Real data and the history of popcorn.
Do you know the process of the popcorn transformation?
The story on which this work is based is used as a metaphor to express our transformation process, as well as the change of corn into popcorn.
The kernel of corn is composed of about 14.5% less water than the green corn if compared to the green corn, and its husk is four times more resistant than the corn we use to eat and make maize porridge (groat). Every kernel of corn grain has three parts: the embryo, where the genetic material is, the endocarp, and the pericarp - both composed mainly of starch and water.
When we put the corn in the pan or in the microwave, the heat causes the water inside the grain to turn into steam, which tries to get out and pushes the pericarp shell. Simultaneously, once solid, the starch begins to turn into a kind of gelatin, increasing in size.
The internal pressure is so strong that the peel bursts and, in contact with the air, the gelatinized starch solidifies and becomes the white foam we eat, called popcorn.
To get an idea of this pressure, we can compare it to that of a car tire, because in the kernel of corn, it might have pressure up to five times stronger.
When the pericarp has cracks or is not very hard, the water vapor escapes, and the popcorn may not burst. They are called ¨piruá¨.
In my view, being like a 'piruá' might be compared to people who do not accept changes, who are afraid of challenges, and who are resistant to the changes that life brings to teach us.
Popcorn that does not go through the fire remains a kernel of corn forever.
Other names that can be used as metaphor are stubborn, head, procrastinator, loose, proud, rebellious, dizzy, fearful. And the same thing happens with human beings.
But why is this obsession with popcorn? It is because we are just like them!
Significant changes and transformations are only possible when we allow ourselves to leave our comfort zone and face all of the challenges that come our way. There is no external magic formula, but there is an internal one. There are the challenges that life takes us through, and there is the way we will react to each situation, for instance, the turbulences, which often lead us to despair, or the still waters, which lead us nowhere.
It is these two types of annoyances that can make us anxious, and they are the ones that will heat up our bottoms or the little bottoms of the corn in the pan. Anyone who doesn't go through the transformation process misses the opportunity; therefore, remains the same; however, we all go through these situations. ALL of us. Some more intensely, some less. Some see it as an opportunity to take the next leap, some sit and cry; others are paralyzed by fear.
The point is that all of us, without exception, have concerns and water, just like corn does.
The human body is composed, on average, of 75% of water, and, curiously, it is the identical proportion between emerging lands and the waters on the surface of the planet Earth. Strange coincidence...
From philosophizing alone, I realized that there are people with little water or content, just like popcorn, and as big-headed as a ¨piruᨠ(Non popped kernel), which does not accept the transformation process, nor the changes, and creates resistance to what life wants to teach them.
Life stages exist and are supposed to be fulfilled, just like in video games, searching for the hidden diamond, which are the answers of our real essence.
But how did I start thinking about this whole popcorn story? It was a Wednesday afternoon in Barcelona; I was hungry, and food at home was scarce; there was only some corn. In the meantime, I cried, I had thoughts, I wrote my philosophical reflections down in a notebook, I got revolted for the lack of answers, I got more and more despaired because I needed to know what I wanted from my life, of what my mission and purpose in this life was.
I put the corn in the pan and used a clear glass lid. When it started heating up and the first corn burst, I caught myself watching it and thinking.
A few seconds later, which seemed more like an eternity, the first, the second, and then the third burst, and so on.
At that moment, my mind had an 'Aha-moment', and, in addition to philosophizing, I started writing about the process of the popcorn and its phases and then comparing it to my way of living.
If we pay attention to the moment in life that we are going through and think about the popcorn, we will realize that we are just like it, each one bursting in its own way and time.
Maybe because I am still in the preheat phase, still in the pot, not having thrown my whole self in, I haven't received answers yet to who I am, what I really want in life, what my talents are, and, mainly, why I am so rebellious to give up everything, several times, and move around with two suitcases (either from home, neighborhood, country or continent). However, I swore to myself that I would not settle down until I found such answers ... I will not stop, whatever the cost is!
And that is when the revolution, for some, begins with the most daring, rebellious, and restless people, as they are mentally willing and open to changes, although none of us are, in fact, ever ready. These are the entrepreneurs, or revolutionaries of the world and, because they are so curious and restless, they feel lonely for a long time because they are thirsting in the search for answers and changes.
The ¨Leap of Popcorn¨ awaits you at the end of each chapter so you can make a self-analysis, just as I went through this process of self-knowledge as my own coach.
Asyou continue the next chapter, indulge yourself in popping a package of popcornwhile you read this book, immerse yourself in this hot pot with me, andexperience this tasty explosion.
ESTÀS LLEGINT
Where to start when you don't know where to go.
No-ficció"When we stop to think about what we really want for our future, we often find ourselves lost, afraid, ashamed to expose our true "craziness" to the people closest to us. In our culture we greatly estimate the value of safety and avoid risk at all c...
