One man's treasure...

*GASP* My treasure chest is empty!!

I went to write about not particularly the chest itself, but what was in it. At least, once upon a time. What was in it? Stacks of money? Magical forbidden treasure? Cursed Spanish gold?

Don't be ridiculous. If I had any of that, do you think I'd be typing away right now? Heck, no! I'd be on my own personal island, sipping a rita and wondering what you fools on the mainland were up to.

*KIDDING* I love you fools. : )

Okay, seriously, I used to keep all of my fortune cookie fortunes in this little treasure chest of mine (yeah, see...not nearly as good as forbidden treasure). I have collected fortunes for as long as I can remember, ever since I was a little kid and my parents would take me to our favorite Chinese restaurant in town, Yat Son's (that, once I got older, unfortunately closed down for suspicious reasons. But let's not go there). I will never forget the time my father got his fortune, read it, then tore it up and then stuck the shreds into his beer bottle, refusing to tell me or my mother what the fortune was. He said "It was a good one, and I want it to come true, so you can't know it". Boy, did that burn my eight year old bum. I even asked him about it years later, and he not only remembered what it was, but still would not tell me!

And now...my collection is MIA. I'm probably more upset than I should be. As if I won't ever have another fortune cookie! Still...I had a ton. Okay, maybe 50. But if you think about that in cookie standards, that's quite a few, right?

I can still remember two of my favorites. One was: Imagination is more important than knowledge- okay, technically an Albert Einstein quote, but at the time I was struggling with math and I remember rubbing that one in my mother's face a little bit. She was not pleased.

My second favorite I did not receive until after my son was born. He and I were visiting his great grandmother in California- his first plane trip, at just over two months!- and we all went out for her birthday to P.F. Chang's. "Our" fortune (which is now in his baby book) was simply: "Beautiful things await you". I thought it was so befitting for a newborn.

Well, while my treasure chest is now mysteriously empty, I realize that maybe a strange version of myself got rid of the fortunes. I am a clutter-bug till the end, and I do have moments where it frustrates me beyond comprehension. Perhaps in one of those moments, my beloved fortunes perished. *Cue dramatic swelling music....something from Gone With the Wind will do...*

*KIDDING AGAIN*

Moral of my story today, is that not everything gone is missing, and not everything empty is sad. Its important in life to not shy away from any emotion, but to embrace it and let it roll over you. Otherwise, you bottle everything up, and are never happy, or at peace, or able to be anything good. Love it all: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Clint Eastwood did. ; )



Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves. ~ Carol Lynn Pearson