Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Pomegranate Munching as Metaphor for Life

Epiphany this morning at the breakfast table: Good primate that I am, I love to greedily slurp up the exquisitely, translucently juicy ruby arils of the bejeweled pomegranate. As I chew the seeds, my tongue is splashed by short bursts of cool, tart-sweet juice and my teeth crunch the crisp seeds. As I eat, I wish that the juicy sweetness of the pomegranate's nectar would last forever. But the truth is that it's gone as soon as I swallow and the only way I can make it last is to keep sucking the sweet seeds off the bitter white pith as fast as I can.

This is like life - if you don't pay attention to what's happening, it's gone forever, only a memory. You can crave or anticipate more of life's sweetness but the only thing that you'll ever really have is the thrill of the "ride" at the exact moment that it is happening - then, it's done, gone, finis.

Remember this the next time you scrub the toilet!