With Grace and Gusto
The M. F. K. Fisher Way of Meeting Great Challenges
Thank you to Dulcey Lima.
By Lisa Bennett | 7/29/26
One of the joys of researching how good people rise to great challenges is discovering just how many ways there are to do it—and how many inspiring examples there are of people who have done it, across professions and periods of time.
Consider the late, great food writer M. F. K. Fisher.
I recently picked up the 50th anniversary edition of her collected writings, The Art of Eating, in part to have a better answer to the question: Isn’t savoring just about food?
Side note: Savoring is about far more than food. It is a psychological process that forms the positive counterpart to coping with adversity. It is the capacity to “attend to, appreciate, and enhance the positive experiences in one’s life,” in the words of Fred Bryant and the late Joseph Veroff, co-authors of the first book on the topic.
When we focus on coping alone, we are likely to end up depleted in these times of relentless crises and challenges. When we add the positive counterpart of savoring, we are likely to become more resilient—not to mention happier and more pleasant to be around.
But back to Fisher’s way of meeting great challenges.
This pioneer of the literary food memoir, Fisher helped people see that not only is cooking an art, but so is eating—when we bring greater awareness to the whole thing.
As she wrote, “… there is a basic thoughtfulness, a searching for the kernel in the nut, the bite in honest bread, the slow savor in a baked wished-for apple.”
And then, importantly, Fisher went on to add:
“It is this thoughtfulness that we must hold to, in peace or war…”
She could, of course, have been writing for our times.
So, what if that basic thoughtfulness could be our saving, or if you will, savoring, grace?
The M. F. K. Way
Fisher wrote these words during World War II, a time in which cheese, meat, oils, and other basic foods were rationed. She titled the book How to Cook a Wolf, the metaphorical sense of a wolf at the door likely lost on few.
Part of her motivation was to help people feel inspired during that global crisis.
To me, this makes clear that savoring—whether of food or the world—is not something dependent on circumstances.
Nor is it something to be seen only through the lens (however important it is) of strengthening the capacity we need to navigate the challenges of our times.
Savoring the World is also, to use the oddly old-fashioned word, a matter of character.
The kind of character that, individually and collectively, can inspire us through our challenging times.
Fisher’s words were about food: “Since we must eat to live,” she wrote, “we might as well do it with both grace and gusto.”
Ours could be about the necessity of meeting the climate, democracy, equality, and other challenges.
Since we must meet them somehow, we might as well do so with both grace and gusto.
Lisa Bennett is the co-author of Ecoliterate with emotional intelligence pioneer Daniel Goleman and author of the forthcoming Savor the World. A former Harvard University fellow, award-winning journalist, and a longtime mission-driven communications leader, her passion is helping good people rise to great challenges in tough times. Please reach out if you’d like to learn about her Day of Inspiration or other offerings.