#113 | The end bit of the carrot
“Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, ‘I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming!‘” — How The Grinch Stole Christmas!, Dr Seuss
“Once we truly know that life is difficult — once we truly understand and accept it — then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.” ― M. Scott Peck
There's expectant energy when driving home for Christmas. The traffic is kinder, and there are presents, wrapped, peaking from the boots of the cars ahead. Using his hands to signal to us, Santa offers to clean our windscreen; he's careful not to drop his cigarette. The clouds part for a moment and Oxfordshire opens to us, revealing the Cotswolds, with the Cotswold stone houses that idle clustered in the distance.
In the car, Mont and I are eating whole carrots with hummus. Not festive but nourishing — easy to dip. The clouds, like sponges, wring themselves dry over us, and the traffic begins to slow. A row of brake lights ignite in front.
In a mild panic, needing both hands, I eat the end bit of the carrot, the brown bit, and continue driving. I've never done that before — eat the end bit, that is — and I was gently surprised. It tasted like a regular carrot. It was fine. Even hours later, I showed no symptoms.
For 28 years, I've been avoiding the final eight per cent of the carrot. What a waste.
What else in our lives is the proverbial end to the carrot? — this Christmas, what do you need to bite into; what conversations could you have? It may not be quite as bad as you’ve always feared.
My week in books
The Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby. This book is subtitled DNA and the Origins of Knowledge, and it puts the ambitious case that when we trip on mushrooms, and we enter into an alternative state of consciousness, we, in some way, receive visions offered to us by DNA. In 3.95 billion years, DNA has not changed, but life from which DNA is built has changed a lot: this is weird. Shouldn’t DNA have evolved too? Narby tries to square the cosmic circle, as it were. Fascinating.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Famous and deservedly so. The book is so widely quoted I will do the same: “A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live.”
Merry Christmas to you all; sending you so so much love. Thanks for joining me every week. This little email really is my highlight <3
Live well,
Hector