Komorebi

[Mel Rose]

Haze squinted and sat back again. "Advice, advice..," she repeated, playing with a lock of her hair, combing it with her nails and looking for invisible split ends.

"Giving advice is like seasoning food," she finally spoke, savouring every word. She had a penchant for analogies and metaphors, and it was being really activated that day. "You need to know what you're dealing with before you commit to something. Highly specific, good advice requires an intimate and long-lasting friendship, much like a specific mix of spices requires thorough knowledge of what it is you're cooking."

"Good, timeless advice is like salt. 'Be generous in friendships'. 'Respect your elders'. 'Exercise temperance'. It works for most people, much like salt works in most dishes. And much like salt, it is ancient and common and boring. Specific advice is like the rarer spices; Cretan pepper, ginger, cloves or nutmeg. They work in some specific cases, but if you are not careful, they will ruin even the most exquisite recipe."

"But most of these people you see on the Net, those that spew 'good advice' and are experts at everything are just like the Casanova. One sees them and thinks 'oh, he must know what he's talking about, after all he is wealthy and rich and happy'. But you don't see the corpses of all those who tried the same and failed, they were just at one point in the wrong place at the wrong time and perished. Those Net gurus are like a man who just discovered that he can season a pumpkin pie with nutmeg and told you that you should add it to everything from breakfast cereal to foie gras."

She paused to touch the cup with her tea and noticing that it has already cooled down enough to be touched, she took a small sip. "So that's why I would rather avoid donning the robes of Screwtape, the old devil giving advice to the young one, today."

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Jennifer Haze Does Not Exist :: Filing Cabinet :: Swords into Plowshares
Liminality :: Good in Red :: Past to Present :: Fish of the Sea