How to support others

Attention: the following may positively improve the quality of your relationships.

A story about mushrooms, one of the best no nonsense cooks, and taking your time.

I discovered the chef and writer, Julia Child, a few years ago. 

The film “Julie and Julia” is one of my all-time favourites as it’s about travel and food. 

After seeing it, I read a biography about her and then a book containing her letters between her and her long time friend, Avis. And this year I devoured the HBO series, Julia, about the later years that she and her husband, Paul, shared as they made the cooking programme, The French Chef, showcasing many of her recipes from her famous book, The Art of French Cooking.

One of the best things I’ve learned from Julia is this: don’t crowd the mushrooms. 

If you do, they won’t brown. You will have soggy mushrooms. Mushrooms that are a bit flat and a bit sad, because they know they deserve much better care and attention. 

And that if you had given them a bit more space and time, and had more patience they would be golden and deeee-licious.

If you do crowd them, they’ll still be edible. They’ll be okay. 

Just not as deliciously mushroomy as they could be. 

And so you need a frying pan big enough to cook them all in.

People are just like mushrooms. 

They don’t like to be crowded. 

They need their space. 

To develop.

To be the best that they can be. 

To receive patience and to be given time.

How are you doing with all of this? 

Are you crowding the mushrooms?  

Who can you be giving more time to? 

How can you change how you offer support so that others can thrive? 

And what is your equivalent of a big frying pan?