I wish I would have recorded the thoughts I had while I was opening the pomegranate and admiring its beauty. I will do my best to try and convey the thoughts I had. They made a profound impact on current perspectives and beliefs.
We tend to shy away from the pomegranate because we think it is too much work. We have always been told its too difficult to get into the fruit. We have been told its messy. We have been told that the health benefits are amazing but it's just too confusing, so we don't.
The same goes for our internal work.
People always quote Shrek regarding humans being like onions and having layers. I used to say the same thing, but I am flipping the script today.
While I do understand the perspective of the layers, I am starting to look at humans as more of a pomegranate. I am looking at the work we do on our healing journeys and in the shadows the same as well.
Everyone will have an opinion on what the best way is to extract the arils inside of the fruit but honestly, we just have to go with what we think will work best. I chose to cut off the top and score the fruit and take each little morsal out. It may be the longer way, but it gave me insight.
On the outside the pomegranate may look beat up. It may not look like much. It may even look weird to some, but what is inside is definitely far from ordinary.
I smiled as I made the first cut and saw the glistening red. My mouth started to water. The red juice flowed, and I knew this was going to be good.
As I started to peel apart the fruit I noticed how each little aril made its own little mark inside of the fruit's skin. They were hidden under thin layers of inside skin. It would so easy to miss one if you were taking your time and looking. There was more and more each time I looked. Just when I thought I found a pocket without any arils, I carefully moved the skin to revel more than I had found before.
This made me think about the abundance we have within us if we only we are willing to look a little more carefully. With each layer you pull away you find even more of the sweet and juicy arils. Just when we think we are done we find more.
This is the same as we do the work on ourselves. We set limits upon ourselves based on the opinions of society, family, and conditioning we have incurred. We stop digging. We stop being our juicy selves because we see ourselves as these limited beings when in actuality, we are limitless.
Peeling away each layer I did gently, while some layers required a little more pressure to revel the arils.
Even as careful as I was, I still missed a few, but I found them. I ended up with less of a mess than I expected and a delicious abundance of arils.
This is the same in the work that goes into becoming YOU and who you are at your core.
You never would have known the abundance encased in one piece of fruit. Hundreds of sweet and tart arils just waiting to be exposed, seen and enjoyed.
The moral of this story is to take the time to appreciate each part of yourself. Even those parts you see as flawed, less than, weird, dark etc.
Unpeel those layers to expose your juicy insides.
I promise there are people out there willing to help you and there are people willing to stand beside you as you find the little arils within you.
The more we dig the more we uncover and the more health benefits (mentally and physically) we will experience, just like with the arils of the pomegranate.
It's interesting how one little fruit, when you take the time, can revel so much.
Stay juicy. Keep creating alchemy. Be your weird self. Don't fear the darkness. Keep going.
~Lizzie
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