A Spoonful of Sugar
The holidays are fast approaching, the weather has turned distinctly chilly, some of us are contending with the slop, annoyance, and wonder of the first few snows of the year, which can only mean one thing: colds. Everybody gets them, sometimes one right after another, to the extent that your average classroom, office, subway car, busstop, and grocery store line is accompanied by a chorus of sniffles and coughing. Not pleasant music, all things considered. Some folks seem to get colds that are gentle, a slight irritation: they drink a little more tea, they go to bed a little earlier, they carry around a package of travel tissues, just in case. I am not one of these people. Colds hit me like a transport truck hitting a concrete wall. The worst ones leave me in bed for days, guzzling hot liquids and longing for the days when I could breathe properly through my nose. My head goes heavy and fuzzy; my throat is dry and sore; my sinuses are stuffed and swollen; I am exhausted by turning over in bed. It is not a pleasant sight.
There are a few upsides to this state of being - a very few. I am allowed to wallow in self-pity and trashy television while ill, which can be comforting in its own way. My small grey cat usually comes to snuggle me while I am ensconced in my bed, and her purring is tranquil. I can catch up on all the podcast episodes I’ve missed, and enjoy audiobooks, one right after another, without pause. And the comforting, soothing foods most folks reach for while ill are a positive boon: chicken soup, hot lemon water with honey, pastina, popsicles, ginger chews, juicy, in-season oranges - all delicious. And I give myself permission to sleep the day away, which can be extremely boring but also kind of a nice little break. Maybe that’s really the key to happiness generally - acceptance, gratitude, choosing to be content with a circumstance whenever we can. I cannot promise that I have achieved this cold-induced nirvana, but it certainly helps to give up on fighting the reality of a cold or a sore throat, curl up on the sofa with a cat, a box of tissues, and a substantial collection of old movies or trashy television, and embrace the inevitable down-time. I might feel like I’m the brain in my head, but at the end of the day, my body is running the show in many ways.
I hope, dear reader, that if you find yourself wrapped up in bed with a nasty cold, sipping tea or endlessly blowing your nose, that you give yourself permission to enjoy it as much as you can - to snuggle down in your blankets and give over to sleep, that you indulge in the little treats which will make you feel better, both emotionally and physically, that you do not judge yourself for watching all those episodes of that goofy old show or that comforting movie from your childhood that always makes you feel better. Get well soon.
Jennifer