Self-Determination, Motivation, and Autonomy
Brewing kombucha has been going really well this week. I bottled another 7 bottles of kombucha trying a new flavoring method this time, I used ¼ cup of juice in each bottle so we will see how the flavor turns out! I am thinking of buying more fermentation bottles because I had to drink three bottles of made kombucha in one day to have enough empty bottles for the new kombucha.
Participating in the occupation of brewing kombucha has been mostly determined by myself and my own self direction. This is something I have been wanting to do for a while but never made time for so having an assignment to start a new occupation provided a perfect opportunity to try brewing kombucha. Although it was assigned to our cohort to start a new occupation, I still had control over and was confident of my decision to make kombucha. Motivation for brewing kombucha came from a few places, I like kombucha and its healthy qualities and I also like to make things from scratch these two reasons both provided motivation. I was extrinsically motivated by the prices of kombucha in the grocery store, it is typically 3-5 dollars per bottle. Home brewing kombucha lends to my autonomy because my independence allowed me to choose to take part in brewing kombucha and I am able to control the ingredients I add. Living a healthy and balanced lifestyle is a personal choice I make that is very important to me, being able to brew my own kombucha lends to my lifestyle decisions.
Hi Maddie! Your kombucha is looking great, I hope the new flavors turn out well with adding juice to it! I honestly don't think I have tried kombucha before, but after reading your blog post, I am inspired to want to try it! I thought it was neat how you mentioned that brewing kombucha aligns with your value of living a healthy lifestyle as well as your self-determination. I also thought it was meaningful how you mentioned you experience autonomy when making kombucha by being able to choose the ingredients that go into it. Are there parts of the kombucha making process which might be vulnerable to limiting your self-determination? Some examples I thought of were not having ingredients available or a lack of time, but I'm not sure if you have run into those struggles at all.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the "Joy Juice" in your picture looks so good! Is that something you can buy in Pocatello?
DeleteHey Alyssa! I hope you give kombucha a try, I really enjoy it. I definitely find I am limited by time, this was especially a problem at first when I was creating the SCOBY and figuring out how to make the kombucha. Now I can bottle the kombucha and start the next batch in about fifteen minutes so it isn't as limiting anymore. One limiting factor created by making kombucha is I have had a bit of a difficult time when I go out of town figuring out how to not let the kombucha ferment too long, I think I will occasionally have to sacrifice a batch if I leave too long. Joy juice is so good, it is a company in pocatello that makes fresh juice! They sell at the farmers market and a couple places around town, I think they sell at the dude markets on saturday now in old town as well!
DeleteThis is such a unique thing to do Maddie. I am so impressed! Also, I thought it was funny how you said you had to drink three bottles to make room for more haha! I like how you talked about your motivations for making kombucha. Recognizing that there are both intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors is very important. I think this is something that we should definitely bring to our future practice as occupational therapists. Both types of motivation can be very powerful. What motivated you to choose to learn how to make kombucha over other healthy types of drinks? Would you try another type of drink to see how they compared? Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks Heather! It has been fun to learn so far! I chose to make kombucha over other healthy drinks because of the probiotics and because I really enjoy drinking kombucha but I am definitely open to trying other drinks. One that comes to mind that is similar to kombucha is tepache which is made by fermenting pineapple rinds. It is super tasty as well and I definitely want to try making it sometime!
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