I saw a girl. A girl in a coffee shop. A girl with a cup. And the cup had her full attention.
Mesmerised and expectant she looked into her freshly prepared ‘medio' chocolate (no flake or cream). After possibly a full thirty meditative seconds her consciousness returned to her lunch hour and she unpacked sandwiches from their foil protection. Now back to the chocolate. First a dip into the froth with the spoon…and a first dreamy taste.
Mind completely detached from sandwiches she raises the cup with both hands. Pure ritual; a sip, then another, then the cup is lowered with reverence to the altar. Ten minutes of reverie and indulgence leave the cup exhausted but the ritual is not played out yet. Next she runs a fingertip around the inside of the chalice - and then again. I have never seen anyone so completely absorbed and satisfied by such a routine activity.
Finally the cup is pushed very carefully away (just an inch); an act that snaps her back into lunch hour focus, and the waiting sandwiches. No reverence or ritual now, this is just a mundane event. The two remaining sandwiches are re-wrapped for later, and packed hastily into her bag – and she is gone. Girls and chocolate. They love it.
Chocolate is prepared from the seeds of the fruit of the cocoa tree. Cocoa beans were so highly prized by the Aztecs that they were used as currency and the drink was reserved for priests, warriors, and royalty. Treasure vaults were filled with cocoa beans not the gold that they had in abundance. What is it about chocolate that made it irresistable to coffee shop girls and Aztec kings? Cocoa is packed with hundreds of plant chemicals that our brain is very fond of. Chemicals like dopamine and serotonin that play with areas of the brain associated with the emotions. Here they influence powerful feelings like joy, desire, and euphoria.
So what about its medicinal uses? Pure chocolate is very healthy and nutritious. Its complex chemical mix contains antioxidants to protect us and lots of treats for the heart like magnesium. It was traditionally used to strengthen the heart and treat conditions like allergies, asthma, anxiety, insomnia, and depression. Cocoa butter has been used for generations to treat burns, wounds, and skin conditions.
Tea, coffee, chocolate, liquorice, marshmallow, mint - we enjoy herbs every day. Our lives are so deeply touched and enriched by our connection with plants that we don’t even see it anymore. If you ever doubt the power of plants – go and find a girl in a coffee shop.
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