Sunday Scribblings: Chocolate
This week’s Sunday Scribblings prompt is chocolate. I feel like I needed to find inspiration to write by consuming some chocolate during the process of writing this prompt.
There is a song I used to sing in the choir at school called “Chocolate”, and as I’m writing this, the song is slowly coming back to me. Echoes of “In a sauce or in a shake, or in German chocolate cake..” has been haunting this writing exercise, begging me to consume yummy chocolatey goodness. Who am I to resist? I opted for a writing companion of Reese’s miniature cups.
There’s something magical about chocolates. When one is trying to keep warm when the weather outside is frightful, a steaming hot cup of cocoa will do just the trick. When one feels blue and the weather inside turns frightful, somehow chocolate can make one just that much brighter. When one wants to woo someone they are attracted to, one buys chocolate. When one forgot birthdays or Valentine’s Day and don’t have the time or the aesthetic creativity for flower arrangements, chocolates are your friend. While the ingredients are simple and void of magical spells or pixie dust, somehow the effect seems almost like sorcery.
Chocolate is comfort. Like a friend when one’s friend seems to be drifting away. Chocolate is safe. It won’t disappoint. Chocolate is dependable.
No wonder some people develop eating disorders.
Chocolate, however, is a placeholder. It might not be chocolate. It might be coffee or video games or the excitement of new relationships. It might be a good book. It might be the dark chasm of Netflix. It might be alcohol. We all have things in our lives we use to cope and forget. Or use in an attempt to give us a little bit more comfort.
Comfort is never bad, but sometimes it can be deceitful. Not the kind of lie we tell others, but the kind of lies we tell ourselves. Lies so well crafted we believe that the comfortable lie is real.
But you and I know that we’ll still need to face reality, right?
Open your eyes, pick up your sword, and slay the dragon, my friend. A bar of chocolate in your other hand is more than acceptable. It’s highly recommended. But just slay that dragon.
May 17, 2020
