{"id":331,"date":"2014-01-02T18:43:21","date_gmt":"2014-01-03T01:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/?p=331"},"modified":"2017-06-16T14:57:19","modified_gmt":"2017-06-16T20:57:19","slug":"the-jelly-belly-parable-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/?p=331","title":{"rendered":"The Jelly Belly Parable"},"content":{"rendered":"

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All of us, like Jelly Belly beans, are unique and different. Together we are a kaleidoscopic force. When I arrived in the mix, I didn\u2019t get to choose my flavor. I was created to be Wild Blackberry. Sure, Very Cherry was and has always been the majority and favorite, but without the contrast of the others, wonderful combinations like Cherry Vanilla, Cherry Cola, Cherry Cheesecake and Cherry Chocolate wouldn\u2019t exist. I get that there\u2019s not as many of me as there are the red ones, but my \u201cwild\u201d flavor really adds to the ensemble. The beauty is, I am a favorite for some \u2014 not all \u2014 but some. I even go well with various mixes and medleys of Jelly Belly\u2019s. I\u2019ve always been surrounded by a variety of wonderful beans. Being naive, I thought we all knew that we are all just one of a kind but it\u2019s okay to be together. When the ones closest to me became aware that I was Wild Blackberry, some of them told me I wasn\u2019t a good flavor and that I was defective. Some told me I didn\u2019t belong in the mix. Some said I was no longer allowed to be next to them. Some even said I needed to \u201cfake it\u201d and pretend I am one of the \u201cmore acceptable\u201d flavors. Sadly, I tried to find out if I was really that different from the rest. I discovered that inside, we are all the same, but our tastes and colors might just be distinct. I\u2019m now happy about the way my confectioner created me. I don\u2019t regret that I\u2019m one of the deep purple ones. At times, I tried to disguise myself as a cherry one, but every time I did, the red washed off \u2014 I was still blackberry through and through. The only reason I think I put up the front was because the sweets around me suggested it wasn\u2019t okay to be Wild Blackberry. Today, I embrace myself and those around me that don\u2019t mind sharing this colorful life with me. So whether you\u2019re Berry Blue, Chili Mango, Island Punch, Lemon Drop, Sizzling Cinnamon, Toasted Marshmallow, or Tutti-Fruitti, know that I\u2019m okay to share this mix we call \u201clife\u201d with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All of us, like Jelly Belly beans, are unique and different. Together we are a kaleidoscopic force. When I arrived in the mix, I didn\u2019t get to choose my flavor. I was created to be Wild Blackberry. Sure, Very Cherry was and has always been the majority and favorite, but without the contrast of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":316,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=331"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":390,"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions\/390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.erickrichards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}