The Desert vs Dessert
Web photo by: Pranjall Kumar@pranjallk1995
Hello my Tuss, I have so much to tell you all. This Post-Pandemic, not back to any kind of normality, just needing a get-a-way kind of life of mine has been, whoewww… How can I say this? It’s been a fundamental eye opening, outright nerve-racking learning experience that I am going to try and explain. I’m a little hesitant because sometimes inquisitorial people may take things out of context. Don’t worry my tuss, I’m going to tell you anyway. I’m not sure where to start but the fourth day of my journey was by far, the best day!
I took this trip to California alone. I just wanted to clear my mind and taste a little bit of life in Cali. What an amazing time I had. I took long drives across the state, through the mountains and dessert land. I drove from one city to the next enjoying the view and the experience. I must tell you, and I cannot express this enough. Taking time out of your busy everyday life to care for yourself, is the best thing you can do for your mind, body and soul.
On the fourth day of my journey, I had two life changing experiences. One having to do with a dessert and the other having to do with the desert. I’m still figuring out which one was more enlightening but either way, the experiences have changed my life course.
Desert
As I was driving through Palm Desert, I had my windows down so I could feel the breeze and smell the air. The car AC usually aggravates my sinuses. So imagine, I’m driving and there’s nothing but mountains, sand, dust, and the road ahead. As the road twined in and around the mountain side, I came up on these windmills. I’ve seen windmills before, but not what seemed like thousands of them in one area. I remember thinking, “why do they need so many windmills in one desert area?” It didn’t make since at first.
“This girl can’t never just be ok with what it is… always looking for the why.”
So of course, I keep thinking about these windmills because for one, it was creeping me out. I’m on the open road driving through the desert, ain’t nobody around, (yes, I said ain’t) ain’t nobody around, I didn’t have but three bottles of water in my car and I wasn’t sure if my GPS was getting a good signal in them mountains. Secondly, because I just wanted to know why they had so many freaking windmills in one spot. That crap was crazy creepy. Needless to say, I sort of relaxed my mind by telling myself “Oh it’s the desert, they need more water pumped into the city, whatever.” I definitely stayed away from the thought of some alien space craft or something crazy being built out there underground.
Ok, so that was not the experience, but it is a part of the backdrop of the experience. Frankie Beverly “Golden Time of Day” is playing on Pandora. (Listen to the lyrics, you’ll get a better understanding of how I was grooving) I’m driving with my windows down. The sun is starting to set which made the desert sky bright orange with tents of yellow and gray. The Mountains began to reflect shadows across the land. The beauty and presence of something much greater than I could ever imagine was astonishingly right in front of me. It was surreal and in the back of my mind I was still thinking about all those windmills.
Suddenly, I could see the city lights from a distance. I knew I was getting close to my destination, so I started to relax a little bit. I could see where I was headed. I was almost there and if I needed to, I could walk. It was then, I had an epiphany. The windmills I had passed through was sending energy, water and life into a city which would otherwise have none. I had taken this journey for a different reason than what I had just understood to be true. This journey did in fact bring positive energy, living water and life back into my being. My entire aura had changed. I could feel it. Even my mind was clear of the fog I had landed in California with.
Can you imagine, traveling across the country and finding the answers to what you thought was so hard, in something so simple as a windmill?
Listen TUSS, I know I encouraged you to take a TUSS trip with other ladies but now I’m saying, “Try going solo.” You’ll never know what’s out there on the horizons for you until you do… The answer to my questions is not important for you. What is important, is that you take time for you. Find your answer and give yourself permission to have fun doing it.
Dessert
I have never been someone who gets all hyped up about dessert. Don’t get me wrong, I still get a sweet tooth every now and again. If you know me, you know I have always held a special place in my heart for Chocolate. And, if you know a little about chocolate, you will know the seed of the cacao tree, which is what it’s made from, have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor. When a food or drink is fermented, it causes a chemical change to it. It’s no longer the same, nor does it taste the same.
I say that to say, I know longer look at life the same.
It all started when a slice of chocolate cake was delivered to me all the way from long beach, CA. Now, I had no idea the random acts of my day would bring something so yummy to my attention. I had given up all types of chocolate for my own reasons. That’s my business and I’m not going to mention why, but I did. I gave up chocolate and I was fine with my decision. There was no reason for me to have a slice of rich, creamy chocolate cake…. That is, until the slice of chocolate cake arrived right in front of me, looking delicious as ever.
What is a woman to do? I tried to be a lady; I was not going to indulge myself with something so tempting. I knew the side effects of my cravings. If I have one slice and it was good, I’m going to return for more. All I could do was look at it, smile and tell myself “NOPE.” So I took it out on the patio and my intentions was just to look at it and maybe checkout the ingredients to see if I could have just a little taste.
The ingredients were boldly visible and although cake is usually sweet, I need to say this slice of cake was well seasoned. The more I removed the wrapping, the better I could see it must have been God’s own hands mixing and sculpting this dessert. I had never tasted anything like it. I was used to simple ingredients. It got me to thinking about my own individual life ingredients and what my key attributes are. I thought about all my successes and losses. I thought about the life I lived, and whether I was satisfied or wanted more. I thought about how people sometimes judge me, my life, or what I have done in life based on some weird societal scale. They have formed their opinion of who I am without really looking at all the elements of me. It’s not that I care or that I give value to the opinion of others about me, but I do care enough about who I am to consider “to some extent” what is being said about my character.
Once a friend told me “Each person has their own set of ingredients that form a personality”, and then went on to say, their “prejudices, likes and dislikes tend to hold my circle of friends to a handful. That is not due to flaws in anyone I encounter, but the output of my ingredients.” I thought “Wow, the understanding of one’s own ability to define character.” In other words, check the speck in your own eye first. Ask yourself, what energy do I exert outward into the atmosphere? What standards do my character reflect? What values do I stand for? The people in your circle should hold these same attributes.
I thought about all these things as I indulged a slice of chocolate cake, while listening to smooth jazz. I realized; I have some pretty awesome ingredients that I’m made of…. if I do say so myself! I left Cali feeling and seeing life in a new way. It was as if I, like the making of chocolate, had been fermented into this new woman. Forever changed by the collective experiences of my journey.
There must have been something in the cake. Now you’ll know California is legal and everybody knows what it means when somebody says a state is legal. It doesn’t have anything to do with this story, but I’m just saying, “there must have been something in the cake.”
I’m telling yawl, I only had a small taste of that chocolate cake, but it had a Huge impact. I’m not going to say it was the best piece of chocolate cake I’ve had in my life because I still have some living to do. But I can tell you, it was the best tasting chocolate I have had in a long time. So much so, I’m still thinking about it, and it makes me smile with delight.
Get you some Chocolate Cake and be Great! :)
Hey Tuss, what’s your Story?
Your comments are “Valid, Respected and Valuable”. Your opinion is welcome in the comment space below and I am looking forward to our conversations.