Life is like an onion

洋葱炒鸡蛋 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.

 

这篇日记或比喻或许没有多少新意。人生就如一只洋葱，你的心被包裹在最里面，一层层剥开，总有一层让你泪流满面。

[暖冬cool夏]

回复 '彩烟游士' 的评论 : 哈哈， close, close enough. 游士周末愉快！

[彩烟游士]

Warm winter is becoming a philosopher!

[暖冬cool夏]

回复 '雪中梅' 的评论 : 谢谢雪中梅的到访和平安祝福。我这也是由一首听过的歌启发写的。谢谢你。

[雪中梅]

比喻很恰当,的确如此.我经常做洋葱炒鸡蛋,或者炒马铃薯.都很好吃.就是切洋葱时,会掉泪.祝福平安是福.

[暖冬cool夏]

回复 '洋葱炒鸡蛋' 的评论 : 哈哈，这洋葱炒鸡蛋炒的，把妹妹给吸引来了。秋千荡累了，我搬把沙发来给妹妹做，听妹妹讲故事，鸡蛋炒洋葱的故事，LOL.我们家自己都插过的，都笑过....谢谢你的tips.

[洋葱炒鸡蛋]

来了，来了，坐在你家秋千上笑会儿～～～喜欢暖心MM呀～～～
紫洋葱最辣，黄洋葱和甜洋葱稍好些。 可以一直冷藏几个在冰箱，切起来会没那么冲。
上次我听你的话了，将碎洋葱塞鼻子里，涕泪俱下，但真的就鼻子通气了。。。被LD笑得半死～

[暖冬cool夏]

回复 '夕阳影里一归舟' 的评论 : 归舟妹妹好！ 嗯， Great mind thinks alike. 生活就是给我们很多感悟。谢了。

[暖冬cool夏]

回复 '狮子羔羊' 的评论 : 狮子好！你的比喻有意思，很好奇，白菜心里有什么惊喜？嫩菜心？ 问好！

[暖冬cool夏]

回复 '菲儿天地' 的评论 : 菲儿好，那句话是一个美国作家说的，也是启发我写这篇文章的源头。谢谢菲儿。

[夕阳影里一归舟]

有一天我也在切洋葱，也切得泪流满面，就想，可以写一篇文章哦。结果妹妹写出来了：-）多好的感悟！

[狮子羔羊]

都这么有哲理，我也来凑热闹写一句：Life is like a cabbage, you peel off one layer at a time, and sometime you will have some pleasant surprise.

[菲儿天地]

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]

回复 '7grizzly' 的评论 : 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]

回复 'Once-always' 的评论 : 那倒不一定，摆在那儿由你挑，你至少可以看见颜色，是红心还是黑心，裹在巧克力里可就看不清了。洋葱虽健康，但不甜的，or 比不过巧克力的，哈哈。 Oncemm晚安！

[Once-always]

回复 '暖冬cool夏' 的评论 : 由我挑的心肯定都不是好心，还是洋葱心好，真实，能让你泪流满面，还健康，永葆青春。我找洋葱心去了，暖mm have a good evening! :)

[暖冬cool夏]

回复 'Once-always' 的评论 : oncemm好！喜欢你的比喻啊，人生如一盒巧克力，你在蜜罐里长大，当然有的吃，有的挑了，我们年轻时哪有巧克力吃啊，更谈不上一颗颗咬啊，所以只好吃洋葱，又辛又辣，吃得泪流满面。你这么情深深雨蒙蒙，怎么会没心啊。你不用偷心的，一颗颗摆在你面前，由你挑啊 ：)))。谢谢mm的来访和新比喻。

[Once-always]

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

But seriously I love your last sentence "人生就如一只洋葱，你的心被包裹在最里面，一层层剥开，总有一层让你泪流满面。"

Switching to my chocolate version it would be "人生就如一盒巧克力，你要找的那颗心就在里面，一颗颗咬开，总有一颗，会让你欣喜若狂” （暖mm肯定想说没心的我想偷心。：））

哈哈，顶着锅盖逃了。