Carry Chocolate Everywhere
Pleasure Is Good
First, carry your favorite chocolate with you at all times. Don't depend on restaurants or on other people's definitions of good chocolate. I have been shocked and dismayed by what even my best friends consider good chocolate. Devil's food cake with marshmallow filling and gooey icing. Milk chocolate with raisins and nuts. Treats with names like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Ding Dongs. Yodels. If you want to make sure that you get the kind of chocolate you prefer, slip it in your pocket, your purse, or your eyeglass case. Don't leave home without it.
Second, don't be ashamed to eat it in public; you never know where it might lead. A few months ago, a television producer asked to interview me for a show he was developing. We met for dinner, and at the end of our meal, I whipped out my purse, pulled out a bar of bittersweet chocolate, broke off a square, and offered him one. His mouth, which had been hanging open since the chocolate first appeared, closed in time for him to say yes. We shared a silent moment of ecstasy as the chocolate melted on our tongues; then I put the bar back into my purse, and we proceeded with the meeting. A week later, he called and told me he wanted me to appear on his show.
"I liked you before you took out the chocolate," he said, "but that clinched it. Someone who speaks about weight loss, eats chocolate every day, and stays at her natural weight knows something other people deserve to know."
What I know is that things, tastes, people, and activities that give you pleasure are good. Not everything that tastes good is bad for you. Chocolate has a place in your life, but like any relationship, you need to pay attention to it.
My third principle of chocolate wisdom is therefore: "Suck, don't chew." Take time with chocolate. If you pop it in your mouth while you are driving, reading, watching television, feeding your children, or talking on the phone, you will keep reaching for more. Soon, you will finish the whole bag or box or bar. You will have missed the taste because you weren't fully present. You will believe that chocolate and you have a dysfunctional relationship and cannot be in the same room together any longer.
Just One Kiss
In my classes, chocolate appreciation begins with Hershey's Kisses. Students hold a Kiss in their hands, smell it, and rub it on their lips, savoring every part of the experience. When they place it in their mouths, they pay close attention to how the taste unfolds. To the explosion of sensation on their lips, tongues, throats. To the difference between sucking on a piece of chocolate and inhaling it. Two or three rapturous minutes pass. They open their eyes, astonished. They can't believe what happens when they pay attention to what they love (a lesson with a wide variety of applications). "One little piece of chocolate tastes so big," they say.
They've never eaten just one. The one in their mouths was always merely a precursor to the one they were reaching for, and the 10 more after that. Some of them say they thought they were going to love the taste, but are shocked to find that it's too waxy. Others say it's too bland, and they prefer bittersweet chocolate. Still others say that if anyone had ever told them they would be satisfied with just one Kiss, they wouldn't have believed it, but they actually don't want another.
One final chunk of chocolate wisdom: Bring enough to share. Trust me, no matter what is going on at the table before you take out your chocolate, the tone will instantly change when you unveil the wrapper. Conversations will stop. Eyes will gleam. People who didn't notice you before will suddenly find you scintillating. When you share your chocolate, you become everyone's friend.
Chocolate reminds us to wake up, pay attention, stop reaching for what we don't have, and focus on what we do. It teaches us that we don't need a truckful of love to satisfy our hungry hearts. When we pay attention, enough is possible, here, now, right this very moment.
There are many doors to wisdom. Why not choose one that tastes like shooting stars?
Savoring Chocolate
Before you dive into the Godiva, follow these simple guidelines:
The next time you eat a piece of chocolate, sit down. Remember that 1 piece tastes no different than 20 pieces. Focus on the taste in your mouth. Allow yourself to notice how it feels on the roof of your mouth, your tongue, the sides of your cheeks, and in your throat. Notice whether it tastes like you thought it would. Enjoy it thoroughly. Let yourself have that much.
