Random Thoughts About The Body at Rest

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Consciousness: that annoying time between naps. ~Author Unknown

 Last weekend I got to enjoy watching young Owen (18 months) sleep the afternoon away. After a very short messing about, he got so still and stayed that way for more than two hours. He was so still, so calm. His body was so relaxed and present in some strange way.  I thought it was beautiful. When Owen woke up, kind of slow, but happy, he seemed to take delight in seeing his stuff surrounding him.  Smiles, and ews and ahs ... his delightful comments about the things he cares about.  It is like he drew his world around him again.

Over the last few days the same thing has been happening to me.  I am beginning to get a new thought about this kind of sleep. This past year has been a curious one as I have moved in and out of pneumonia, surgery, and now chemo therapy, I remember some of my awakenings.  It is as if the minute before there was no me, no world ... just body. Each of these times are so different from most when I wake up full of thought, axiety, excitement, restlessness, tired, etc. etc.  I wake up to my brain, not my body!

I think there must be times when the body just takes over and puts everything conscious on hold. I like these times! I am no expert here so I give way to my imagination. I remember watching a Nova film about children growing. They don't grow gradually, but in spurts. It can be true that your son is 1.5 inches taller one day from the next! I bet the body puts the mind to rest when it is doing this stretching and drawing forth, modeling the seeds sprouting forth, working their way up from the rich soil of possibility.

I have been told that sleep heals and I have tried to be patient with the time it takes.  Mostly I have succeeded, especially when I have the "body at rest" type.  It is so wonderful.  Such a miracle to wake up and wrap my complete world around me again.  I know now that I am in chemo, that the treatment itself might be killing off some of my healthy cells that make me tired and anemic. So, I am watchful.  And appreciative that there is real comfort and peace in the midst of fighting this cancer. 

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Lilly-Pad Economics

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We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing.
R. D. Laing

I remember years ago (1962-65) when I was teaching second graders by showing pictures of a pond with one lilly pad on day 1; two on day two; four on day three, etc.  Young eyes drew large when the metaphor revealed that one day after the pond was half full, ti was full! "No way" they exclaimed.  That's when we began our own experiment accumulating rice at an exponential rate. Each day one of the students would double the grains of rice. One corner of the room got quite full and each day it took the student longer to count out the grains.  I also challenged the class to estimate how far an adding machine roll of tape would go. Such a small roll. Students estimated that one role would cross the classroom, about 35 feet.  WOW ... all the way to the principal's office! How could that be as they unrolled and unrolled. We talked about compounding interest and other such things ... project learning for 7 year olds.  We all learned a lot that year. Young minds learned to think about patterns and I think they came to know that being surprised about their assumptions was a very good thing. 

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A Year of the Blahs

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Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.
John Lennon, Beautiful Boy
Last November I returned home from working in Europe to discover I had pneumonia. No problem I thought. A few days of feeling bad and getting some needed rest. But when the same thing happened two months later, I was discouraged to say nothing about how I felt. An x-ray followed by a cat scan indicated I had something strange in my upper right lung. More antibiotics, more feeling lousy, more waiting to feel better. Another x-ray in April revealed the same story ... something strange in /on your lungs. "It does not look malignant but it does have a strange shape. We do not know what it is, probably just lingering stuff from pneumonia." This was the comment by the doctor, the x-ray technician, the cat scan team, the Pulmonologist, etc. Finally in June, the Pulmonologist declared he should do a bronchoscopy and see if he could not "sweep away" the debree still in my lungs. This was scheduled for July 8th and was a relatively easy outpatient procedure. Except the doctor found a tumor growing next to and over one of my bronchial tubes. Time for some major surgery!
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