isolation is like a chicken egg

in the same vein of forest gump’s life is like a box of chocolates, i say isolation is like a chicken egg. you’re likely saying something like bipolar sojourner, you sure must be crazy. where’d you come up with this hair brained idea? let me explain.

have you ever tried to hold a chicken egg in your hand and tried to crush it? my guess is you didn’t succeed. that’s so mama hen can lay on her eggs without crushing them.

huckleberries on the way to lake 22.

have you ever seen the miracle of the hatch? for those who haven’t, let me make an attempt to describe it.

the egg starts as a perfectly oval-ure (yeh, I made up a word, shoot me) shape. suddenly, a little peak forms on the egg and so begins the hatching process. then, it becomes a waiting game. some 10-15 minutes later the peak has hardly grown in size. As time goes by, the peak finally becomes a little hole. the hole grows bigger and finally the chick can apply enough force to crack the egg-shell and escape from his confines of the last 21-25 days.

how come you could not smash the egg but this scrawny, spindly, almost sickly looking thing found the strength to break through? the secret is in the egg shell. it is made up with crisscrossing sets of columns. these columns offer strength from exterior forces, yet are easily punctured from the inside. i think that’s pretty cool.

isolation works in a similar way. virtually no amount of outside force can break the nearly impermeable shell. no amount of insisting, encouraging or cajoling appears to make a difference. “why don’t you go out with a friend,” why don’t you call your sister/brother, “you have your company picnic coming up, why don’t you plan to go to it, “i see your friend called. are you going to call them back?” all seem to roll off like (keeping with the bird theme) water off a duck. those are outside forces. the shell of isolation, similar to the chicken shell is strong and resilient. it is nearly resistant to any outside force.

now, back to the chick for a sec. he’s not ready to come out of his shell after one day, ten days, not even twenty days. he’s got to be strong enough to try. similarly the person facing isolation needs time to heal to come out of his shell. if he tries to come out too soon, the results could be less than satisfactory to possibly detrimental. when he finds the strength to come out, the shell that is isolation gives into his weak attempts. it probably won’t be an instantaneous result, more lie the chick when he comes out of its shell.

the chick, upon exiting from his confined shell, is balled up and pretty moist, looking more like something from the jurassic period. he is nothing like the little,fluffy chick,which has come to represent spring time. That will take two to three hours until, he reaches his state of cuteness.

in a similar fashion, someone coming out of the shell of isolation needs time. this process can’t be rushed. time helps them to acclimate themselves to their newly rediscovered world. likely their world will be different from the world they left when they left into their isolation shell.

so, whether it’s an egg or isolation the escape route always comes from the inside. no amount of exterior forces will speed of the process. additionally, the process of breaking free only will happen when enough development happens; it can’t be rushed.