the ball, Hank; the “wins” will start stacking up eventually.
“Growth sets roots in the debris of our failures”. Ooof, that’s a great sentence.
Nice work Hank. You definitely can eat an elephant, but only one bite at a time.