Hello Dearest Friends Of Old, New and Unknown:
Happy Friday!- Whatever that may or may not mean to you. For many people in quarantine/ lockdown and/or retired, Fridays mean nothing much. For me, it is the end of a long work week. It is the day my very young yet patient music instructor and I meet on Zoom for my music lessons. Staying home on Friday nights is something we both began doing some time after the pandemic began. Have you started anything new during pandemic?
This morning, I woke up and decided to gift myself with 15 minutes of writing time. What have you given yourself lately? Though I have been perusing your fantastic blogs, I haven’t taken the time to update my own.
As I write ( or rather type), I am listening to this playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1E4pSmbbBcU4Jx?si=KcMb613HQVaIwA80A4Xw9g . I am sipping my hot coffee and smelling the appetizing sweet aroma of a pear arugula walnut flatbread coming from the toaster oven. The sounds of the contracted workers my landlord hired to remodel the yard outside digging and hammering away already before 7AM can be heard through my thin walls.
I have been thinking about writing so many things down over the past few weeks, but hadn’t sat down and taken the time to do so.
About a week or two ago ( I can’t really understand or grasp the concept of time), I didn’t feel well ( likely just food poisoning) and visited a local emergency room. As I sat waiting for many hours, I narrated in my head all of the stories I wanted to share with you the stories I was observing of the many visitors and workers in the hospital. I did not tell my parents I took this expensive trip to the hospital. I only mused to myself of the stories; a few of which include:
- A seemingly regular visitor talking to himself in the corner as the nurses showed clear annoyance and familiarity with him.
- A little boy whose mother had brought him in because he had passed out after his brother had knocked him out. He was given an echocardiogram.
- A man who came in because of his dizziness and pain after a chiropractor visit.
- A young man whom the nurses kicked out after his fourth visit for the week. The man had a severe headache and kept rocking himself to soothe his pain. He did not understand English well. The nurses were frustrated because of the communication barrier and threatened to have him escorted out by security since they had already seen him so many times with no results. (Doesn’t anyone use Google Translate?! Also, it’s not that difficult to find someone who speaks Spanish and English!)
- The nurses’ conversations debating whether to allow terminal COVID-19 patients final visitors from family members because their superiors would come after them.
This morning, I am feel gratitude for so many things: my friends and family, my upcoming music lesson, my job, my home and my general good health are among many things. What do you feel grateful for this morning?
And now, it is suddenly time to finish the sip and bite of my breakfast and rush off to the final day of the work week.
I will share more stories/ thoughts again soon!
Dearest Readers, what are you reading these days?
Books in My Life I am Feeling Excited About Lately:
- Rereading the book The Power of Full Engagement currently.
- Joining an online multillingual book club. We’re reading La Sombra del Viento this month.
Final thought for today….
We are oscillatory beings in a oscillatory universe. Rhythmicity is our inheritance.
The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz