Dear World,

Let’s adjust the daily writing prompt to: “Who’s your favourite Candy?”. It only applies to us over here at The Suburban Girl JA®. It’s appropriate, is it not? If you didn’t know, the creator of this space is the sweetest person. She’s as sweet as candy and her name is often shorted to “Candy”.

We love her and she’s the best. Hahaha! Though the above is true, let’s get a little serious.

Fun and jokes aside, I’d like to go a bit deeper with this daily prompt.

Life is like a box of [assorted] chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.

Forrest Gump

If you’ve never seen Forrest Gump, I strongly recommend that you make it a priority to watch it. In a nutshell, the film is about a young man who’s portrayed as a simpleton who leads a remarkable and eventful life. He leads with kindness and innocence despite the harsh realities and experiences he encounters. He never allows his heart to be hardened. Instead, he consistently views the world through innocence and wonderment in every stage of life.

Perhaps that’s why I was so drawn to the film when it was first introduced to me as a child. At every opportunity, I will watch Forrest Gump and view it through the innocence of a child while applying the guardrails of my own life’s experiences to add greater value and context to some scenes.

That’s a great life lesson to heed, by the way. Despite how different you may be from others or how difficult your life may seem, exploring the world with a heart that isn’t hardened has the potential to yield unimaginable and wonderful results.

So why am I referencing Forrest Gump for this daily writing prompt? Well, I think it’s because of that infamous quote, “Life is like a box of [assorted] chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”!

Life is like a box of chocolates. I injected [assorted] because the original quote, as far as I can remember, didn’t specify that detail. You know, some boxes of chocolates are the same and standard through and through. However, an assortment of chocolates in one box adds greater variety and suspense until you literally bite into them.

If that’s not a true description of our lives, then I don’t know what is. It speaks to life’s dynamism, and it speaks to the unknown until uncovering. I think that’s what makes it such an amazing experience. When life doesn’t seem to go in our favour, we tend to say how much we dislike it and that we can’t be bothered – often putting our faith and trust out to dry.

But, isn’t that what makes life beautiful as it is? I think so. Yes, I’m guilty of questioning how wonderful life is or can be. I am also guilty of looking forward to what it has to bring because it’s such a multifaceted plane that we exist on, in this very moment.

Each day we wake up and with each new page we turn in this book of our lives, it’s likened to the selection of a different chocolate in this box that we have. Will the filling or coating be sour? sweet? an odd twist of savoury? caramelised? nuts-filled? fruit-filled? is it an allergen that could potentially end our lives? etc etc? Sometimes, we know, we may have an idea, and then other times, we have no fricking clue!

That’s what makes it all exciting, I think.

So, yeah. A box of assorted chocolates. No specific brand from any specific country. That’s my favourite candy – apart from the Black chocolatey creator of this space.

Signed,

The Suburban Girl JA®