Milton Berle and Soupy Sales are two comedians from my childhood that had me in stitches. I remember when pies were thrown at the end of sketches. On their respective faces, these characters were adorned with cream and the occasional pie tin. They got my laugh every time.
I love metaphor and enjoy making these connections with my daily goings on. The messages I channel are replete with them. Pie in the face is a metaphor we can eat up here today. This classic scene in Earth School can represent being fooled, scammed, tricked, embarrassed, humiliated and surprised. The bearer of this “gift” must wear it until it is dealt with. The shoulda, woulda, coulda’s usually accompany the cleanup effort. Everyone at some point in their life has been given a pie to wear. Everyone has regretted, blamed, guilted, and/or shamed themselves for not having seen it coming. I wish to address this “sweet” phenomenon.
Some folks are quite aware that they are being taken advantage of. There are wise fools who do not wish to deal with what is before them. Avoidance is a common tactic utilized to avoid conflict and the ensuing pain. Others are met with surprise. Despite all efforts to do their best, they are shamed or tricked by another. Whatever the case, it appears that we humans fall back on blaming self for not having seen it coming. “I should have known.” “Why couldn’t I have stopped it?” “If only I would have done this or that?” The past becomes the dumping ground of regret and self-diminishment. Hindsight is 20/20, yet if we return to the scene we would have almost definitely made the same decision given the options that were spread before us.
Welcome the pie. It stops the madness. The bearer of the gift might be an abuser. They might be the trickster who has sadistically gotten off on one’s unwillingness to wake up. The act of throwing the pie is a wake up opportunity for the one receiving it. How rich! Bless the thrower, for if they did not throw the pie, we would never have had dessert!
It is a messy job to be a pie thrower. The ingredients might include jealousy, envy, rancor. To throw or not to throw is another decision they must make. I vote for throwing the pie. The message will be delivered, despite its messy outcome. The receiver of the pie is such a lucky duck. Any doubts they might have had about the other is now out in the open for review. Such a mess! The surprise might come publicly. It might be perceived as having come at the “least opportune” time. (There is never a time that isn’t an opportunity.) How to clean up the mess? That is yet another situation that must be addressed. So much is involved in the concept of having been duped, tricked, abused, humiliated and then left with the aftermath to be dealt with. It is the brave soul that experiences this drama. It is the courageous soul who wishes to learn from it.
How to move away from the shoulda, woulda, coulda’s surrounding having been hit? I suggest reveling in the fact that you are now aware of what you have not wanted to face. (no pun intended) Thank the Universe for having something been brought to your immediate attention. Shame and embarrassment don’t have to be options to wear. Instead, clean up your act, review what transpired, and ask yourself where you need to go next. This does not have to be complicated.
Taste the cream. Does it have anything to teach you? The speed at which you received this lesson was fast. Can you digest the information? Do you need time? There is no recipe, by the way, for how long clean up time is. Take your sweet time. Were there others to witness this and can they offer you advisement? What will you do with this entire movie scene? I suggest you embrace it, find wonderment in it, and ultimately laugh like Uncle Milty and Soupy would hope you would.
May your pies be sweet, with tins generously filled with ingredients that fill your soul with more…
With Love,
~Joanie
