The French Dip

We had just arrived in Lansing, Michigan prior to a Comfort talk® Training at Sparrow Medical Center Mid-Michigan MRI. The menu at the hotel listed “French Dip.” It looked intriguing, never had it before, and Stephanie the waitress highly recommended it. And I trusted her advice.

There came on one plate: dried out thin-cut, unhappy looking overcooked dark brown roast beef. It was on a soggy roll, which had been coated with some nondescript sparse cheese. Next to it sat in a bowl a somewhat over-salted broth. Each of the parts, taken by themselves, was unremarkable, bland, very un-exciting. One might say mishaps in in the hand of the cook. Far away from “perfect”: The roast been should have been pink in the center, warm, soft, melting on the tongue; the roll should have been crispy on the outside, ever so substantive on the inside; the cheese should have been aromatic and more generous; and the broth more gravy-like.

Then the first bite– and a miracle happened. This combination of imperfect meat, imperfect roll, and imperfect cheese, dunked into ordinary broth suddenly became this heavenly experience, putting a smile on the face. There was the absolutely perfect combination: the broth just hydrated the meat enough, the roll soaked just enough of the broth to blend the salt, spices, and dough without it becoming mushy, the cheese ever so slightly and mildly held the thing together, and all just dripped of delight.

It was a great lesson for me. The imperfection of parts was essential to produce a perfect whole. Elements that were below par by themselves suddenly got together to produce something unique, amazing, and memorable.

I would have left a better picture on arrival – but I didn’t know what treasure and treat I would encounter. So the picture is all that’s left.

The French Dip shows how a true experience can become a metaphorical tale. Milton Erickson, one of the great hypnosis gurus of North America, liked to tell metaphorical stories. The idea is to implant a concept subconsciously by very casually recounting an event or reflecting on things in the environment. The interesting effect is that the concepts do sink in. So perhaps next time you are not happy with a sub aspect you may think of how the whole come out.