Life Domain: Self · Practice: Vulnerability
When breaking in a coffee roaster, you have to season it. The seasoning process scrubs the drum, removes the manufacturing oils, and coats it with coffee oils to prepare for real roasting. The method I used for seasoning? It became my go-to roasting method.
And for a while—it worked. I started to believe it was the magic way to roast coffee. No matter what beans I used, it delivered consistent, decent results. That is, until it didn’t.
It hit a wall with a beautiful Rwandan Peaberry. Grassy notes persisted no matter what I did. At first, I brushed it off. Surely this was a one-off. A fluke. But it wasn’t. The truth was: my trusty method wasn’t enough for every coffee.
I had to come to grips with the reality that I needed to grow. What got me here wasn’t going to get me where I wanted to go.
But that realization came with a choice. Would I admit that I wasn’t perfect and didn’t have it all figured out? Or would I double down and try to look like I knew what I was doing?
That’s the crossroads of vulnerability.
As Brené Brown puts it, “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.”
It’s also the uncomfortable space where we admit we’re still learning—even if people are watching.
For me, that meant choosing growth over ego. It meant owning that I didn’t have all the answers, and letting that be okay. It meant experimenting with new methods, failing again, and slowly getting better. I still don’t have it all figured out. But I roast differently now—because I let that Peaberry teach me.
When faced with that same dilemma, what do you choose?
Do you hide behind what’s worked—or are you willing to step into the unknown to grow?
