I will look forward to slowing down soon and connect to my senses. I have some time off at the end of January in a warm climate. Lately it is very dark and raining here when I am not working.
I didn’t try to think of a small thing to connect more deeply with one of my senses . . .
it came boldly and brought itself to my attention.
A few days ago
I noticed
that it felt like on of my ears was plugged with water,
but there was no water in it . . .
the feeling got worse and worse
until I was almost deaf in that one ear.
Someone suggested I flush my ear out
with something that contained hydrogen peroxide twice a day.
No results for the first two days,
until this morning . . .
I could hear the birds singing outside,
the ice ticking at my windows,
the eggs sizzling in the pan,
and one of the cats telling me it was breakfast time.
I am back in balance now
and happy to be a hearing person again.
But the incident
made me think of non-hearing people . . .
they can’t just squirt some drops into their ears.
They live every day
not being able to hear the world around them.
Hearing makes the world outside of our bodies
that much more colourful,
that much more alive.
I think,
what a shame to lose that depth of quality . . .
I also know
that we are not meant to feel sorry for them,
but admire them,
for their tenacity,
their ability to develop new senses
that are beyond our abilities.
There was a dancer
on one of the dancing contests on television
who had no hearing,
and he danced with so much precision,
grace,
and beauty
that the audience couldn’t believe he was deaf.
Where we lack
we are given a gift of greater value.
I can reflect on the decisions I have made that got me where I am today. I can take accountability for my actions and disregard things that I have no control over. I can be mindful and present. I can avoid the situations that keep me sick.
I wrote and performed in full costume “No Room at the Inn” the Christmas story in 1996 for the Christmas Eve Children’s Mass at my parish. It is a dramatic dialogue of Jesus’ birth written through the eyes of the inn keeper’s wife. I performed it this morning when I attended the Coffee Group at the Council on Aging. I’ve not performed it for several years as I can no longer project my voice well and sing without sometimes coughing due to metal in my neck. It was well received and appeared to touch many in attendance today and thankfully I experienced no coughing and actually sang one verse of the song, “Were you there on that Christmas Night” by Natalie Sleeth at the close of the monologue. It brought me such joy to perform to that small but loving audience today and heightened all of my senses when such love and acceptance filled the room. I experienced such grace and vulnerability. I share a copy of the monologue below:
NO ROOM AT THE INN
INTRODUCTION: Tonight we are fortunate to have a visitor with us who has come to share with us the events of the first Christmas night.
Innkeeper’s Wife (Anna) speaks the following monologue from memory:
Greetings! I invite you to come back with me in time…back over 2,000 years ago to the first Christmas eve in the little town of Bethlehem.
You see, my name is Anna and my husband Esau and I run the local inn…the local motel in Bethlehem, Palestine. Palestine is part of the Roman Empire and our emperor, Caesar Augustus, has decided that he wants to know how many people live in his empire. Now an emperor is like a king and he can tell the people in his kingdom to do anything he wants them to do…and so he did. He told them that they must travel to the place of their birth to be registered…to be counted… so he would know how many people lived in his kingdom.
And so it was that many, many people were traveling home to Bethlehem. Now this was very good for the motel business. we had been busy all afternoon and there was no room left in our little inn.
It was turning cold and cloudy as the sun set. After supper, Esau built a small fire in the hearth; and as we sat there warming ourselves beside the fire, he said, “I think tomorrow will be an even busier day than today.”
‘Well,” I said. “Then we best retire early;” and so we did.
I fell asleep almost immediately but I did not sleep for long. no,I was awakened by a knock on the front door of the inn. I shook Esau and said, “did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” he said.
“Someone is knocking on the front door of the inn,”I replied.
He looked puzzled. “How can that be?” he said. “Why i put a sign on the door telling everyone there is no room left in the inn.”
Well,Ii thought, maybeIi was dreaming. but then, I heard it again…knock, knock, knock. well, it was mighty warm under those covers and so: Esau looked at me and i looked back at Esau. then Esua looked back at me and I looked back at Esau!
Finally, Esau threw back his covers and marched off to answer the door while I fell triumphantly back into my warm pillow!
Now my husband Esau is a kind man, a good man, but not a patient man. and so as he opened the door, i heard him say sternly, “Can’t you read the sign? we have no room left in the inn.”
A young man responded, “but my wife is expecting our first child. we have travelled all the way from Nazareth in Galilee and we are so weary. We do not need beds; just someplace to lay our weary heads?”
My husband,Eesau, repeated, “Can’t you read the sign? Ii have no place for you to lay your weary heads!”
“But sir, the young man pleaded, “I could not help but notice. you have a stable. would you mind so very much if we made beds in the straw?’
Esau hesitated and i heard a young woman speak. she called, “Joseph, Joseph, I think my time is near.”
