A Triple-Decker BLT and the Radical Idea of Celebrating Half a Year

The Life of a Modern Renaissance Man: A Video Journal, entry 3

July 2020 was a weird time to celebrate anything. The world had turned into one long group project with no instructions, everybody had opinions, and somehow we were all supposed to remember what day it was.

So Gabrielle and I leaned into something we called Mid-Year Day: July 2, the point in the year when you can look behind you, look ahead, and decide how you want to spend the next chapter. We celebrated in the kitchen, making a giant plant-based triple-decker BLT. Because what better way to contemplate your destiny than with three slices of bread?

I loved that mixture of food and philosophy. Cooking together could become a whole production. We would talk about goals, experiment with recipes, film the experience, and find reasons to laugh while doing it.

I have always believed that you don't need January 1 to reset your direction. You can reflect on an ordinary afternoon. You can make a new decision while the sandwich is toasting. Sometimes even taking a moment to recognize that you've survived a difficult season is worth celebrating.

This video captures the kind of joyful, improvised creativity that shaped Team Grace at the time. A meal became a memory, a video, and a small reminder to give ourselves credit for making it halfway through a remarkably complicated year.