What is “Eat The Strawberry?”
This is a publication written by Faolan Sugarman-Lash, author and life coach, and is based on the following Buddhist Koan (story):
“Once upon a time, a monk was walking through a field when he saw a tiger stalking him. He turned to run, noting that the tiger sprang after him.
The monk ran as hard as he could, arriving at a steep drop-off. Without thinking, he leapt off the cliff and grabbed onto a hanging vine.
Hanging from the root, the monk looked down, preparing to drop, only to see another tiger waiting for him below! Then, two small mice, one black and one white, emerged from a crack in the cliff and began to chew on the vine.
The man looked around and noticed a plump and juicy strawberry growing from the earth near his vine. He reached out and ate it.
It was absolutely scrumptious. The End.”
As with many stories there are various ways to interpret this. For me, when my mentor told it to me, I was deep in the eddies of grief and darkness. It showed me light by reminding me to look at life with levity and to grab the moments of joy while they’re here. Despite being caught between past birth and inevitable death (the tigers), and despite the ticking clock of time (the mice), we get to enjoy our lives (by eating the strawberry)!
If you, like me, sometimes forget to reach out and grab life by the balls, and make time to eat the juicy goodness of strawberries, then this is a blog for you. These blogs will be about my journey to more often A). notice the strawberries around me, B). actually reach out to get them, and C). enjoy the dripping sticky juices of each one.
The blogs will be stories as I travel the world, theories about how to Eat The Strawberry with fervor, zeal, and enthusiasm, and musings on how to live a full, vibrant, and joyful life.
For me, this story started a quest to focus on the gift of each moment, and despite the darkness, to reach out and Eat the Strawberry even though there’s no way out of life alive. Life is a death sandwich, and all we can do it eat it, so we might as well enjoy each bite.
Joyfully,
Faolan
