How do you peel your banana, Earthling?

That’s a legit question, btw.

When I could use my own hands, I’d peel from the stem that connects to the bunch, like I was taught by my parents.

The problem, though, was that I hated (still do) that black root thingy at the end of the other stem. Do you know what I’m talking about? I hope so. And well, my mom forced me to eat until the end — including the black thingy.

While she was teaching me a valuable lesson in not throwing away food when there are so many people starving all over the world, at the same time it was quite oppressive. Consequently, for the longest time, I didn’t eat bananas anymore.

Until last month.

In honour of Mother’s Day, I wanna share with you the latest thing that mine has taught me. 

Storytime…

My mom came to visit and stay a while after (like she always does since she helps taking care of me) and she brought mini bananas. 

“Look what I brought to you! I’ve found them so cute and tiny I couldn’t help it! (…) [READ: mom talk] But you gotta eat soon before they’re too mature!”

I thought: “Mom! You know I don’t like bananas!”

I giggled and answered: “Sure, mom. I’ll have them.” I didn’t want to hurt her feelings and truth to be told, they were really cute and I melt for miniatures and tiny things.

She answered, “I’m gonna give you one or two per day so they don’t spoil.”

I thought “Oh boy what am I gonna have to make up to not eat it?!” instead I answered a simple “Uh-hum”.

The next day, she came all happy: “Let’s eat a mini banana?!” — and already started peeling it.

Gosh, I had no choice. Clever, mom.

So I started to eat it already dreading in anticipation for the end. I finished and “Hum, no black root thingy.”

“Mom, what about the black thingy?”, I asked.

She answered and showed me: “It’s here. I’ve learned the other day that when you open the banana the other way around, the black thingy stays with the peel. Have you ever seen a monkey peeling a banana? That’s how they do it.”

(1 minute of silence)

I WAS ASTONISHED! It truly blew my mind! Now I wanted to eat bananas again!

It sounds quite simple — I mean it’s a “banana peel hack” and it might not seem like a big deal but actually, the moral of the story is what follows:

How many experiences are we losing by doing things a certain way, simply because we’re told so?

Recently, I developed a habit of deconstructing belief systems, thoughts… life in general, and when the Banana Episode happened, it made me reflect a very fundamental thing:

Most of the actions we perform are not actually made by us, we’re simply mirroring them.

We have a sweet illusion of thinking we control our actions and how we think but most of them were put inside our heads by the media, society, government — you name it.

It can be as small as peeling a banana or as big as how you lead your entire life.

We’re losing the miracle and the magic because we’re living on autopilot.

I wanna challenge you to think beyond the actions you take in your daily life.

Why do you put your feet out of bed every day? Why do you study x and not y? Do you love studying x? Do you really wanna work on a corporate job?

Why are you with this partner? Do you really wanna have children? Why do you need to do the dishes every day?

It might take time for you to figure it out and sometimes you’ll feel confused and like a fish out of water, but one thing is certain:

You need to shut down all the noise around you in order to listen to that little voice inside, that is always guiding you.

I do that every. single. day. It isn’t a popular choice and sometimes it feels like I’m being judged all the time for daring to stay true to myself and doing things my way.

The truth is, only I know why I do things a certain way — because only I can feel it. However, every now and then I must be brave to ask myself why.

It’s accurate to say I’ll be eating a lot more bananas from now on, though! Thanks, Mama!

Deconstruct. Define in your own terms. That’s The Art of Redefining Yourself, Earthling.

Hope this serves you.

With all my love,

Lina

P.S.: Kiwi doesn’t have to be the most annoying fruit to peel either. Just cut it in half, scoop the fruit with a spoon and eat it.