A Charcuterie of Feelings

Charcuterie boards seem to be all the rave right now. If you’re throwing a party and want to have crowd applause, it seems you should set up at least one, or maybe two, three, five, ten of these varieties.

For those who aren’t “up to speed” in the trendy world: a charcuterie board is an appetizer typically served on a wooden board or stone slab, either eaten straight from the board itself or portioned onto flatware. It features a selection of preserved foods, especially cured meats or pâtés, as well as cheeses and crackers or bread.

Personally, I think these boards are pretty cool, when done right, but I also honestly think they are a pressure cooker of ideas, time and money that could really be put to better, more long lasting use. I know. Don’t shoot me for being “plain Jane.”

It’s not that I’ve never made one; I’ve created my fair share, and some have been fun, while a few others, I really wanted to pick up the whole thing and toss it across the room before the guests showed up.

But I do wonder sometimes, maybe more often than not, if we all live on a charcuterie board of feelings in our little worlds…

We’ve got the smooth, delicious days of promise and the mild days of mediocrity.

We have the tangy moments of adventure and the spicy moments of suspicion.

We find the bitter years of grief and the sour months of disappointment.

We discover the indulgent minutes of success and the sweet minutes of victory.

We even stumble upon the meatier times of learning, strengthening and reproving.

All the feels are contained within our small orbit of influence and experience, and unless we jump across the planes of comfort, culture and civilization, we never embark on a different charcuterie board of emotions.

Be challenged to break off from the norm.

Distance yourself from the expected and plunge just once into the unknown, the unexpected.

And I guarantee you.

The flavors of life will explode before and within you!