If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room – Anita Roddick
Early One Morning…
At four am today, I found out how right Anita Roddick was. Small things really can change my world. I woke up to hear the unmistakeable sound of a dripping tap.
The bathroom is a good seven metres away. I was due to get up in under an hour, as I had bread to bake. Nothing terrible would happen if I didn’t turn that tap off, so I tried to get back to sleep.
Ten minutes later, I got up. I had to, because I was wide awake. That quiet drip-drip-dripping hammered on my eardrums until I couldn’t stand it any more. My rude awakening made me stomp round the house like a bear with….sore ears, but it didn’t take me long to decide my extra-early alarm call had some advantages.
The bread was baked early, and made the house smell amazing. It’s going to be eaten with soup for tea this evening, which is something to look forward to. We’re all told to eat minimally- processed food, and this bread is made from only four ingredients. They are sourdough starter, organic flour, water, and a pinch of salt.
Small things…
There were other advantages to The Affair of the Dripping Tap. All my chores were done nearly an hour early. It meant there was time on the first dog-walk of the day for litter-picking. That will make walking in the woods a more pleasant experience for other dog-walkers, and tourists, today.
Baking the bread saved me driving all the way to the shops (which nearly always tempts me into impulse buying, and its excess packaging). This sourdough should also be better for us than commercially-produced white sliced bread-depending on how much butter and jam goes on top!
Making my own bread has an impact on my life out of all proportion to the time it takes, or its cost. When we look at the state of the world it’s only too easy to feel downhearted. We’re tiny cogs circulating inside the enormous machine called daily life. It’s easy to think our individual New Year Resolutions mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, but that is confusing scale with impact.
…Can Change The World
The world isn’t only shaped by grand gestures. The effects of many small acts added together makes a difference, too.
Making bread has been great for my mental health. Kneading dough lets me take out any frustrations while giving my arm-muscles a workout. There’s plenty of time for reflection, too (you can read about some of my bread-making exploits here and here).
A few years ago I sowed six hardy cyclamen seed. They grew, flowered and set seeds, which are spread by ants who love their sticky covering. Descendants of those plants now crop up all over the place. They produce hundreds of beautiful flowers in autumn, and sheets of decorative leaves through the winter – and it all started with six small seeds.
…And if everyone was to pick up just one piece of litter, the world would soon be tidy. It would happen even faster if we all vowed to never to drop another piece of garbage…
Action for Happiness is a charity promoting a happier, more caring society. Here are their ideas for January – let me know how many you’d like to try!