April 26,
2020
One of my
closest friends is a massage therapist. Because of COVID-19, she is not able to
work with her clients and her two teenage daughters are completing out the school
year at home. She is handling it all with grace and courage, but it gets to her
sometimes. She was looking forward to getting outside this weekend for a little
exercise and fresh air only to discover that the park she and her daughters were
hoping to visit was closed. She lives in a lovely neighborhood in Fort Mill and
I suggested that, while disappointing, she go on her walk anyway and focus on
using her five senses as a distraction for having to settle.
I had had a particularly
tough week myself. I received some unexpected difficult news at work as well as
having computer problems that just sprinkled on even more stress to my upset. By
Saturday, I was pretty worn out. The idea of paying attention to my senses and looking
for what’s beautiful kind of perked me up and so I decided to take a walk.
I hadn’t
even left my condo when nature provided the first sensory input. A bird has
built a nest at the top of a metal covering that protects some HVAC wiring that
runs from the ground to the roof line. Every time the mother comes back to her
nest, there is a cacophony of peeps and chirps that lasts until she flies away
again. Hearing: check.
As I came
out of my condo, I could smell the slight hint of honeysuckle that is in full
bloom at the back of my parking lot. Second sense noted.
It was a
cloudy day and even though I put on a long sleeve T-shirt, my skin goose bumped
a little and there was sense number three, touch/feeling.
The fourth
sense of vision was probably the most fun and engaging just because right now
in Charlotte there is so much in bloom. Roses, sweet peas, butter cups,
dandelions, lavender, daisies and a darling yellow and orange flower a neighbor
planted that I don’t know the name of.
My intended
30 minute stroll turned into over an hour of walking as I just kept snapping
pictures of lovely flowers, leaves and new growth everywhere. By the time I
made it back home, it was well past lunch so I ticked off the final sense of
taste with heated up leftovers of pan fried tempeh and stir fry.
It’s good to
follow my own advice.
NN
