What’s the weather like?  How are you feeling as you read this?  Are you in a hurry?  Your mind already on your schedule – your agenda?  Are you in pain, or feeling refreshed?  Is it morning, afternoon, or evening?

What’s going on right this minute?

It’s your body talking.  It’s been a while.  I was beginning to wonder if you even remember me.

I’ve been carrying you around, doing what I do best, just waiting for you to notice me. 

That thing you do that makes you feel good in the moment, and then doesn’t satisfy.  Leaves you stuck.  Lonely.  Or angry with yourself.  That thing you think explains your actions, puts them into a story you’ve told yourself more than once.  That story that sounds good until you realize it rings hollow and empty.

Yeah that.  How’s it working for you?

When I was at the lowest point in my illness, the light had gone out of my eyes.  I looked like I had no energy.  No hope.  I was hanging on by my fingernails, the grace of God, and the kindness of loved ones.

Sleep-deprivation will do that to a girl.

Candy, candy, candy, candy, candy! was what Garfield said in Garfield’s Halloween Adventure.  “No room for breakfast.  I must save room for all that candy.”

And yet, would you really want a diet that consisted entirely of candy?

The other day at my Alexander Lesson, my teacher was helping me to move my balance point from forward and scrunched down to up and over my spine.  Because I so often have my head reaching toward my computer, it puts a lot of my weight forward too.  Then other parts of my body have to move backward to compensate so I don’t fall over.

It’s rather comical to think about the fact that here I am a grown woman relearning how to stand, sit, and move.

A few weeks ago I traveled to Charlotte on business.  As I usually do, I struck up a conversation with the cab driver who took me from the airport to the office.  He was from Ethiopia.  We talked about the snow storm that had hit there 2 days before.  6-7 inches of the white stuff in a city that isn’t quite prepared for that.

“It was fun!” he said.  “An adventure.”

Have you ever seen those paintings of the nativity scene with Jesus sleeping peacefully in the manger?  And the animals looking lovingly on?  And there’s just enough light shining from the star of Bethlehem to frame their faces in a halo of light.

It’s bucolic.  Peaceful.  As the songwriter puts it, heavenly peace.  Everyone is glowing.  Filled with joy.  And yes, peace.

Not long ago, my mother read the book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.”  That prompted her to do a major clean-out of the basement.  Imagine!  55 years of stuff accumulating for two adults and three children.  Well, the children’s stuff hasn’t been accumulating.  We cleared ours out several years ago in the last big purge.

But there was still a lot of stuff.

These last few months I’ve experienced more stress than I have in a long time.  Yet another organization change at work, trying to get a project funded, a rift in a relationship, and election turmoil has driven me to my yoga mat for constructive rest before I go to bed.

And meditation in the mornings.