I went out to lunch today with one of my friends at our favorite chinese/thai/sushi/noodle place. I was enjoying a giant vat of lava like thai soup, which is my favorite, while she chowed down on a plate of sushi. It was a fairly typical lunch for us. We bitched about work, talked about faire, contemplated life in general, all while enjoying our tasty tasty lunch.
Well I can say my lunch was tasty because it is, and I eat it probably once every couple of weeks. Her sushi is another issue entirely. I do not eat fish, and have never in my life eaten sushi of any variety. Trust me when I say I do not like fish, I have tried the "good stuff" and keep trying to see if my tastes have changed, but inevitably I always hate it.
So as we were finishing our lunch and pondering wondering over to the bubble tea place for a smoothie, she offered me one of her avocado rolls which she had not finished. Now I like avocado and I like rice so in theory there should not be any reason I would not like this. I was skeptical though. I mean there is seaweed involved right? That just has never sounded appetizing.
I wanted to politely decline the offer and be happy with never attempting anything in this particular little food world. Then I remembered my New Orleans trip last year when I was so brave. I tried everything the husbeast ate, even the seafood, and I was surprised that I actually liked some of it. Besides it is not like a little avocado and rice was going to kill me. If I didn't like it I had a napkin, a glass of water, and more soup to wash away the taste.
I grabbed the chop sticks, dipped the little rice ball in some soy and wasabi, and popped the sucker in my mouth. You know what? It was actually pretty tasty. It was tasty enough that I ate another piece. It was tasty enough that I would eat it again.
Now this was not the most adventurous thing in the universe, far from it in fact. It was however a step outside my comfort zone. I knew I liked all the components, I was just leery about the application, which is just stupid.
There is absolutely no reason that I shouldn't try everything that I get the opportunity to try. What is the worst thing that could happen? I don't like it and I move on to the next thing. At best I could find something I truly love and might have otherwise missed out on.
Sometimes I have to remind myself to be brave. I have to remember that trying new things is scary but good. Stagnation is bad. Growth is good. I must keep growing. We all must keep growing, and tasting, and living as much as we can.
It starts with an avocado roll, who knows where it will end.
My big thing right now is getting up the guts to send my work out there. I've never done it before and it's scary to think about people tearing it apart and telling me why I suck (because let's be real, that's what sticks out), but there you go.. Food, however, is not a frontier I am interested in, seeing as how I hate 9/10 food stuffs =P
ReplyDeleteAlthough now I have to go into Japanese-resident mode and mention that not all sushi has fish in it =P (raw fish is called sashimi). Common mistake in America because we suck at importing things. Sushi is defined by the vinegar rice. (Which is awful, imo =P right up there with with most Japanese food. How did I not starve to death??)
I am foodie all the way, so food is always a big thing for me, though I tend to be conservative about what I eat, which is just dumb.
ReplyDeleteI know not all Sushi has fish in it, and I have always known that. It just always seems unappealing to me. I think in some way it is me denying my own culture or heritage or something like that (I am 1/4 Japanese and first born in America, but I don't talk to that part of the family).
I am hoping my bravery with food can extend elsewhere. I have thus far in my life sent one piece of writing in, and it was terrifying. It did not turn out altogether in a positive light, but after I did it,I felt remarkably free. No regrets. Now I just have to do that more.