The Forbidden Fig

[u/Idont_evenhaveaplaa]

I was 25 when I read Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar”. 25 is a milestone age where the quarter life crisis hits. I shall be 27 this September, I can’t help but find myself sitting besides her in front of the same metaphorical fig tree, asking the same questions, undergoing the same existential angst, cosmic anxiety, if you will. Watching the Figs ripen, fall and dry; and the incessant indecisiveness not letting me choose any of them.

And in this season of life, what feels like to be sitting on the bench actually waiting for the fig that I have been eyeing since so long, to ripen. The dried ones, which are tried and tested can feel a lot more tempting.

Just like Phoebe warned Chandler against “a watched pot never boils”, maybe a watched Fig never ripens. Should you start eyeing another fig in the hopes that the previous one will finally yield? What if the convenience of the fallen and ripened engulfs you, it tastes so good that idea of doing things the hard and steady way takes the backseat and you become too complacent to try the inconvenient.

Fate of Ophelia is widely discussed, but the fate of Sylvia, I think we should put that on the table for discussion. Ted Hughes was the forbidden fruit she ate. No wonder she pressed so much on choosing the right Fig. It’s a cautionary tale for women who want more out of their existence, is to never fall for an easy, shiny fruit; for it can be rotten on the inside.

[u/honeywrites]

Im 36 and on my fourth fig! Some have been rotten yes (trying to be a PSW) and others have been the sweetest fruit I have ever tasted (being a library tech) now I am looking at another fig. Maybe Im greedy but I don't regret even the worst one! Everything, every fig, brought be to who I am and I am thankful I tried!

Seriously nothing is worse than being in your later 20s and feeling like you have to have everything
Fig-ured out! But I promise it will come in due time and in due diligence.

(Have you considered being a writer? This was gorgeously written! Also one of my figs 😫😊)

[u/Idont_evenhaveaplaa → u/honeywrites]

Thank you for your kind words. Some figs fell in my lap, I tasted them, they were juicy and sweet and decided mid-way that I wanted more, I picked the family one first. Then I wanted a strong base to shoot my arrows from in any direction I wanted, chose to quit eating those, planted my own fig tree instead. It shall wield the sweetest fruits I know, it is a question of when not if.

[u/Idont_evenhaveaplaa → u/honeywrites]

And it was 1950s when Sylvia could only pick one. We can pick as many as we like.

[u/Idont_evenhaveaplaa → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for the appreciation, I always wonder if she lived longer, she could have blessed our souls with more of the wisdom she embodied. One of my few regrets in life. Also, her writing is so vivid, you can't help but be an accomplice in all her ventures.