Life is like an onion

洋蔥炒雞蛋 is one of LD's favorite dishes, but not mine.  I don’t like cutting onions. So whenever he craves for it, he will start talking like how good and nutritious the onion is, and how onions protect our heart and blood vine. Ok, ok, I hear you. So last night, I cooked the dish again.

 

I peeled off the skins, and as I was taking the knife to the onion, my eyes naturally watered. As I cut deeper, I felt more sting in my eyes. Tears came out of my eyes. I had to stop for a while and move myself away from the onion, take a breather before I can cut further.  At that moment, a saying sprang to my mind (by an American writer Carl Sandburg): “Life is like an onion; you peel off one layer at a time and sometimes you weep."

 

What does it mean? Did he use this analogy to describe our life journey that is full of joys and sorrows? The richfulness of life can only be achieved after we have been through good time and bad time,  success and failure. Just like peeling off the onion,  if we want to enjoy the pungent flavor, we have to cut it, even though it means we have to endure the teary moments in our life.

 

Metaphorically it can also mean that a person is like an onion.  We have multiple of layers, and to get to the center, i.e. the real self or the heart, we have to peel off layer after layer covered outside. The moment we reach our heart is the moment we discover ourselves, and discovering is just a first step towards nourishing our heart and soul. The process could be hard and sad, but overcoming it can bring us to the full blossom.  We will never experience the spice and aroma of the life, the way we won’t feel if we leave the onion as a whole.

 

這篇日記或比喻或許沒有多少新意。人生就如一隻洋蔥，你的心被包裹在最裏麵，一層層剝開，總有一層讓你淚流滿麵。

[暖冬cool夏]

回複 '彩煙遊士' 的評論 : 哈哈， close, close enough. 遊士周末愉快！

[彩煙遊士]

Warm winter is becoming a philosopher!

[暖冬cool夏]

回複 '雪中梅' 的評論 : 謝謝雪中梅的到訪和平安祝福。我這也是由一首聽過的歌啟發寫的。謝謝你。

[雪中梅]

比喻很恰當,的確如此.我經常做洋蔥炒雞蛋,或者炒馬鈴薯.都很好吃.就是切洋蔥時,會掉淚.祝福平安是福.

[暖冬cool夏]

回複 '洋蔥炒雞蛋' 的評論 : 哈哈，這洋蔥炒雞蛋炒的，把妹妹給吸引來了。秋千蕩累了，我搬把沙發來給妹妹做，聽妹妹講故事，雞蛋炒洋蔥的故事，LOL.我們家自己都插過的，都笑過....謝謝你的tips.

[洋蔥炒雞蛋]

來了，來了，坐在你家秋千上笑會兒～～～喜歡暖心MM呀～～～
紫洋蔥最辣，黃洋蔥和甜洋蔥稍好些。 可以一直冷藏幾個在冰箱，切起來會沒那麽衝。
上次我聽你的話了，將碎洋蔥塞鼻子裏，涕淚俱下，但真的就鼻子通氣了。。。被LD笑得半死～

[暖冬cool夏]

回複 '夕陽影裏一歸舟' 的評論 : 歸舟妹妹好！ 嗯， Great mind thinks alike. 生活就是給我們很多感悟。謝了。

[暖冬cool夏]

回複 '獅子羔羊' 的評論 : 獅子好！你的比喻有意思，很好奇，白菜心裏有什麽驚喜？嫩菜心？ 問好！

[暖冬cool夏]

回複 '菲兒天地' 的評論 : 菲兒好，那句話是一個美國作家說的，也是啟發我寫這篇文章的源頭。謝謝菲兒。

[夕陽影裏一歸舟]

有一天我也在切洋蔥，也切得淚流滿麵，就想，可以寫一篇文章哦。結果妹妹寫出來了：-）多好的感悟！

[獅子羔羊]

都這麽有哲理，我也來湊熱鬧寫一句：Life is like a cabbage, you peel off one layer at a time, and sometime you will have some pleasant surprise.

[菲兒天地]

Love it, so well written! Life is like an onion; you peel off one layer at a time and sometimes you weep."

[暖冬cool夏]

回複 '7grizzly' 的評論 : I actually know that onions are good for our health， but I am just not in the habit of cooking them. A lot of times I bought them but forgot to eat till they sprout and are being thrown away：)). I will try your way to saute them for a long time for caramelization. Thank you for your tips, my friend.
So in a sense, onion is healthy and sweet too, better than chocolate. :-))) ( Dark chocolate is very good too, but it is not sweet.)

[7grizzly]

LD is right: onions are good for you.

I recently discovered that they actually contain a lot of sugar.
I learnt to caramelize them--just saute a large amount with butter for a long time in a big wok and they turned super sweet. No kidding.

[暖冬cool夏]

回複 'Once-always' 的評論 : 那倒不一定，擺在那兒由你挑，你至少可以看見顏色，是紅心還是黑心，裹在巧克力裏可就看不清了。洋蔥雖健康，但不甜的，or 比不過巧克力的，哈哈。 Oncemm晚安！

[Once-always]

回複 '暖冬cool夏' 的評論 : 由我挑的心肯定都不是好心，還是洋蔥心好，真實，能讓你淚流滿麵，還健康，永葆青春。我找洋蔥心去了，暖mm have a good evening! :)

[暖冬cool夏]

回複 'Once-always' 的評論 : oncemm好！喜歡你的比喻啊，人生如一盒巧克力，你在蜜罐裏長大，當然有的吃，有的挑了，我們年輕時哪有巧克力吃啊，更談不上一顆顆咬啊，所以隻好吃洋蔥，又辛又辣，吃得淚流滿麵。你這麽情深深雨蒙蒙，怎麽會沒心啊。你不用偷心的，一顆顆擺在你麵前，由你挑啊 ：)))。謝謝mm的來訪和新比喻。

[Once-always]

Oh I hate onions. I prefer " Life is a box of chocolates", hehe.

But seriously I love your last sentence "人生就如一隻洋蔥，你的心被包裹在最裏麵，一層層剝開，總有一層讓你淚流滿麵。"

Switching to my chocolate version it would be "人生就如一盒巧克力，你要找的那顆心就在裏麵，一顆顆咬開，總有一顆，會讓你欣喜若狂” （暖mm肯定想說沒心的我想偷心。：））

哈哈，頂著鍋蓋逃了。