I wound myself in a white cocoon of singing, All day long in the brook’s uneven bed, Measuring out my soul in a mucous thread; Dimly now the brook’s green bottom clinging, Men behold me, a worm spun-out and dead, Walled in an iron house of silky singing.
Nevertheless at length, O reedy shallows, Not as a plodding nose to the slimy stem, But as a brazen wing with a spangled hem, Over the jewel-weed and the pink marshmallows, Free of these and making a song of them, I shall arise, and a song of the reedy shallows!
~ Edna St. Vincent Millay (The Dragonfly, The Harp Weaver & Other Poems)
“Symphony in White No. 2″ by James McNeill Whistler
People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. ~ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (Clear Vision: Finding Peace in a Troubled World)
I went to the hill and I got it. I sat on a knoll and I sought it. And if I would get it I would leave it. Since I did not get it, I took it with me. ~ Scots Gaelic Riddle (The Celtic Spirit)
As I sat down very gingerly on the chair for my breakfast this morning, I opened my Caitlín Matthews book of daily meditations for the turning of the year. As I started to read I began to smile over the synchronicity I found there in her words as she elaborated on the riddle above. A thorn in the foot, an irritation. A thorn in the foot that hurts when one walks on it. Pains in my back and my legs when I sit.
There is no surefire way to avoid irritations, no magic formula that will ease them out of our way. They arrive without warning to plague us, and we have to get on and deal with them. Some of the tiresomeness can be alleviated, however, if we see many of our irritations are reminders of neglected areas of our life. … The universe has its own way of getting our attention and making us attend to what is important. ~ Caitlín Matthews (The Celtic Spirit)
Well, this bout of sciatica has certainly got my attention!!! Yesterday I wound up puttering around the house catching up on little chores and the constant movement kept the pain at bay. But when I sat down for lunch the pain returned and so for the afternoon I reclined and listened to three more Adyashanti CDs, which nourished me spiritually.
No magic formula, but an idea occurred to me while lying there to help me deal with this “irritation.” I dug my old exercise ball out of the closet and Tim pumped it up with air for me. We tested having me sit on it for a few minutes. No pain. He moved my laptop down here to the coffee table and this set up seems like it might just work!
This has been a painful reminder to me to pay more attention to how long I sit in front of the computer screen. I tend to have these marathon days where I visit a lot of blogs and catch up responding to comments on mine. On top of that, as the day wears on, as it did Saturday, my posture gets more and more sloppy and as a result the nerve gets irritated. If I’m honest with myself, most of these flare-ups occur after I’ve sat too long and incorrectly, usually during a long trip in the car…
Do you have a figurative thorn in your foot? What do you do to deal with it?
Well, I sat down to respond to comments and didn’t get through the first one without my sciatica pain flaming up…. Grrrr…. (It also started up when I played only one turn of Scrabble this morning.) Will see if Tim will set me up somewhere I can sit without pain and have my laptop handy tonight. All I can do it seems is stand, walk, and recline on the fantastic support cushions Laurie recommended… Will try again a little later…
I’ve looked at life from both sides now From win and lose and still somehow It’s life’s illusions I recall I really don’t know life at all ~ Joni Mitchell ♫ (Both Sides Now) ♫
It’s HUMID today but we went out to Stonington Borough to see their unique parade. Anyone who wanted to march simply showed up and joined in, but they also had the requisite fife and drum corps, and fire engines, old and new. And what we appreciated very much was that after the parade all participants and viewers gathered in Wadawanuck Park and respectfully listened to a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, nicely highlighting the reason for the festivities. Then the band played again and we all sang the first verse of the Star-Spangled Banner together. It was very moving.
The first picture we took in Old Mystic – the flags are versions of the Revolutionary era flag. The rest of these pictures were taken at the parade in Stonington Borough…
I am having a sciatica flare-up so I was all right while standing, but was having a hard time of it sitting in the car and sitting here now posting this blog, even with my special cushion. Will have to come back for comments only as pain permits for a few days… Today I am very thankful we have air-conditioning!
I have a need For cool, verdant spaces Beneath the trees Secret empty places Nobody knows So no one will intrude I have a need for solitude ~ Mary Chapin Carpenter ♫ (I Have a Need for Solitude) ♫
