A Bowl Full of Cherries

A bowl full of cherries...
In the movie "War," after Miss Strapford segregates the classroom, under false pretenses, and instructs them to describe how life is like a bowl full of cherries. Elvadine responds. She spells it out for Miss Strapford who hasn't an ounce of understanding. The contrast between Miss Strapford's life and the young girl's life is palpable. Following Elvadine's 'dissertation' is a trip to the principal's office. On many levels, I understand Elvadine's response.
I was involved in a work-related retreat. The setting was lovely. One of the best. And yet, I was tangled up like Christmas lights with the details of event management. I feel the angst of event management because, at the core, I'm less than organized and long for more stimulating roles. Covering repetitive, mundane, detailed tasks takes every ounce of my energy. In the tangled moment, I recalled the movie scene and sarcastically thought, "Yeh, my life Sure is like a bowl full of cherries." And yet, I continue what I do because I care about the work and care about people. It's part of playing on a team--a small team with many bases to cover.
At the end of the first day of the retreat, sessions over, and evening events in order, I celebrated by hitting the trails with my camera in hand. I reconnected later to enjoy an evening under the stars and succumbed to the hypnotic firepit. The best conversations spark around an open fire. It was midnight before I heard the last tale from Shelly, a natural-born storyteller, with plenty of entertaining material from her extended family. Everyone has that one family member--Shelly has a Cajun cousin...
Life in the moment, chatting by a warm fire under a twinkling sky, wasn't a bowl full of cherries, it was much more. I almost look forward to the next event; I definitely look forward to Shelly's next tale.

~ LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran


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