I am up in glorious Byron Bay on the east coast of Australia preparing for our Retreat, studying tea, spending so much time with friends, writing and literally living the dream. Part of the fun of being here is that we come all the time so we know it inside out yet there’s always something new to discover. My last trip, I came across these ice cream bars at the health food store that I lost it over. No sugar, no wheat, no dairy and yet the tastiest choco mint coconut cream ice cream dream I have ever tasted. They’re not cheap, but I couldn’t help myself and ate as many as I could whenever we passed the health food store.
Yesterday, I was at the same health food store, saw them again having forgotten about them and snuffling a squeal of delight I bought one. Savouring the icy cold delight in the beating down sun, I started hatching plans as to how this awesome Byron Bay company could get these ice cream bars down to Sydney. They’ll be HUGE I thought! And I will be able to eat them all the time, I also thought with glee. I had to pause and check myself. Because part of the pleasure is not being able to have it all the time. And yet we have become pleasure-seeking machines, constantly trying to get our next hit, one hormone high at a time. A lot of the joy of this little sweet treat was that I couldn’t have it at home, so trying to orchestrate that and rob myself of a holiday experience seemed suddenly mad.
Back when my parents were young, ‘treats’ were a rare thing. Accessing lollies and sweets was only through one store in town. Eating a chicken was something that was savoured only on a Sunday as they were hard to get and expensive, and a whole family of 5-6 would enjoy one small chicken. Now we can drive down the street eating buckets of the stuff as a snack.
Within this frenzy of satisfaction, are we losing our ability to savour special moments? Are we appreciative of the joy that comes from waiting? Or are we furious when our new purchase isn’t delivered within 24 hours to our front door without us even having left the house?
How we approach pleasure and run from pain and waiting, is something that could really do with addressing. And that little cold creamy bar was a reminder for me to do just that.
Sent with love,
Jac x