Blackberries

Have you ever been blackberrying?

To be fair, most of us have at some stage in our lives. It’s one of those activities that starts out with smudged fingers, and the occasional collision with a thorn. And ends up in a delicious hot crumble back home, garnished with custard, clotted cream or maybe ice cream – or maybe a combination of all three.

Of course if, like me, you really enjoy nature’s seasonal bounty, then you’ll have discovered that in the more public places where brambles dare to grow, there’s always been someone there before you. The lower-lying fruit have all been picked, and now only the smaller ripe ones remain – along with the little unripe cerise, pink and still green bullets. The rich pickings are now out of reach to us mere mortals and are only available to those well over 6ft tall, or the enterprising folk who bring a step ladder to their harvesting.

There’s going to be the need for a more daring approach if we want to go home with a container full of these remaining bigger, juicier fellows. 

More fruit – less husk!

People and Privilege

I'm just really grateful that I'm privileged enough to know some awesome and amazing people. These are the self-same people I've stood on the shoulders of, in order to reach some of the richer fruit higher up the tree I call knowledge.

Of course these wonderful people have facilitated my action; they have enabled me to reach that fruit – because very few people go around permanently with a step ladder to hand, to enable an elevated status for their fruit picking. 

There is an undeniable truth in life that “No Man is an Island” – and we need each other to get the best out of life, for sure. Even the hermit, who has written the definitive book on his status – “The Essence of Hermitry – a Qualitative Analysis” – will need a printer, a publisher, a distributor, some retail outlets, an amazon or two, and a large circle of book-buying buddies. Which is why hermits don’t write books, of course … they just mind their own business.

So, to get back to me, people and privilege – like that –

Why have I used the word Privilege, in this context?
Why do I view the knowing of these people – or indeed any people for that matter – a privilege? Was it because I was born with a silver tongue in my mouth? Am I the son of the richest-ripe-alpha-blackberry that attracts every fruit fly within miles?

No!

I was brutally shy – probably still am, if you rub the veneer down to the quick.
So “Please, Mister … !” was never going to cut any ice with my desire to get a leg-up to the higher echelons of the tree. Doors were always closed, it seemed – except to the privileged few.

And then I took a long hard look at the entire domain I’d labelled up as …

Privilege.

What if’s began to emerge from the mists – and doors began to appear in the walls where no doors had been. I read books and watched videos – for knowledgeable content; I studied closely those successful people who inspired me – first by watching and listening, and then by copying and modelling.

And then I took a leap of faith and resolved to meet, greet, talk with, and ask questions of … those inspiring people.

In taking that leap I became familiar with the other side of Shyness. I made an awesome discovery whilst doing this … I discovered the inspiring people were just as ordinary as I was, and that they too had become familiar with the other side of Shyness.

And here’s the thing:
On the other side of Shyness I found I was holding hands with Privilege.

I hadn’t just found Privilege, it was walking hand in hand with me – little me! Privilege was now my friend, my companion, and I found myself being elevated to pick those rich and juicy blackberries high up on the hill of brambles.

Was I lucky? Was I born with it? – NO!
Had I earned it? Did I embrace it? – YES!

For this, and for the giants on whose shoulders I have stood, and continue to stand, I am eternally grateful. I found my Privilege.

And now, I can enjoy endless crumbles!