Freaking Pineapples 8 )

I get a lot of gifts with pineapples on them these days. They have also found their way into the back drop of my website, several workbooks I have created, and 20 photo postcard set! You may wonder why Pineapples. You may not wonder at all. I am going to tell you anyways because this story is about having a trigger and about how great of a metaphor pineapples make. <3

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This current pineapple movement started in Spring of 2019. Lucky for me, pineapples were just beginning to become a new trend around the same time.

It was a beautiful day with beautiful people. The sun was out, the waves were small enough to not kick your ass and big enough to create the romanticized version of what people think the ocean looks like. A pineapple blanket was our main stage for the photo shoot. An exchange of talent, love, knowledge. 8 ) Celebrating life, being vulnerable with body image and embracing joy, laughter, captured raw. Who knows how photos will capture you.

One of the images of me laying on the blanket, captured my most authentic smile. The smile I have when I feel the most myself, when I feel the most contribution, when I feel the most free. That weekend, I got to heal, process, unlock, love on people, be loved on, be silly, be fun. To remember that I am light, love, creative, purposeful. It was a tether back into my deepest self.

At the airport, I found a little pineapple bracelet. It was a piece of metal connected to tied elastic. Small. Simple. It seemed just right to be a good reminder to me of who I truly believe myself to be. So that when things get hard and I try and hide behind lies or insecurities, I can look down at my wrist and see my pineapple. This bracelet became a trigger device for me.

A trigger by definition is a small device that releases a spring or catch and so sets off a mechanism. A device that releases a reminder. A way to come back into a moment or memory that has significant meaning for you. For many, this is a place, a picture, a memento, a painting, a postcard, a necklace, ring, bracelet, a sweatshirt, you name it <3 In this case the device is my pineapple, the mechanism set off is the reminder of a true piece of me.

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The other piece of the Pie(napple) hee hee see what I did there? Is a pineapple itself and how it grows. I was introduced to the wonder of pineapple production back in 2016 when my friend compared me to one.

Pineapples are actually a combination of individual flowers that produce fruit and fuse into one fruit. Growing a pineapple can be a 24 month process or longer. That is two years.

It takes two years to harvest the fruit. When you do harvest though, you get to enjoy the fruit. They are sweet, savory, rich bright beautiful. It is the kind of fruit you devour in one sitting.

At that point in my life, I was growing and frustrated that the fruit wasn't ready to harvest. I wanted things to be happening in that moment but I had to wait. I got to trust that when the fruit that was prepared it would be oh so delicious.

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Now when I use pineapples in my creations, it not only reminds me of my true self, it also reminds me of true timing. Things that take time, produce precious fruit. Same for me, same for the humans I interact with, same for harvest.

Patience. Truth. Authenticity. Peace. Purpose. Love. Light. Sweetness <3

I hope this inspired you to find a trigger device of your own true self and that you were reminded that even if things take time to grow, they bare sweet precious fruit.