Today I am participating in the Carnival of Breastfeeding. So after you read my super deep and meaningful ruminations here, check out what everyone had to say about combining breastfeeding and working.
A couple of weeks ago the kids and I went away to Bamfield, a remote village with a population of 250. During our visit we took a walk along the boardwalk and stopped in at the general store, which was much smaller than your average convenience store in my neighbourhood. This is not a big place, and so the local merchants do not carry a lot of goods. If you need groceries you order them and they come by boat a couple of times a week. I am sure that quantities of exotic cheese and grass-fed beef would go bad before anyone bought them in Bamfield.
But this general store does offer ice cream cones. And after schlepping my 20-pound toddler up and down the boardwalk in the baby carrier, I was ready for something sweet and cold. So we stopped in at the store on the way back for some ice cream. I walked to the back case with anticipation, and discovered they had only 4 flavours. And one of those flavours was ‘a little soft’ because it had just arrived in town. I admit it, I was sort of disappointed.
But here’s the thing. I happened to like all four flavours on offer. In fact, three of them are in the running for my favourite flavour ever, and I usually choose them even when I have 197 options. Really, it was no poverty to me that they didn’t have bubblegum or cotton candy or rum raisin, because I wouldn’t eat them anyway. Plus, having ice cream cones at all in a remote village in the off season is really quite the luxury in the first place.
Those four tubs just looked so forlorn in the ice cream case. Really, it was half-empty. And that’s not something I’m used to. So my first reaction was sort of negative. I just automatically thought, “Where is all the ice cream? Is this it?”
I think there’s some sort of metaphor for life in this. Looking at the ice cream case I realized that really I like the illusion of choice. Even if it doesn’t particularly benefit me, or all the options I would ever consider are available, I like thinking that I have limitless flavours to pick from. It makes me feel important or something, I guess. Like the world’s my oyster and the heavens are at my feet. But I’m not sure that it makes me happy, wanting all of these options that I will never use.
I think that happiness probably lies more in saying, “Oh, wow, they have moose tracks ice cream in Bamfield! I love moose tracks!” In appreciating what you have, instead of being sad about what you don’t. And so I forced myself to have an attitude adjustment. I bought my ice cream, and I liked it. I bought some for Hannah, and she liked it, too. I gave my empty cone to Jacob. He was thrilled. Really, no one lost out in this little exercise in treat acquisition.
What about you? Are you able to be happy for the ice cream cone, or do you sometimes get caught up in the choices (or lack of choices)? I’m sure I’m not the only spoiled suburbanite who expects a full ice cream case.
Hey, that would be a great homily, Amber!
Just what I need, another career idea.
Seriously, though, I am quite flattered that you think so. I appreciate your kind words.
Any amount of ice cream is good for me!
.-= abbie´s last post ..Fall on the Farm =-.
I’m sort of a plain vanilla girl, so I’m usually happy. Eve, however, has a frequent jones for triple tornado, so she may not quite have discovered the zen of ice cream yet.
.-= Allison´s last post ..*************Curdling the Milk of Human Kindness =-.
You are right it is so easy to get used to always having lots of options – whether you want them or not. Sometimes you forget to appreciate that you have anything at all. Only one flavour of ice is better than no ice cream at all.
What a deep observation. Congrats for recognizing that about yourself. I kinda like my choices limited in a lot of ways (four is slim pickings, but 197 would completely overwhelm me). I think that’s why I like thrift store shopping. I can find the “perfect” coloured sweater but I take my chances on whether it will be in my size.
And when I am camping, I have brought exactly enough food for the meals we will have, choices are limited to what needs to be eaten first, and there is something relaxing about that kind of certainty with meal preperation.
Then again, at the grocery store when it comes to produce, I don’t think anywhere has the vegetable selection I want to see! And the meat counter better have a good selection, cause I’m picky.
(Now I want icecream)
.-= *pol´s last post ..Hard Drives and Hard Cases =-.
Great analogy. I like having the choices but I guess its only because I’m use to it. I remember visiting family in Kitimat, BC. I was 16 at that time and my cousins took me to the movies. I was shocked when I saw that they only had one movie playing. The theatre rotates movies every two weeks. I found it crazy but my cousins were perfectly fine with it because that’s all they knew.
When my cousin visited the next year, she hated Montreal. “Too crazy, noisy and busy. No one has time to do anything, they are always in a rush”.
What’s better? I’m happy living in the big city but I might feel differently if I grew up in a small town.
.-= Maria @ Conversations with Moms´s last post ..How far would you go for a craving? =-.
I like choices too, maybe it’s because I like ice cream so much though. One of my favorite things to do is got to Baskin Robbins and read every single label, wondering if I would like it or not. Then I get the same thing I get everytime (After sampling a couple of course). My dad lives in Alert Bay. Not quite as remote as Bamfield but still pretty remote. They usually only have 6 flavours of ice cream. But I survive.
.-= Melodie´s last post ..My Double Debut! =-.
What a great metaphor for all the crazy choices we have competing for our attention! As for ice-cream, I’m easy: chocolate. Plain chocolate. On a cone. That I, too, dutifully give to my youngest monkey.
I like to think that I’m low-maintenance, and for the most part I prefer fewer choices over many…as long as they are good choices. Like with olive oil and coffee. I don’t need many to choose from with either of those…as long as they are the best.
Fabric & yarn however…I prefer many square feet of choices for those
.-= Michelle´s last post ..Backyard Snacking…the Taste Test =-.
I remember reading a study where they put a table with three types of free jam samples in a supermarket, and afterwards, they had a notable uptick in sales. They tried it again, this time with twelve different flavors of jam, and far few people bought any – there too many choices.
I see that happen in real life all the time. Too many options can be paralyzing!
.-= Lady M´s last post ..The Mythos Lives On =-.
I once travelled throughout South America for several months, and lived out of a backpack. When I got back to my (small) closet, all I remember is feeling overwhelmed by stuff, and unable to make a choice. I sometimes feel the same now, after living for years in a village with no ice cream cones.
.-= Francesca´s last post ..Crochet fusion =-.
I would have been disappointed too. I think half the fun of getting ice cream is seeing a display a couple yards wide, not only because of the choices though. For me, I suspect it’s about visual stimulation. I like bright colors. When selecting waterproof diaper covers for my daughter, I was thrilled to see that they (Thirsties) came in so many colors–even though hardly anyone sees them. Also, in a shop, it improves the atmosphere if people think there are mounds of products to be had. When I was a kid my parents took me to a candy shop where there were huge barrels that appeared to be filled completely with candy. They weren’t really. There was a false bottom only a few inches from the top. It was disappointing when I realized this, even though my parents were only ever going to buy me a small bag of candy. Another example is brides who want the presence of a huge wedding cake but don’t need that many servings, so they make the bottom layer out of styrofoam. I think we are addicted to the illusion of extravagance.
.-= Jenny´s last post ..Ivey’s diapers =-.