The deliciousness of contrast
The Law of Attraction says we come into the world to have experiences, give birth to new desires and expand the universe. There’s nothing better than contrast to highlight what we love by showing us what we don’t. In the buffet of life, I started at the vegetable station, tasted brussel sprouts and gagged. I don’t waste time on brussel sprouts anymore knowing that I’m happier hanging out with string beans.
The experience of contrast can be painful and unpleasant. Illness unleashes a desire for well-being and we chooses jobs, relationships and health regimes only to find the job boring, the relationship abusive and the health regime ineffective. If we are wise we will let this information inform our next decisions by pointing us in the direction of what we love so we can choose anew.
But, it’s not always about choosing one thing or the other. It’s about loving the contrast and delighting in the myriad tastes and experiences available always and everywhere.
En route to a friends house, I made a quick stop at Food Center because I was hungry. I chose one very green granny smith apple and a bag of home made pretzels. At my friends, I created an hors d’oeuvre plate – slices of apple and pieces of crisp, salty thick pretzel. We each bit a piece of each and looked at each other with a WOW. The tart sweetness of the granny smith was driven crazy by the crisp, saltiness of the pretzel. We started musing about other combos that embody the pure deliciousness of contrast.
1. The walrus-like joy of basking in the warm sun and feeling a cool breeze blowing by
2. Hot fudge Sundaes –
2. Hot and sour soup
3. Curry and mango chutney
4. Baked Alaska (akin to the hot fudge Sunday but in a class all by itself)
5. Wasabi and ginger
6. Heat on in the car with cold air blowing in your face (kind of like the sun and wind
7. Your suggestions here.
The best part is when each of the pair is distinct and totally itself in that initial burst of contrasting flavors (and sensations). What makes for magic and steals the show isn’t the apple OR the pretzel but APPLE + PRETZEL = THE DELICIOUSNESS OF CONTRAST
In a relationship – her spiciness enlivens his solidity and together their dance is about lightness and stability. Her love of planning allows his spontaneous nature to have places to stay each night. His extroversion may be over the top and point her in the direction of a more introverted partner and a business team is best built of contrasting personality types. Crowded conditions may lead us to creating rooms of our owns and places of peace. Opposites like Ying and Yang are two parts of a whole: inside and out, happiness and sadness, hot and cold, light and dark, peace and confusion, noise and silence, love and fear, sweet and sour, wet and dry. Contrast helps us define, describe and create worlds.
When I appreciate contrast and stop judging things good or bad, acceptable or unacceptable, I live in a beautiful kaleidoscope of shifting pieces, patterns and possibilities. I may prefer one over another, be drawn to this or that, like red better than blue but I know it is all bounty. Every experience comes bearing gifts, one of which is always a lesson in the deliciousness of contrast.
May we all come to appreciate the sea of flavors in which we swim, learn from them all and be nourished, inside and out.
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