Monday, February 28, 2011

Art Appreciation

When I was a kid, I always hated tomatoes.
Texture.  Flavor.  Gross.


One day, when I was a teen, I was reading in a food magazine about tomatoes.
I read that for most people it is an acquired taste.
A tomato is something that can grow on you, like coffee or wine.
I decided then that I would try to learn the love of tomatoes.
For my first lesson, I went down to the farmer's market & bought a tomato.
I sliced it up, salted & peppered it.
I think I had this friend with me for encouragement.  She had good taste in food.
I ate it.
And, I loved it.
Lesson learned.
I still love them.

 Really, there were a lot of other things I disliked as a kid.
I was proud to have very specific tastes.
Like, somehow it made me really special to hate so many things.
I only thought dark brown hair was attractive (some self love there?).
I only liked a few flowers.  The rest were kind of "ugly".

And then, I guess I started to grow up a little bit.
Really?  A lily is ugly?

Maybe it was my (sinful) pride,
declaring a good portion of God's creation as not good enough for me.
It would glorify God to appreciate His handy work,
and it would bring me more enjoyment, too.

You know what?
Once I started looking to see what was beautiful,
instead of what was faulty, it wasn't that hard to appreciate more things.
I love seeing so much beauty.
It is everywhere.
There is nothing wrong with acquiring a taste for something (or someone).
Sometimes we just have to let go of our pride.

Maybe that means learning to get along with someone
who really grates on you
(& it seems so hard to see the good).
Maybe it means learning to be attracted to someone who looks different.
(That could include adopting a child who looks different
than you may have imagined your child would look.)
Or it may mean just embracing where God has you right now with contentment,
while you learn to see the beauty in it.

Have you ever seen attraction grow?
What have learned to see beauty in?

4 comments:

Stef said...

I remember when my Mom made her spaghetti sauce, several of the Lutz kids would sit there and sift through it, asking her what each ingredient was :)
Some of Ethan and Rachel's friends do the same thing... I think its pretty typical of young kids.
Tomatos are super yummy AND good for you. I'm glad you like them now!

Nicola said...

Erin, I guess tomatoes are still the thing I can't do. I keep trying, garden, market etc.. but it's still something I don't enjoy. I enjoy them cooked in stew, soup etc... but not raw.
Dark chocolate is something that I hated as a kid, but now I find great enjoyment in the bitter with a hint of sweet.

Erin said...

Hey! We can't love everything! :) The main point is not tomatoes. That's just an illustration. No judgement on those who don't like them.
Stef - did we do that? My Mom loaded her sauce with veggies. I think way more than your Mama's. Funny.

Stephanie said...

I often joke with Tim about all of the things he THOUGHT he didn't like when we first got married. He was convinced that he didn't like sweet potatoes, blue cheese dressing, cheesecake, and carrot cake...but now he loves all of those things.

To be fair, I told him that I didn't like steak or brownies when we first started dating. Now? That sounds like a perfect meal!

stephanie@metropolitanmama.net