Barbecue is beautiful because it ultimately distills down to your ability to handle adversity. You can hide behind the uncontrollable factors that happened to your cook or you can choose to relentlessly overcome them. Each bite you take is the physical manifestation of the road that delivered you to the end result. The outcome of your efforts paints a picture for the voyeur consuming it to gaze inward upon your struggle. Being good at barbecue is less about the meat being cooked and more about your individual journey upward and through. No cook will ever go the way you initially plan that it will. Timelines will be blown, weather will change, wood will be green, problems will inevitably arise. How you handle that hardship coupled with a personal pursuit to see it through is how success is measured. To never give up because there are people depending on you to deliver. To wrestle and work out your insecurities alone at the pit knowing that you will be exposed later when people gather to eat it. There is a deep and addictive romance in that struggle. Therapy through fire. Barbecue is beautiful because it is a labor of love.