Vanilla’s Secret Weapon This Instant!

 “What’s it like to be vanilla?” asks a scoop of Rocky Road, with genuine curiosity.

“Vanilla bean, you mean,” comes the reply with a wink.

“Whatever. But tell me.”

 VB (vanilla bean) gives RR a long, hard stare (not to be confused with “cold,” though indeed their temperature is that).

“Okay, listen up and I’ll let you in on a little secret… Vanilla is the rarest of flavors, though you — and every other bold, jazzy flavor — regard us vanillans as common. Plain. We get categorized as nothing noteworthy, nothing exceptional. It’s easy to overlook us. But “bland” isn’t at all what it’s like to be vanilla. That’s actually a misnomer.

“What’s remarkable about vanilla is not who we are standing on our own (though we do love and value our pure state), the essence and power of vanilla is who we become with other flavors.”

RR stares, squints, and states, “I don’t get it.”

“That’s okay. You’re Rocky Road. The only other flavors that get this are the vanillans,” VB smiles.

“Go on.”

“So, here’s what happens when you’re vanilla. You hang out with any other flavor in a small bowl where only two scoops fit, and you take on the flavor of whomever you’re with. Now see, you and I are on separate cones right now. I am free to be me, and you are free to be you.

“But if we’re put into a bowl, like we so often are, I would take on your chocolate, not only in color but in flavor. Perhaps I’d get a little walnuty and marshmallowy, too. Coming into the bowl, I’m vanilla bean. But when you join, I take you on. I understand you and your perspectives, I accept who you are, and I might even fool you into believing I’m not at all vanilla bean… You might come away telling your friends I’m Rocky Road, just like you. For vanillans, this happens all the time and with any flavor. Mint chocolate chip, strawberry, pumpkin, bubblegum… you name it!”

RR looks glum. “Oh. I’m so sorry you don’t get to stay your original flavor.”

“No, I actually don’t mind it. It’s nice to be able to take on so many different flavors. We vanillans appreciate having our horizons broadened. We can see, understand, and empathize with the vastly different ways others experience the world. But it does get a little exhausting being in a bowl with more than one other scoop,” VB laughs. After a pause, the confession: “It also gets a little lonely. Other flavors are so strong, they rarely stop and notice what’s happening. We find great comfort in being with other vanillans. For when we get together, we not only ‘get’ each other, we acknowledge and celebrate our differences.”

RR’s brow furrows.

“See? Most flavors think vanilla is vanilla with no nuances. Not true! Don’t forget about French, classic, premium, homemade…” VB says with a laugh. “We’re each different.”  

“So, what I hear you saying is that vanilla’s secret weapon is becoming the flavor of whichever flavor you’re in the bowl with?”

“Well, yes and no. Yes, maybe it is ‘secret’ in the sense that we don’t do this consciously; it just happens. The other flavors usually like it and don’t complain. That’s because they are already quite fond of their own flavor.”

Both laugh out loud.

“But no, it’s not so much a ‘weapon’ because it’s never used against other flavors. It’s more like a ‘secret blessing’ to be able to meet each flavor where they’re at.”  

RR smiles. “That’s nice. I like that. I wish I had some vanilla in me.”

“You can, my friend.”

The two clink their scoops. RR acquires a few bean specks and VB receives a chocolatey marshmallow as they wave goodbye until next time.

 

“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” - Psalm 139:14

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” - 1 Corinthians 12:27