Jelly Bean Courage

It’s that time of year again, jelly bean season. I had access to a giant jar this week and felt my heart leap at first site of the assortment. I scooped a spoon into the jar and filled a bowl with as many beans as it could hold. I nibbled the rest of the day on these tiny morsels, and actually had to spit a couple out.

I found myself picking out the ones where I could guess the flavor – yellow for lemon, red for cherry or cinnamon, or maybe blue for blueberry. Slowly the bowl dwindled down to the less identifiable ones. As I tasted each one I worked to remember the color combination in case I didn’t like it, so I would know which colors to avoid in the future. I finally got the bowl down to the ones I feared; the ones that were likely to taste like foods I do not care to eat. I took courage and popped a white one into my mouth, after one bite it went into the trash can – coconut, bleck! I do not like coconut. After that unwanted flavor was in my mouth I had to find something else to consume to cleanse my palate. I chose a strange blue one and still can’t figure out what it was…but it was better than coconut.

Such beautiful colors that yield wonderful and terrible flavors all in the same bowl. I had buttered popcorn, kettle corn, and a tangy key lime like one. It was an adventure every time I picked one up; hoping and wondering if I would experience a flavor I wanted or one I detested. Instead of stopping I found myself mildly obsessed with eating and identifying each and every flavor in the bowl. At the end my bowl was left with only white and close to white ones, and I guessed this was about as far as I was willing to test my tastebuds while still in a public space.

On my drive home I thought about how adventurous I was with a simple thing like jelly beans, and how boring I seem to be about so many other things. I mean boring in that I do and eat and go to the same places over and over and over, simply because I know what I will get. The knowing and reliability of these things, places, and foods makes life less stressful. It is comforting and somehow makes the overall chaos of the world a bit more bearable. And let’s face it, maybe a bit boring. Yet I do it all the time. Then a little thing like a jelly bean revs my engine and starts my adventurous motor. Maybe it is the colors, or the size, or the temptation that you may love it or hate it and you have to be willing to take the risk? Whatever it is, the courage these little shots of sugar provide is amazing, frightening and wonderful all at the same time.

So today I hope you will have jelly bean courage. I hope you will find something new to dare, new to taste, new to try and be willing to love it or hate it. Just be willing to take the risk and enjoy the fun.