So I am in my kitchen today making myself a lovely cheese and chilli toasty when something occurs to me. Now this first thing has nothing to do with the 'theory' at all but it’s quite funny. I am cutting this cheese (nice big slab of white cheddar) and somehow I find myself almost cutting my ear off. I think I got a little ahead of myself and wanted to eat one of these perfect slices that I had been cutting so I pick one up with the knife in my hand, put the cheese in my mouth only to feel the cold edge of the blade on the outside edge of my ear. Now this was a scary moment for me as you can imagine. Never before had I thought that cutting or eating cheese could be such a dangerous pastime. The bad thing is that if any kind of health and safety boffins catch wind of this then there is a huge chance that teenagers may never be allowed to cut cheese in school so I suggest for those of you that are reading this who do some kind of cooking in school and enjoy the dairy delight that is cheese, then you laugh it off for the next few minutes and then forget it ever happened. I would also like to use this as a warning to fellow cheese slicers out there - don't try and multitask because it will more often than not go wrong; I guess I just got lucky. If my luck ever does run out and I do cut my ear off whilst cutting cheese or a similar food item then you'll know that my lack of 2 ears is not down to a romantic gesture Van Gogh style. It’s more likely that I cut a really juicy slice of red leicester that I couldn't wait to munch.
So now onto the main reason why I am talking about cheese and if I'm honest I have no idea where this is going to end up as I'm writing so just bare with me. Right, I'm in the kitchen cutting this cheese, cheating death all the while, when something occurs to me about the psychology of cheese. Now I am a lover of the stuff. I will eat almost any type from the basic cheddar to a nice mouldy gorgonzola. But it occurred to me that not everyone is the same. Now you think it's all just cheese, so what is there not to like? Some people can't stand the smell of some cheeses never mind the taste of them. These are the people that this 'theory' of mine is all about. Everyone likes cheddar - I think that is a fair enough comment (and if you don't then what is wrong with you?). But then that's where it stops. They never want to try other cheeses for some reason. The idea of only liking one small section of such a varied selection is the basis to what I am saying. I am going to stop talking in cheese talk now because I think I am going to lose my mind. I seemed like a good thing to use but I am going to pull away from it and talk proper english.
So this idea of liking a fraction of something so diverse is something that I think many people suffer quite badly from. I think that to have opened your mind up to something and then to have closed it to whatever else it offers is basically the equivalent of closing doors. An example (not to do with cheese you'll be glad to hear) might help me to make more sense. I would say that things like music and books are a good enough way of thinking about it. If you fully appreciate what good music is then you will be open minded about listening to almost any kind of music, even if just to see what it’s like, before dismissing it. If you like to read then surely you should be willing to read anything that is put in front of you, from Shakespeare to The Sun. Now we all, myself included, suffer from listening to the opinions of others far too much and we forget that we are more than capable of developing our own views on things. I don't think I would go as far to say that this 'theory' is the definition of being a philistine but at the same time that’s the idea that I’m trying to get over.
This post was never going to turn out to be something of pure genius or of deep insight but I think that I have almost managed to get my point over in the best way possible. For those of you who are sitting there confused out of your minds (thinking "what a freak this guy is") then I can understand that. There's something here that defines the person that I am though. Almost every day of my life I will think of something that makes me think "wow, that’s interesting". Whatever brought me to think this muddle of insanity up when I was in the kitchen today is beyond me at the moment but I feel that any kind of inspiration should be written down so that it can be looked at and revisited in the future.
I'm going to summarise what has been a bizarre post. The 'Cheese Theory' that I found somewhere in my head today is this: If you are willing to accept and sample one type of cheese, then why should you stop there. Apply that to anything you like or enjoy and then try to think what you have been missing out on as a result. It might only work if your head is as messed up as mine but I'm interested to hear what your 'cheese' is (that being the thing you like but have not fully explored).
If you have read this far then hats off to you because I myself might have stopped after the first paragraph. Thanks again for reading this and I hope that you understand what I'm talking about and don't just think I’m a cheese loving freak. Well I am but don't tell anyone!
Cheers.
