I made a quick overnight trip yesterday to visit my best friend and her family before summer ends.

My train was full, and on the ride up I was seated next to a talented young artist who’s also building an online business.

The artist wasn’t only eager to tell me about his creative work. His eyes also lit up as he described the entrepreneurial solutions he’s found to support and sustain his art.

As he spoke, I remembered how motivated I felt when as was building and growing my blog.

The growth stage of any endeavor is uniquely exhilarating in a way that can’t be preserved forever. It’s like the honeymoon phase of a relationship in both its thrills and its impermanence.

I know this, and I experience a different appreciation of writing now. The most satisfying thing I feel is an acknowledgment of my own persistence, the knowledge that I’ve stuck with it through tough periods when I was tempted to quit.

It’s touching (if also cringey) to read early blog posts and think about how long I’ve been sharing. And the fact that I still get excited by new recipe ideas is a testament to how much I love creating food, whether or not I complain about cooking ruts.

So there’s meaning in simply keeping on.

Admittedly, though, I envied my acquaintance’s excitement, his sense of having something important to say and contribute. He seemed confident in a healthy way, and I envied that, too.

If I were to look at this random encounter through a lens of believing that there are no accidents, I’d conclude that this artist gave me a push towards professional reinvigoration at a moment when I’d been asking for it.

I know that I can’t recapture the sense of possibility that I felt early on in my writing life. It was unique, and if I can’t revive the novice’s boldness, I can also be glad that I don’t have to repeat some of the mistakes I’ve made along the way.

Still, I want to rekindle some of my own fire and tenacity. It’s been flagging lately, and while I don’t think I’ve lost my sense of purpose, I do feel cut off from it sometimes. I want to reinvest myself.

I’m always surprised at how often I seem to have a conversation with a stranger that hits deeply and in a timely way. It’s why that lens I just mentioned feels like the right one to see through this morning.

Happy Sunday, friends. Here’s to a week of meaningful, purposeful, inspired and inspiring work—for me and for you.

Recipes

1. Love a soy curl recipe, and these vegan French dips look great.

2. Sautéed zucchini and corn is such a perfect summer side. I’d like to try this recipe, with or without some cashew Parmesan on top.

3. Last week I had heirloom tomato toast with savory jam, and it was delicious. Now I’m inspired to make this onion jam and re-create the whole thing at home.

4. This vegan black-eyed pea soup is presented for a New Year’s Day celebration, but I think it would also be a great recipe for easing into soup season this fall.

5. A perfect peach cobbler recipe for August.

Reads

1. I enjoyed this article about the earth’s ancient subterranean microbes.

2. The FDA just approved a blood test for colon cancer screening. Looks as though it’ll be comparable to stool tests in that it won’t be as effective as colonoscopies, but it may still be a helpful tool for preventing one of the leading causes of cancer mortality.

3. It’s been really cool to read about—and witness—the ways in which a new generation of olympic athletes has prioritized mental health.

4. When I was taking organic chemistry years ago, I spent a lot of time wishing for better spatial reasoning than I have. This article looks at some of the upsides, or at least the okay-ness, of being a person with limited aptitude in summoning up mental images.

5. There’s impressive range in this list of life hacks, and also its follow-up list.

Writing about vegan tzatziki this week has inspired me to heap it on top of anything and everything, including a new bowl that I should be sharing in the next couple days.

Till then,

xo