Feeding my Brain with Fresh Bread

​

My pre-teen daughter exclaimed, “Let’s go, Dad!”

“Alright, just you and me,” I replied. We set off on the now-familiar 1km walk through our Uzbek neighborhood, down dusty lanes, and past crumbling walls.

A small crowd gathered near the bakery, a concrete kiosk. It’s obvious we are ‘outsiders’, so we’re waved to the front. No one seems to mind, and they get to gawk at our height and fair hair. Uzbek naan is made simply: flour, salt, water, and yeast. Without preservatives, it’s healthy; best eaten warm.

We can see the dough puffing up inside the tandoor; it smells as amazing as it looks – golden flat loaves.

My daughter Laura enjoys languages, so she orders our breakfast, “Twelve naan please” - “O'n ikki ta non iltimos.”

Back at the guest house the six of us enjoy the warm round bread, spread with Canadian jam. We carefully wrapped the rest up, sealing it for tomorrow’s breakfast. We could get up, and eat, avoiding the long walk.

The following morning, we unwrapped the bread and were shocked to find it stiff and stale. I thought we could rescue it with some jam, but when I opened it up mold had already crept in.

I’ve been reading about healthy brains. Three family members have lived with dementia, so I’ve been wondering if mine’s healthy.

Like bread in Uzbekistan, I’ve learned that brains only thrive where there are fresh ingredients. For example, I’m researching the complex topic of keeping an old brain healthy.

Without this freshness, we can drift through each day unfocused, lacking a clear or energizing challenge. And when for me the inputs are mostly negative, such as my political outrage, or low-grade media distractions, neurologists say the brain adapts downward to match.

The challenge to myself – and maybe to you – is to find new ways to show up fresh every day, realizing our well-worn patterns can quietly grow stale around the edges.

The good news is that older brains can build resilience more quickly than younger ones when stimulated in the right ways. That gives me hope.

So how can I keep my brain fresh? Here’s my top three for now:

1. I can choose to skip screen time, and instead use curiosity to perceive new things. Like engaging in a new hobby, reading on unfamiliar topics, or cycling a new trail. This curiosity creates new brain pathways.
   ​
2. Select different people outside my usual circles to talk to. Trying to hear fresh perspectives stretches me and wakes up my brain.
   ​
3. Try out something I know little about. I’ve spent the year learning how to write. And staying true to a weekly schedule isn’t easy; for this Saturday’s post, there’s still just half-baked ideas.

I can still smell and taste the simple goodness of that Uzbek bread, fresh for only a few hours. That’s how I want to hold my days: pressed into shape with purpose, alive with flavor, never left to go stale.

​
​

I would love to connect with you on LinkedIn or Facebook​

See you next week,

Grayson

Did someone forward you this email? Get weekly reflections straight to your inbox by subscribing to The Compassionate Competitor.

Want to share this issue via text, social media, or email? Just copy and paste this link:

[ARCHIVE URL GOES HERE]