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。