Well! I jumped out of the bed and ran toEesau’s side and whispered in his ear, “You must let them stay in the stable. Why, the woman can go no farther.” I took down a latern, lit it and handed to the young man, and beckoned the couple toward the stable.
After i was sure Esau was comfortable back in our bed, I gathered some leftovers from our supper and a couple of warm blankets and followed the young couple to the stable. They were so grateful for a place to stay. They truly needed a place to rest; for when I looked in the young woman’s eyes I knew it would not be long before her child was born.
When I was sure that they were settled in and that they would call me if i was needed, i returned to the house and to my warm bed. I reached over and kissed Esau on the cheek; but his only response was a loud, comforting snore. my eyes filled with tears…tears of joy…as I remembered the births of my own children and before I knew it,I was again fast asleep.
I didn’t rest very long for I was awakened by the sound of beautiful music…such beautiful music. I sat up in bed and I could see light literally gleaming through the bedroom window. I knew it could not be morning soIi ran to the window to see what was happening. I couldn’t believe my eyes. where there had been clouds and mist, it was clear and bright. and the stars…the stars were literally dancing in the sky. I could hear angelic voices chanting: “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to the king.”
I ran and shook Esau. i said, “wake up, wake up, something is happening!”…dragging him to the window. and as we watched, the stars…they formed an arch over our little stable! and angels filled the midnight sky singing, “glory, glory, glory to god in the highest and peace to all of goodwill!”
Esau and I hugged each other, tears of awe filling our eyes. He said, “Anna, could it be?” and I responded, “Esau. “Could it be that the Messiah has been born this night in our humble stable.”
Song to follow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFTaNzvlwrM
Thank you!
Several years ago my husband was a sacristin at a local Chapel. Each day during advent he wrote a meditation similar to your idea of a different perspective. His idea was “Why did I do that.” An example was the innkeeper changed the oil in the lantern so the path had a stronger light defing it.
I will try to slow down when I eat. So I can really taste and appreciate my food.
On the subject of senses, yesterday I hiked through oak woodlands, it has been raining quit a bit lately and the ground was muddy and full of brown leaves. The smell was so evocative and took me back to other times and hikes and I just kept breathing it in and letting the feeling of connection to past moments fill me.
I’ll pick a sense we don’t traditionally think of: my balance. I’ve had vertigo attacks over the years, some severe, and read a book years ago calling balance the forgotten sense. It helps us be aware of the world around us and orient to it, and that’s what our senses do. We get our sense of balance from multiple inputs including the tiny bones in our inner ears sloshing around in fluid, what our eyes tell our brains about the horizon, and our awareness of gravity and feeling where our bodies are in space. Today I’ll pay attention to that awareness of my body and gravity, and later will do yoga with some balancing postures with that same awareness so I’m grounding myself.
I’m thinking of this because starting in the middle of the night before Thanksgiving I had an attack that lasted several days, more severe to start and then mild but not resolving for a week. I’m okay now although I still get some reaction to doing yoga that involves moving from head down to head up so I’ll take care while doing those postures. I have seasick pills on hand if it hits hard again. If it does I’m going to try the Epley maneuvers that help reposition the inner ear bones.
Sorry to hear that you suffer from vertigo. It’s really one of the worst feelings. I also used to have terrible vertigo episodes.
I still get mini episodes every now and then.
Besides having a funky inner ear, I have also connected it to the feeling of being out of control. As in not in control of my life or a situation. It’s only when looking back, that I see the connection. Certainly the current political situation can make me feel out of control.
If you think about being car sick, the fact that if you are the one driving, it’s almost impossible to get motion sick. Same car, same movement. It’s something to think about. And yes, doing things that require balancing, seems to really help me in the long term. I really hope you feel better soon.
One sense that I don’t think about consciously much is the sense of touch. So today I will periodically pause and pay attention to the touch sensations coming through my fingers, through my feet on the ground, through the air on my skin, through surfaces contacting my body if I am sitting or lying down.
Today I will connect with the senses of smell and taste. I will have visitors this afternoon and have put myself out there with food. So, I will award myself with appreciating the smells and tastes.
Not sure if this response answers today’s question; I will try to stay in the present moment, remain mindful as I take care of 1 thing after another. Really try to stay focused on the task before me & not let my mind wander to the next & the next….Stay in the present moment.
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I meditated and did some yoga today, took some time to slow down and just be with myself and my surroundings
I will look forward to slowing down soon and connect to my senses. I have some time off at the end of January in a warm climate. Lately it is very dark and raining here when I am not working.
When will you be moving into your new home, Robin Ann?
I didn’t try to think of a small thing to connect more deeply with one of my senses . . .
it came boldly and brought itself to my attention.
A few days ago
I noticed
that it felt like on of my ears was plugged with water,
but there was no water in it . . .
the feeling got worse and worse
until I was almost deaf in that one ear.
