I love bacon. I’m sure you do, too. Everybody loves bacon and there’s no denying it. Even vegetarians and vegans have their own versions of bacon. That red, crispy thin piece of meat (or soy-based whatever) cracking like thunder inside your mouth, I mean, it’s got to be one of life’s best experiences.

But here’s the thing, I’ve never cooked bacon perfectly. Every time I toss them in the pan, they shrink within a few seconds and they turn into wavy salt-cured pieces of pork fat. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like limp wavy bacon. It’s just not quite how they’re supposed to appear according to the serving suggestion printed on the package. Limp wavy bacon strips are a total rip-off. I like my bacon flat and crispy all around. No soggy white parts hidden in between the curls.

I can hear people telling me to use bacon press while frying or to pop the strips in the oven instead of the pan. But I guess I neither have the space in which to stow some heavy piece of metal nor the time to preheat the oven every time I want to cook bacon. You see, I love bacon but I don’t plan to get a PhD in cooking it.

Maybe homemade bacon is better at retaining its shape, having less chemicals and all that. But I don’t make my own bacon. I buy mine off-the-shelf and ready to fry.

It’s 2021 and I’ve lost count of how many packs of bacon I’ve personally tore open to cook what’s inside. But today is no ordinary day. Something funny happened as I’m frying my favorite matutinal treat.

Call it putting things into perspective. Call it enlightenment. Call it losing my mind. Well, I’ll call it the duality of bacon sizzling in the pan.

Life Will Never Be as Good as Flat Crispy Bacon

Every time I hold a pack of bacon in my hands, my heart is filled with the anticipation that I will have flat crispy strips served with toasts or garlic rice and sunny-side up. I would always close my eyes as if to capture that image in my mind, hoping it would last a day in my memory.

But as I’ve said, cooking bacon for myself has almost always ended in frustration, sometimes anger. Whenever I see my bacon starting to curl up in the frying pan, all my excitement fades away.

Life, in this regard, has been bad to me. And I know this kind of sentiment should be purged out of my system before it totally eats me up.

So, what makes bacon my favorite breakfast food? Is it the picture of flat crispy pork strips in my head? Or is it the whiff of volatile fat compounds and caramelized sugar arising from my sizzling morning grub?

And here’s the kicker: Why is it that all the excitement disappears after seeing my limp and wavy strips of cooked bacon? Am I just in this for the aesthetics rather than the taste?

I honestly don’t know, save for the fact that the act of cooking bacon, in and of itself, is a treat for me. And seeing all the strips done and waiting to be served takes away all the fun.

Maybe it’s the process not the state of being. Maybe it’s the cooking and not the appearance of the bacon that makes it all worthwhile. They say everything becomes disappointing once we’ve attained our goals, the outcomes we’ve been yearning for.

The joy fades only to be replaced by another objective, another want. The cycle of wanting for something and working to get it starts all over again.

It’s not the flat crispy bacon that should define my life. Because if I allow that to happen, then I’ll never be content. I’ll always be chasing a fantasy. Until I begin to appreciate the bacon on my plate — whether flat and crispy or limp and curly — my life will never get better.

…But Life Will Never Be as Bad as Limp Wavy Bacon

Wait, whut? You’re confused? I’m confused. But I did say duality of bacon. There are supposed to be two sides to what I’m trying to say here. Yin and Yang, so to speak.

For years, I’ve been deceiving myself that my breakfast depends on the quality of bacon on my plate. That flat crispy bacon is the only way to go. And anything less borders on chaos and despair.
For years, I have allowed limp wavy bacon to ruin my day. Yet, I’ve always balked at learning the cooking techniques that will improve my bacon frying skills. I’ve always believed that I’ll never achieve that flat crispy bacon every single day.

So, what do I do? I endure limp wavy bacon most mornings. Or spend a small fortune for hotel breakfast buffets where they have the magic to cook bacon flat and crispy all the time.

I avoided learning. I allowed myself to wallow in my comfort zone, believing that my life will always be as bad as limp wavy bacon. But the truth was I could always have chosen to adapt and learn to cook bacon just the way I like it. I didn’t need to hold on and endure.

Takeaway

Our expectations, hopes, and fears can hold us back.

All too often, we think of the world as our own private fantasy land. We deceive ourselves into thinking that life is worth living only if we have the things we want. In truth, life will be okay if we learn to appreciate the things around us.

On the flipside, we also view life in the worst possible way. That life is and will always be hard. We forget that we can always adapt and make things better. Our forebears did it hundreds, even thousands of years ago. The little fish that walked out of the water 400 million years ago only wanted something better in life. And here we are today.

It’s 2021. We can adapt. All will be well. Things will be okay if you want to.