Strawberry reflections

Strawberries and Cream

We have been receiving many invitations to parties and at the same time have been issuing our own to friends and family. Some are about beginnings and others are about endings. All of them give me time to reflect on what we are celebrating and what getting together gives us. When you have downshifted, does it mean that fun is no longer available. Maybe not the way you knew it.

In his book, The Endorphin Effect, William Bloom tells us about strawberries, events and moments that we really savour and that produce the feel good factor in our bodies, the endorphins that help reduce pain and allow us to really feel pleasure.

William Bloom continues to tell us that we feel lonely, that we have limited our environment to be our bodies....that we have lost our ability to wonder.

You are not just a citizen of Blobsville.
The mass eneregy field of humanity is not your only environmnet. You are a creature of the earth, of nature and the universe. This is your true home.

No matter how terrible your situation, there will always be a strawberry, There is always something to connect you with the wonder and beauty of life.The occassional and tiny dose of your passion is better than none at all.

When we celebrate together, we feel a bond, we share the excitement, the hope, the completion, the tip of the mountain, the achievements of our family members, the endings and the beginnings. It is an opportunity to see, touch, feel and savour the strawberry and sometimes get a glimpse of theirs and share it.

This family is preparing to celebrate some achiements of its own and others :

• DS 1 has successfully been accepted with a scholarship to continue his education
• DS 2 is making a commitment to our church community and is being confirmed in his faith.
• DH is celebrating a birthday, and as his health has been challenged for years this is a big thing for us.
• We are attending the Baptism of the first granddaughter in my DH’s family for 2 generations.
• I am completing my educational training as counsellor in a few weeks.
• We are celebrating the courage and acceptance of a friend who was sent to prison and has now completed his duty to society.

Not many of these require ‘ money’ to celebrate although quite often that is what people do to celebrate things and have big parties.
In the past we would have had big parties, lavish food in order to show our monetary wealth. This time though in organising a party for my son, family and friends have been invited to bring a potluck supper to share after the celebration. This works on many fronts, it shows my son that his community values him as much as his family, it also minimises waste and washing up , we work together as a team and will not take away the special strawberries for any of us. Most importantly, there is no limit on the amount of people that attend as there is no limit in our budget.

Its a busy time.