Someone suggested I flush my ear out
with something that contained hydrogen peroxide twice a day.
No results for the first two days,
until this morning . . .
I could hear the birds singing outside,
the ice ticking at my windows,
the eggs sizzling in the pan,
and one of the cats telling me it was breakfast time.
I am back in balance now
and happy to be a hearing person again.
But the incident
made me think of non-hearing people . . .
they can’t just squirt some drops into their ears.
They live every day
not being able to hear the world around them.
Hearing makes the world outside of our bodies
that much more colourful,
that much more alive.
I think,
what a shame to lose that depth of quality . . .
I also know
that we are not meant to feel sorry for them,
but admire them,
for their tenacity,
their ability to develop new senses
that are beyond our abilities.
There was a dancer
on one of the dancing contests on television
who had no hearing,
and he danced with so much precision,
grace,
and beauty
that the audience couldn’t believe he was deaf.
Where we lack
we are given a gift of greater value.
That’s amazing, Sparrow,
to be able to dance so precisely while not hearing the music!
Glad that did the trick!
I can reflect on the decisions I have made that got me where I am today. I can take accountability for my actions and disregard things that I have no control over. I can be mindful and present. I can avoid the situations that keep me sick.
I could savor a cup of hot tea. Warm feeling in my mouth, throat, and chest.
Wam mug in my hands. Savoring the taste. ‘
Remember to breathe more fully, and to smell the delicious smells that are all around me.
I wrote and performed in full costume “No Room at the Inn” the Christmas story in 1996 for the Christmas Eve Children’s Mass at my parish. It is a dramatic dialogue of Jesus’ birth written through the eyes of the inn keeper’s wife. I performed it this morning when I attended the Coffee Group at the Council on Aging. I’ve not performed it for several years as I can no longer project my voice well and sing without sometimes coughing due to metal in my neck. It was well received and appeared to touch many in attendance today and thankfully I experienced no coughing and actually sang one verse of the song, “Were you there on that Christmas Night” by Natalie Sleeth at the close of the monologue. It brought me such joy to perform to that small but loving audience today and heightened all of my senses when such love and acceptance filled the room. I experienced such grace and vulnerability. I share a copy of the monologue below:
NO ROOM AT THE INN
INTRODUCTION: Tonight we are fortunate to have a visitor with us who has come to share with us the events of the first Christmas night.
Innkeeper’s Wife (Anna) speaks the following monologue from memory:
Greetings! I invite you to come back with me in time…back over 2,000 years ago to the first Christmas eve in the little town of Bethlehem.
You see, my name is Anna and my husband Esau and I run the local inn…the local motel in Bethlehem, Palestine. Palestine is part of the Roman Empire and our emperor, Caesar Augustus, has decided that he wants to know how many people live in his empire. Now an emperor is like a king and he can tell the people in his kingdom to do anything he wants them to do…and so he did. He told them that they must travel to the place of their birth to be registered…to be counted… so he would know how many people lived in his kingdom.
And so it was that many, many people were traveling home to Bethlehem. Now this was very good for the motel business. we had been busy all afternoon and there was no room left in our little inn.
It was turning cold and cloudy as the sun set. After supper, Esau built a small fire in the hearth; and as we sat there warming ourselves beside the fire, he said, “I think tomorrow will be an even busier day than today.”
‘Well,” I said. “Then we best retire early;” and so we did.
I fell asleep almost immediately but I did not sleep for long. no,I was awakened by a knock on the front door of the inn. I shook Esau and said, “did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” he said.
“Someone is knocking on the front door of the inn,”I replied.
He looked puzzled. “How can that be?” he said. “Why i put a sign on the door telling everyone there is no room left in the inn.”
Well,Ii thought, maybeIi was dreaming. but then, I heard it again…knock, knock, knock. well, it was mighty warm under those covers and so: Esau looked at me and i looked back at Esau. then Esua looked back at me and I looked back at Esau!
Finally, Esau threw back his covers and marched off to answer the door while I fell triumphantly back into my warm pillow!
Now my husband Esau is a kind man, a good man, but not a patient man. and so as he opened the door, i heard him say sternly, “Can’t you read the sign? we have no room left in the inn.”
A young man responded, “but my wife is expecting our first child. we have travelled all the way from Nazareth in Galilee and we are so weary. We do not need beds; just someplace to lay our weary heads?”
My husband,Eesau, repeated, “Can’t you read the sign? Ii have no place for you to lay your weary heads!”
“But sir, the young man pleaded, “I could not help but notice. you have a stable. would you mind so very much if we made beds in the straw?’
Esau hesitated and i heard a young woman speak. she called, “Joseph, Joseph, I think my time is near.”
Well! I jumped out of the bed and ran toEesau’s side and whispered in his ear, “You must let them stay in the stable. Why, the woman can go no farther.” I took down a latern, lit it and handed to the young man, and beckoned the couple toward the stable.
