This story, ostensibly about the search for the origins of tech trendy San Francisco’s newest craze, “artisanal toast,” shifts suddenly into a moving testament to the pluck, endurance and creativity of the ever-arising human spirit. May we all honor the resilience in this young woman’s journey through life. May we all plunge into mycelliac relationships with everyone we meet.

I can especially appreciate her journey because it mirrors my own, during years when I had cast myself adrift, and yet knew intuitively that no matter how close I came to the edge of survival, I was safe. Sensing internally a strong, diaphanous web of relationships both near and far, I figured that no matter how far “out” I go, I can’t fall too far without falling into this net. I counted on it. With reason. That net is still operating, strong, expanding, and more resilient than ever; it helps me and all who live within its ever-replenishing, nourishing fold.

As Plato (or Philo) is reputed to have said: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” Or as my friend Judy, a principal in my own net, puts it, “Remember, Ann, everybody’s doing the very best they can.”

Via Joy.

A Toast Story