Corelle, Not China Kind of Life

I love china, and the feeling of sipping a cup of tea from a dainty cup, with a saucer, a couple short bread cookies on the bread or salad plate next to my cup. The highlight of taking a cruise, in addition to the places, is the formal multi course servings, each one served up on delicate patterned or bone colored china.  Neither of these scenarios are my daily life. I have china, a set from my mom and dad as a wedding gift. It gets used very infrequently because I usually serve more casual fair when people are over and my stoneware suits the menu and mood better. My stoneware says, join us, you're one of the family, where as my china says you're a special guest. When I use it though, I treat it with special care, washing and drying by hand, putting it back in the china hutch where it is stored. No stack drying or dishwasher use. 

When we were first married and the kids were very young, we had an eight piece set of Corelle plates, bowls, and mugs. If you know anything about Corelle, you know you can use and abuse it, bumping it against stove tops when serving, and knocking it about when doing dishes and little to no harm will occur. It seems while Corelle can stand up to the daily stuff of life, it holds and keeps every stress line, invisible chip, and minor damage that was done to it until the day when the impact is so great, it doesn't just break, it shatters. 

People's lives can resemble the difference in dishware. I have family and friends that resemble China. I know when they are having bad and vulnerable days and need to be treated with special care. They are the ones when in times of stress like a death in the family, a job loss, or any major transition, others rally around to give support. Most of us are like stoneware I believe. We go about our days, casually navigating ups and downs, able to hold heavy items, but yet, will break if hit to hard, and gladly take some reinforcements of super glue to help put the pieces back together. I worry about the Corelle people. They take on more and more, in their jobs in their families, with their friends. They do not ask for help when needed, developing little cracks here and there. Warning signs may get ignored like headaches and sleepless nights even though the day makes them weary. They will take on a heavier load than others, feeling like if they don't, their stack of dishes will topple over. 

I was a Corelle Person. Then, when my plate dropped, it shattered and could not be put back together. I needed an entire new set of dishes. The interesting thing about blogs, is meeting people and reading their stories. I'm learning a lot of people are Corelle people, some on the verge of shattering, others having gone through it and now trying to replace the shards with stoneware. A few have emerged into  and embraced a role as china people-owning their vulnerability and using writing as part of their therapy and healing. Regardless, all dishware needs a certain degree of handling with care. The alternative is plastic, and who wants a cupboard full of that?