After i was sure Esau was comfortable back in our bed, I gathered some leftovers from our supper and a couple of warm blankets and followed the young couple to the stable. They were so grateful for a place to stay. They truly needed a place to rest; for when I looked in the young woman’s eyes I knew it would not be long before her child was born.
When I was sure that they were settled in and that they would call me if i was needed, i returned to the house and to my warm bed. I reached over and kissed Esau on the cheek; but his only response was a loud, comforting snore. my eyes filled with tears…tears of joy…as I remembered the births of my own children and before I knew it,I was again fast asleep.
I didn’t rest very long for I was awakened by the sound of beautiful music…such beautiful music. I sat up in bed and I could see light literally gleaming through the bedroom window. I knew it could not be morning soIi ran to the window to see what was happening. I couldn’t believe my eyes. where there had been clouds and mist, it was clear and bright. and the stars…the stars were literally dancing in the sky. I could hear angelic voices chanting: “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to the king.”
I ran and shook Esau. i said, “wake up, wake up, something is happening!”…dragging him to the window. and as we watched, the stars…they formed an arch over our little stable! and angels filled the midnight sky singing, “glory, glory, glory to god in the highest and peace to all of goodwill!”
Esau and I hugged each other, tears of awe filling our eyes. He said, “Anna, could it be?” and I responded, “Esau. “Could it be that the Messiah has been born this night in our humble stable.”
Song to follow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFTaNzvlwrM
Thank you!
Several years ago my husband was a sacristin at a local Chapel. Each day during advent he wrote a meditation similar to your idea of a different perspective. His idea was “Why did I do that.” An example was the innkeeper changed the oil in the lantern so the path had a stronger light defing it.
Bravo, Carol!
Thank you, Carol.
Beautiful, just beautiful, Carol. Thank
Thank you! 🌲🌲🌲
I will try to slow down when I eat. So I can really taste and appreciate my food.
On the subject of senses, yesterday I hiked through oak woodlands, it has been raining quit a bit lately and the ground was muddy and full of brown leaves. The smell was so evocative and took me back to other times and hikes and I just kept breathing it in and letting the feeling of connection to past moments fill me.
It’s amazing how fully smells can transport you to a different time and place!
Have we heard from Butterfly recently? Missing her and other regulars who haven’t been here for some time.
That’s right.
I would also love to hear from my dear friend, Anna.
I’ll pick a sense we don’t traditionally think of: my balance. I’ve had vertigo attacks over the years, some severe, and read a book years ago calling balance the forgotten sense. It helps us be aware of the world around us and orient to it, and that’s what our senses do. We get our sense of balance from multiple inputs including the tiny bones in our inner ears sloshing around in fluid, what our eyes tell our brains about the horizon, and our awareness of gravity and feeling where our bodies are in space. Today I’ll pay attention to that awareness of my body and gravity, and later will do yoga with some balancing postures with that same awareness so I’m grounding myself.
I’m thinking of this because starting in the middle of the night before Thanksgiving I had an attack that lasted several days, more severe to start and then mild but not resolving for a week. I’m okay now although I still get some reaction to doing yoga that involves moving from head down to head up so I’ll take care while doing those postures. I have seasick pills on hand if it hits hard again. If it does I’m going to try the Epley maneuvers that help reposition the inner ear bones.
Sorry to hear that you suffer from vertigo. It’s really one of the worst feelings. I also used to have terrible vertigo episodes.
I still get mini episodes every now and then.
Besides having a funky inner ear, I have also connected it to the feeling of being out of control. As in not in control of my life or a situation. It’s only when looking back, that I see the connection. Certainly the current political situation can make me feel out of control.
If you think about being car sick, the fact that if you are the one driving, it’s almost impossible to get motion sick. Same car, same movement. It’s something to think about. And yes, doing things that require balancing, seems to really help me in the long term. I really hope you feel better soon.
One sense that I don’t think about consciously much is the sense of touch. So today I will periodically pause and pay attention to the touch sensations coming through my fingers, through my feet on the ground, through the air on my skin, through surfaces contacting my body if I am sitting or lying down.
Notice if I’m holding any tension in my body. And then with loving awareness, let it go. 🧡
Breathe deeply. Doing so helps me connect to fresh air, food smells, and calm my mind. A natural gift from God!
My Ngoc, it does. “1 breath=1 mind” Phil Jackson.
Today I will connect with the senses of smell and taste. I will have visitors this afternoon and have put myself out there with food. So, I will award myself with appreciating the smells and tastes.
Not sure if this response answers today’s question; I will try to stay in the present moment, remain mindful as I take care of 1 thing after another. Really try to stay focused on the task before me & not let my mind wander to the next & the next….Stay in the present moment.
PKR, I think it does. I answered the question the same way. Thinking too much will take us away from our senses.