I recently completed sugar-free September. It’s not an official month, but I really needed a healthy re-set as I had been downing too much chocolate, lollies and the like. I’m happy to report that I did it 🙂
But of course, this did lead to a bit of daydreaming about chocolate, and which chocolate would be the first to be consumed after my sort-of-detox.** Which leads me to this post…
I would like to propose that culture is “like a box of chocolates” (I wonder if Forest Gump producers ever thought of profiting from the amount of times this cliche has been referred to since the movie….sorry, tangent).
Why do I propose such a delicious concept?
Of course there is the obvious explanation – a box of chocolates is full of different varieties and cultures are full of variety.
But here is where I really like the idea…
If you had never been introduced to chocolate before, and you tried one variety of chocolate (say, a plain milk chocolate), you could say you had an understanding of chocolate. BUT if you then try a different chocolate (say, a plain dark chocolate), you would still call it chocolate, but your understanding of what chocolate is will be expanded and, in my mind, improved for the better. As you try each different yummy morsel (white chocolate, chocolate fudge, chocolate filled with caramel, choc with various other flavours like strawberry, orange etc etc…salivating yet?), your idea of chocolate would continue to broaden. You would also discover things that you like, combinations that work, and maybe some that aren’t to your taste.
Now apply this to culture. As we experience different cultures, we learn that each is different. Yet each is ultimately similar, in that it is a way of life for a certain group of people. And just like the chocolate, we can learn so much from experiencing the differences. Our horizons will be broadened and we may learn about combinations that we enjoy and maybe even like to adopt or parts we want to explore further. Of course there may be parts we don’t enjoy as much or even dislike, but that just adds to the variety and the whole point- culture (and life) is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get but it is worth investigating!!! Don’t miss out on the itellectual delectables that come with exploring other cultures.
Yes, I did just combine two of my favourite things, culture and chocolate, in the one blog post – winning!
Ps. There is a festival of chocolate in Sydney this weekend-woohoo!
**In case you’re wondering, it was a homemade brownie, then some Cadbury caramello 🙂