Sicko April 22, 2010
Posted by EDW in health, Life.Tags: feeling guilty about being sick, ilnness, malingering
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Ugh. I’m sick…again. For the record, I never get sick. I could count on one hand the times in the last few years that I’ve been sick. And now, only a couple of months after recovering from a month-long phlegmy-hacking-laryngitis-inducing malady that infested half of central Texas and emptied drugtore shelves of important essentials such as Vick’s Vapo-Rub greaseless cream, I seem to be hacking and phlegmy again. *hack, hack*
Maybe it’s the stress of moving and marriage and the looming death of a much-loved family member. Or just plain old bad luck. Either way, I’m spending the day in bed with hot tea and chicken soup and Ny-Quil, all thoughtfully supplied by my mother. (Aren’t moms the best?)
When I was a little kid, I loved being sick. Aches and puking were prices none too steep to pay for the reward of being allowed to stay home from school. I wasn’t above malingering. When that didn’t work (and it usually didn’t) I tried to cultivate genuine illness. Once, when I had strep throat, I layed in bed, cleverly and sneakily sucking a lollipop. I sucked hard, careful to completely saturate the candy disc in excessive amounts of my foul, germy saliva. Then I carefully placed it back in its wrapper and concealed it inside a torn pillow, so that I’d be able to re-infect myself at will.
Of course it didn’t work. And now, I don’t take nearly as much pleasure in being ill. In fact, I feel downright GUILTY about laying in bed all day, sipping tea and reading novels about eighteenth century France. Not that I don’t normally sip tea and read novels–those activities are pretty standard. There’s just something about doing it in bed that makes it feel unproductive somehow. Still, we leave in sixteen days, and the thought of being quarantined at customs or simply being too sick to go plunging into the ocean the minute I set foot in Mexico is enough to dispel my guilt.
Off to bed with me!
Yoga! February 8, 2010
Posted by EDW in health, Life, Musings.Tags: exercise, health, Life, Love, self-improvement, Thoughts, yoga
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Ommmmmmmmm….
Namaste, everyone! Sorry I’ve been so inconsistent. Since I last blogged, I 1.)went to New Orleans (and fell in love all over again), 2.) started a new blog with my friend, and 3.) “discovered” yoga.
You see, for several years now, I’ve had a “hunch” that I would like yoga, that perhaps I even needed yoga. But because I’ve mostly been poor-ish for my entire adult life, I was never able to afford yoga classes. I tried watching some yoga tapes on my VCR (yes, I still have a VCR) and downloading some instructional videos off the internet. But doing (probably incorrect) yoga poses by myself on the carpet never really inspired me very much. The last time I tried it, I hurt my neck and had a headache for three days. That’s it, I thought. Guess yoga’s not for me after all. Then my mom invited me to go with her to the YMCA. We took a pilates class together, and then stayed for a yoga breathing class on a whim.
And my whole life changed.
As it turns out, my original hunch was correct. Not only do I like yoga, I do feel like I need it. Actually, it’s pretty much the reason I’ve been getting out of bed in the morning. Well, that and coffee.
See, I don’t get a lot of exercise, even though I know I should- especially since I plan to live to 100. Nonetheless, exercise, with the exception of walking outside on a nice day, just bores me. Or sucks. Getting on a treadmill makes me feel silly, like I’m expending all this energy and have nothing to show for it except sweat stains and a (presumably) firmer derriere. I can’t help thinking about what aliens would think if they were studying the human race based on a gym full of people. It would baffle them, and might lead them to believe we were stupid- heaving weights around for no apparent reason, walking in place for long periods of time, climbing invisible stairs- all while watching TV with the sound turned off. Plus, none of that stuff is fun. Working out always seemed like something I should do, but while I was doing it I just kept thinking, Man I can’t wait until I’m done with this!
