Strawberries are an iconic fruit. You can eat them by themselves, add them to pastries and cakes, blend them in a smoothie, enjoy them in ice cream, and more. Not only are they a multipurpose fruit, they also have incredible health benefits. They have high levels of vitamin C and contain plenty of great antioxidants. The antioxidants found in strawberries are known to reduce the risks of serious health conditions including cancer, diabetes, strokes, and heart disease. Along with these physical benefits of strawberries, there is also one strawberry related thing that I hold close to my heart. That “thing” being, “Strawberry Moments.”
The term, “Strawberry Moment,” was introduced to me by my lifelong best friend, Harper Jose. She coined the term from a summer camp she’s both attended and worked at, called Camp Crystal Lake.
The story goes that in a village not too far from where Camp Crystal Lake now stands, there lived a young girl going by the name of “Little Dove.” In the village, there was a medicine woman who’s time was now coming to an end. She knew that she needed to find someone worthy enough to take her spot in the village. As her time grew near, she called upon Little Dove to become the village’s next medicine woman. She knew that Little Dove had to prove herself to be strong, caring, resilient, and skilled enough to follow in her footsteps.
In order to prove her worthiness, she ordered Little Dove to complete the most complicated and complex recipe. Little Dove was determined and knew that it was her calling to serve the community just as the medicine woman had for many years. So, the medicine woman gave Little Dove the recipe, and Little Dove set off on foot to find the ingredients.
After a couple days of searching, she had collected nearly every ingredient to complete the recipe. She was just missing one – that ingredient being red lichen, an incredibly rare find. After searching for days, Little Dove came upon a tree where she finally saw the vibrant red color of the lichen.
She excitedly ran to the tree and began to shave the red lichen off of its bark. But as she did, a loud crack split the air, and she turned to face a foaming, rabid panther. She ran, but quickly found herself backed up against a cliff. With no escape, Little Dove slipped, landing on a small ledge just below the edge of the cliff. The panther’s claws scraped the wall above her. With a great amount of chaos surrounding her, Little Dove felt entirely trapped. As she observed her surroundings, she looked for a way out that wouldn’t lead to her demise. It was then that she saw a vibrant green. She followed the green with her eyes and hands, thinking that it maybe could lead her to a way out of her situation.
Instead, the green led to the largest, juiciest strawberry she had ever seen. It was plump and strikingly red. She reached out with her last bit of strength to pluck it from it’s vine. She held the strawberry in her hands and took a big bite. She became so completely consumed by the flavors and the appearance of this strawberry that she entirely zoned out the chaos of her situation. She continued to eat the strawberry, enjoying each bite entirely. She enjoyed this strawberry so much, that she even ate the leaves of it.
As she finished eating this strawberry, she snapped back to reality and noticed that the panther was no longer clawing down at her. She looked down the cliff and realized that the panther had fallen to its death. Breathing a sigh of relief, Little Dove climbed back up the cliff and returned to the village. She shared her story with the medicine woman, realizing that in her moment of fear, focusing on something beautiful had brought her a feeling of peace. The medicine woman, knowing Little Dove was now ready, peacefully passed away, leaving her role to the girl. Little Dove became the new medicine woman, wise in both the craft of medicine and the lessons of life.
Now, not every strawberry moment has to happen in a time of extreme chaos as it did for Little Dove. It can simply be a moment in your day-to-day life where you find yourself just fully appreciating the beauty in something you experience with your mind entirely focused on it. I find that most of my strawberry moments happen in nature. One moment that will forever be engrained in my heart is from this last summer. I was laying on on a dock with some friends who I rarely get to see on a day-to-day basis. Above us, was a star filled sky and “Lady May” by Tyler Childers was playing through a speaker. We all were singing along as a few shooting stars passed us by. My mind was entirely present, I have never felt so fully involved in a moment like that. I can still think back and remember exactly how that moment felt. Honestly, whenever I find myself feeling overwhelmed or anxious, I think back to that memory to calm myself down.
I feel very lucky to be able to recall many more strawberry moments similar to the one I just described. It is very rare within the fast paced world we live in to be able to be fully present in a moment. Most of the time, our heads are clouded with overwhelming thoughts that make it hard to only focus on your current surroundings. It can sometimes feel like you are running on a hamster wheel, always rushing from one thing to the next, and never having enough time to slow down and enjoy life.
