I have been out strawberry picking a lot lately. I usually don't take my telephone with so I get to actually think about what I am doing. And overthink it as I go. I found the strawberry picking to be a relaxing task so and lot of really interesting conclusions came to my mind. The whole idea of #strawberryweek actually came to me the day I planned out this post. I was thinking of all the things I could do with so many strawberries. Well, writing was one of them.
My mother in law takes care of the garden and she asked me to harvest the strawberries because there were a lot of them in the last few weeks. When you first come to the part where they grow, a tiny strawberry field, you can maybe see one or two on the margins but mostly you just see the leaves. But when you come closer and start moving the leaves you start to realise there is really a lot more here than just the greenery.
It's similar in life. You don't see all the beauty, possibilities or interesting stuff at first glance. You have to move a leaf or two: Get to know the person, keep that job, wait for the kids to grow up...there is the old saying: Never judge a book by its cover.
When you move the leaves you start to see the juicy strawberries. And lots of them. And as you get through the field you will start noticing that there are also tons of tiny white strawberries and white strawberry flowers. You don't actually notice them at first because you just focus on the ripe ones. This can be a sword with two blades...many opportunities come from bad or pass us by because we don't notice them. On the other hand, focusing on the good can mean ignoring the bad and distracting stuff that grows on your path and getting to your goal or grow your success faster.
Strawberry picking is a touchy job. You have to do it carefully or you can do more damage than good. When you start it can be easy to forget yourself and start picking stuff without thinking. And then you can crush the berry or you can pick the flower and ruin a future strawberry. The same is in life. Always rushing and doing things automatically without thinking about them just because we've done them many times before. By rushing things we can both ruin what we are doing or miss a future opportunity. Mindfulness seems like lost skill nowadays.
...or to be perfect. This is, as you see a perfectly unperfect...perfect strawberry that is just as tasty as the others. We suffer from this ideal of beauty we tend to put ourselves, and others, in. We are quick to deem the imperfect unworthy of attention and not as useful as other folks, or strawberries for that matter if they do not fit that mould. But once you shatter that narrow lens of judgment that is put upon us by modern society, you can start seeing the world for its true beauty. For its richness in diversity. To be honest, the social standards of beauty are ever changing but the tendency of the society to judge us all through the lenses that seem to be current at the time, no matter if it's ancient Greece, 16th century or 1920., stays the same. But it is really worth freeing yourself from that. Seeing the beauty in blindness, cerebral paralysis, in fatness, in lack of limbs. Seeing the beauty in shortness and tallness. In freckles and white skin with dark circles around the eyes. In chemo and in face masks. In black, white, yellow, red and all the shades in between. The world is so much more colourful than the dull paint one-dimensional on magazine covers.
In one part of the strawberry patch of the garden, there is mint growing. The smell of mint and strawberry together is indescribable. It's magical. If you ever had the chance to experience it, you know what I'm writing about if not, get yourself some mint and plant it in your strawberries. It goes the same in life. Other folks, whether in a workplace, friendships or romantic relationships when the right person comes they can make us better. Create better, act better, be the best versions of our selves. Or sometimes the things we produce together is magic. It reminds me of the Civil Wars duo. As individuals, they were good musicians but as a collaborating duo, they just produced some next level magic.
Some of the strawberries I came across had some dust, dirt or spider webs on them. But they were still perfectly good underneath that. The same can be applied in life. Sometimes we come across people who may not be polished or may be a bit stinky or may not use the smartest words or are maybe webbed with depression and melancholy but if we give them a chance we might be pleasantly surprised. The unpolished folks may just be the diamond in the rough that needed a helping hand to shine. Our kindness may just be the rain that washes the stink out. We just might have the most intelligent conversations with the simplest of words. Our helping hands can also help the person get untangled from the depression web. Give all people a chance.
When the strawberries just start and there are just one or two ripe ones a day my mother in law gives them a helping hand with a tiny jar so my kids could have more strawberries each day. They ripe faster and grow a bit bigger. You know how exciting the start of the strawberry season is, right? The same is true in life. Sometimes the right course, the right school, the right organisation, the right collective or the right work environment can be the boost we need to reach our fullest potential. That can be even true for the Steemit community. We might have a potential in networking, currency trading, blogging or other forms of content creating and a loving and supportive environment is all we need to flourish.
Some strawberries look like ones from supermarket flyers and cookbooks. Like the ones from fabric paters and artistic paintings. Other ones don't. They are maybe a fifth of a size of a standard strawberry. But they still do count. All of them, the big and the small, account for the most delicious jams and refreshing ice creams. Sometimes the volume of the small nice things trumps the volume of the big ones and if we are laser-focused only on the next big promotion or the next big adventuure or even the next big 
My mother in law always emphasises the importance of cleaning out the bad strawberries. If you don't clean out the bad ones out of the field they will soon spread mould on the healthy ones and even the plant itself. The same goes for life. Bad thoughts and insecurities can ruin our plans easily. It's especially true for folks with anxiety, like myself. I can prepare and research and be all pumped up about something and then, out of the blue, to my mind comes to the one thing that can go wrong. If I don't brush it off it can spread easily to another and then to another and take me to a dark place. Or I can be in a great mood and then I remember something stupid I did ten years ago and become so bummed about it. So it's essential for me to shut those thoughts out as soon as they come. And it's not just that the negative affects us but our mood can affect the ones around us as well. So don't let the bad spread.
There is a blank spot in the middle of the field where the strawberry bushes have not yet spread. So when I single out the bad strawberry I out there. When it decomposes and the seeds get into the ground. And hopefully, next spring a strawberry sprout will start growing there and eventually fill out the blank spot. So something good will come out of the bad. I've mentioned the insecurities and the bad thoughts in the paragraph above. Well as it is with most bad things they can be used for something good. It's a matter of perspective. Not every time, of course, but often enough. The insecurities about my knowledge, writing or abilities can be turned from fears to challenges. I'll challenge my self to, say, public speaking or regular posting despite my fears. Everybody is afraid I think. But the courage is in doing things in spite that fear not the lack of fear itself. And the bad thoughts? The memories and overthinking of mistakes made? Wishing you could change the past? Well, you can't. But what you can do is see what you did wrong an learn from it. Grow from it. Like the new strawberry plants from the rotten strawberry.
Some things in life you just can't rush. reading a good book. Painting a masterpiece. Building a good quality house. Baking a nice loaf of bread. Birthing a baby. Growing a juicy strawberry. Patience is truly a virtue and one that can improve your quality of life. Being patient in lines is a special virtue in Croatia. The line at the doctors. In the supermarket. In any and all public services in Croatia. You are doomed on internal waiting. So being patient can spare you lots of unnecessary stress. And in the end, being patient can bring you great rewards. Such as big juicy strawberries.
Do you like strawberries or are you one of those, in my free estimation two people in the world, who don't like them? What memories do you have that are tied to strawberries? I'd love to hear from you!
Stay tuned for all things Strawberry, you might be surprised what comes out of it. If you have anything Strawberry I missed out on, link it or if you plan on doing anything use a #strawberryweek hashtag so I can find you. Buckle up...here we go!
Check out my other #strawberryweek posts:
Strawberry Week Intro
Strawberry
Strawberry #happday
Wild Strawberry
Strawberry Art