But yoga isn’t like that at all. I lose track of time during the sessions, and when it’s finished, I feel a little disappointed, like the end has come too soon. And though it’s physically challenging, it’s not in a punishing kind of way. Instead it feels like I really am doing something good for me. What I really love about it is how it gets me out of my head and into my body. I spend a lot of time in my head, and my head is a very noisy (albeit interesting) place. But because remembering to breathe, to focus on my third eye, to hold all the muscles of my body in exactly the right position, and to move with grace and purpose takes so munch concentration, I can’t really focus on anything else. And I love that. It’s like a mini vacation from my raucous brain to a quiet but no-less-interesting place: my body.
In just the short amount of time that I’ve been practicing, I’ve gained a new-found appreciation for my body. It is a wonderfully complex, intelligent, and beautiful organism. That may be what I love most of all- yoga makes me feel beautiful. Not in a comparative, I’m-better-looking-than-you kind of way, but just in a happy-to-be-me kind of way.
Which fits in with something I’ve sort of loosely termed “Project Me”- which is my idea for 2010. I don’t really have firm ideas about what this means- it came to me while I was cleaning the chicken coop, and is partly evolved from the Feminine Identity Project. It has to do with developing myself as an individual, valuing my own needs and experiences, expanding my spiritual understanding, loving myself, and taking better care of myself- not just physically, but intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. More on this soon….
Neat-o Neti November 6, 2009
Posted by EDW in health.Tags: allergies, health, Life, neti, TMI
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For the first time in years, I am suffering TERRIBLE hay-fever allergies. Since the onset, my waking hours have been largely defined by a battle between my sinuses, which have been on strike, and the rest of my body, which needs oxygen. You know that horrible thing that happens when you have a cold, where your sinuses declare a lock-down, and you can neither sniff, blow, or breathe? And yet your nose is still, somehow, running? So all you can do is dab? Yeah. That’s been my life for the past few weeks.
All you need for nasal bliss....
I’ve known about the neti pot for years, and always thought it was kind of a cool idea–like a facial douche–even though putting water inside your breathing parts seems counter-intuitive for a land mammal. I never actually tried it because I’m the kind of person that, if I have to go and buy some special equipment, then count me out. I’m too lazy and too cheap. I wanted to try it, but I was never going to actually go and buy a neti-pot. The magic of the neti was destined to be a sinus fantasy. (more…)
Awards, Political Statements, and TMI November 10, 2009
Posted by EDW in health, Life, Rants/Diatribes, Social Commentary.Tags: awards, health, Life, Musings, Thoughts
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Yippee! I am the proud recipient of a blogging award, my first. The award was given to me by my muse of French-ness: Mo, of Me, Mo and Myself.
1. I do not have health insurance.
2. This is because good health insurance is too expensive. And even paying for the so-called “good” health insurance doesn’t guarantee that the insurance company will actually pay for the procedures recommended by your physician, as my mother has recently discovered.
3. Since I don’t have health insurance, I seldom visit the doctor, and have a general, vague distrust of the entire medical system. Fortunately, I am a very healthy person.
4. Unfortunately, it also means that I am occasionally compelled to perform my own feats of dermatology, e.g. removing suspicious-looking moles with nail scissors.
5. Sometimes I try to diagnose my occasional health concerns by google-ing my symptoms. This is a very, very bad idea that usually results in hypochondriacal fantasies of cancer, renal failure, or early-onset Ebola.
6. I don’t really like to take medicine. My cures for most problems are:
7. I do believe that our government should do something about the current health-care situation in our country, because unless you’re either a gozillionaire or on Medicare/Medicaid, it sucks. I DO NOT, however, like the current plan being bandied about in Congress. I am particularly displeased with the idea that I will be REQUIRED to BUY insurance from the government or other provider, lest I face a fine or some other punitive action when and if I have to go to the doctor. Please, Congressmen. That is SO not what we were asking for.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go sit in a hot bath with a bowl of chocolate ice cream and a book. For my health, yo?