I am waiting on sweet corn. I don’t want store bought or frozen corn, I want fresh corn, stripped from the stalk, shucked on newspaper, cooked, and dripping with butter and a touch of salt. I want to fix three ears and nothing else, and then I want to go sit on the back porch in the shade and eat all three of them. I’ll finish my feast with a glass of sweet tea and a nap, and be a happy camper until my next craving.
I’ve craved a lot of things in my life. Pregnancy cravings included French toast and syrup, strawberries, tomato soup, and soup beans and cornbread. Post-surgery cravings were even stranger than pregnancy and included dried cherries, dried apricots, almonds and walnuts. Theory has it that we crave what our body needs. Today I must need corn.
As certainly as our bodies crave what we need, I think our souls do, too. Lately, I’ve been craving a day with nothing to do. I’ve tried to work myself into a position of being able to do that, but it has evaded me. Seems there is always something calling my name, be it laundry, housework, schoolwork, bookwork, or paperwork. Work has attached itself to me like glue. Now please don’t get me wrong, I am grateful that I have work that does call my name. It gives me purpose, definition, financial reward, and great satisfaction; but work, and too much of it in too many different places, feels as though I’m being chased by an eight-armed octopus. As soon as I untangle from one tentacle, there are three more reaching, grabbing, and clutching.
I’ve also been craving a good night’s sleep. I have somehow been awake until the wee hours and then when sleep does find me it is fitful. I’ll wake up sometimes five or six times a night. Each time I’ll look at the clock and realize that it is the middle of the night. I’ll wonder what woke me up, and then I’ll attempt to fall back asleep. Then this “to-do” list that is a mile and half long unfurls itself before the back of my eyelids and I am done for. I am certain that I have some sleepless cohorts out there, for I hear words being tossed around like” insomnia” and “Golden Girls Marathon.” The older we get, the less sleep finds us.
Another recent craving has been for a family vacation. It has been years since we went anywhere as a family. The hunters and fishermen have hunted and fished, but they left the womenfolk behind when they did so. The girls have shopped and “gotten” away for a day or two from the house, but I want a vacation that takes us all to the same place. When all five of the children were home we had a hard time feeding everybody, much less taking a vacation. So I want a trip to some unknown destination, and I want all of us to go….together. I’d like to rent a big house in the mountains and call up all the family and say, “Pack your bags, we’re heading for the hills. It won’t cost you a thing except the gas you have to put in your car. If you don’t have that then call me, and I’ll mail it to you! All food, accommodations, entertainment, and sundries provided by “Big Momma and Big Daddy.” I think they’d all jump at the chance to get away; and it would prove to be an interesting trip now that they are grown.
So I’m craving corn, a day of nothing, some deep sleep, and a family vacation. I am sure you have cravings, too. Your cravings may be for health, or peace of mind. They may be for a troublesome time to be over and done with. Or perhaps, you’re craving the resolution to a long-standing problem. You might not need any of the aforementioned items and just be craving a tall glass of lemonade and a good book, but rest assured….we all crave something that our soul needs.
I’m going to start listening a little closer to this soul of mine. If it says, “rest” I’m going do my best to find rest. If it says, “love,” I’m going to go love somebody. If it says, “stay awhile longer,” then I’ll do just that. And should it say, “go” I’ll do my best to do that, too. This soul of mine has a way of knowing what I need, and what I don’t need. All I have to do is listen, obey, and start a savings account with the title “Gibson Vacation Fund.”