Chocolate

This piece was prompted by my choosing the word “chocolate” from a word hoard we created – in itself an interesting exercise in eliminating the ‘editor’ that so usually moderates the connection between our first thought and what we choose to communicate. For some reason the exercise reminded me of Wittgenstein’s concept of ‘underthought’.

Chocolate

She won’t be thinking of chocolate right now, far too many other pressures and demands. It turns out to have been a greater present than I could have ever thought, bringing so many people (as well as so few) together in a melee of warm, moist, smelly, edible fun. The tables draped for protection, the carpeted floor covered, everyone provided with their own protective cocoon against the delightful mess. It started well, they worked together – mother and daughter finally in symbiosis; each knowing their roles yet helping each other. Brought together by a singular love.

The life intervened. What could have been a luscious future was torn apart in a single short conversation – he wasn’t bothered about customers, only to make money. Trust broken, relationship ended, thankfulness or thoughtfulness absent.

What’s to learn? Don’t rely on others, they risk letting you down? Look after your own needs yet be both in dependent and inter-dependent? It starts with love, then work follows on, then love wins out in the end.

So here is to chocolate making, life’s lessons enrobed in a crisp, dark, sensuous skin. Look beneath the skin, there is always something interesting once you break the surface. Break your own skin, encourage others to break theirs – you cannot find their fillings for them but you can help them. Sweet or spicy, coffee or crisp, milk or plain, we are all different.