Essay 10

Essay 10: Essays as Bonbons for the Mind

A bonbon is a small chocolate covered candy like you would find in a box of chocolates. It is a delight to the taste buds and with a surprise filling. In this essay I am going to back off of the weightier topics we have addressed in previous essays and offer a lighter piece comparing my essays with bonbons. They are, after all, bonbons for the mind.

A bonbon is a delight to bite into. I try to make my essays, independent of content, a pleasure to read. Some will tax some readers. But then a liquorish or pistachio bonbon is not for everyone either. So, if you are struggling with an essay, simply move on to another.

A bonbon will leave a delightful taste in your mouth after you have finished it. I try to give you something of value in the content that will cause you to keep thinking about it after you have read it and from time to time after that.

You will gain the most enjoyment from eating just one bonbon at a time. Similarly with my essays, it is best to read one at a sitting and allow yourself time to think about it.

As you eat more bonbons the pleasure wears off and eventually you would make yourself sick. If you rush through several essays in one sitting you might get confused or, worse yet, give yourself a headache.

You can eat bonbons by yourself or share them with friends. You can read the essays quietly by yourself or you can read one aloud to friends to stimulate a discussion on the topic.

Bonbons can be an ice breaker. Essay topics can be an ice breaker as well. If you are in a group setting enjoying a glass of wine or a coffee, you can use essay topics to get people to start talking to each other.

You can make your own bonbons. If you want to make your own bonbons, simply Google “how do you make bonbons.” There is no magic to it although it might take a few tries to get them right. Similarly, you can Google “how to write an essay” and try your own. As with the bonbons, it may take a few tries to get it right. I would prefer that you do not take one of my essays and claim it as your own because that would be a violation of copyright. However, there is no reason you cannot take one of my essays and rewrite it in your own words. After a couple rewrites it will be far enough away from the original to avoid any copyright problems. If you get a little bolder, you could take what I have said and argue with it or come at it from a unique perspective. By rewriting essays that others have written you sharpen your writing skills until you can do this on your own.

I like to think of these essays as bonbons for the mind. They go down easy like chocolates. And if I have done my job well there is a surprise in each essay which provides food for thought. Like chocolates, the pleasure is the greatest with the first and diminishes with the second or third until you lose the pleasure of reading them. You wouldn't read a whole book of my essays just like you wouldn't eat a whole box of chocolates. The chocolates would give you a stomachache. The essays would give you a headache. Instead, I wrote the essays to be an enjoyable read with a point in them somewhere that will give you something to think about. If you smile while reading an essay and then pause to ponder one of the deeper points, then I have succeeded in what I was trying to achieve.

This essay is not quite 700 words. And the recording is about 5 minutes long.

Send an email to me at drjohnartz@gmail.com if you have a comment on any of my essays. And please check out my website at DrJohnArtz.com to see other things I have written.