It is such a pleasant experience being in a bakery with the wonderful smells and the beautiful cakes and pastries in the display case. The delicious creations are placed into pink boxes with a string or ribbon tie to be taken home or to a friends home to be enjoyed and savored.

The promise of the unopened pink box – an excitement about what is in the box and looking forward to enjoying the tasty treat holds the attention of everyone present. The lid of the box is lifted with great anticipation only to find the box empty. There is only the brown cardboard interior . What a disappointment!
The pastry box metaphor was used about our relationship by a man I was with many years ago, and I recognized the truth of it. The relationship which had been so much fun, exciting and so promising had become plain brown cardboard.

I have wondered many times how that happened and have now come to understand that neither of us had any idea what we, personally, needed from each other, or even how to communicate – with each other or even ourselves, for that matter.

Now we all know how vitally important to a relationship that each party knows who they are, knows what they need and what they want.. And then to be honest with themselves and with each other about feelings.

This is a reminder that we must be true to ourselves, to be who we really are. Being able to ask for what we need, and keep our hearts open to experience all our feelings, even the difficult ones is what keeps all of our relationships, especially with ourselves, wonderful and alive.