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Breath
Covid-19 2020 has seen the emergence of a global pandemic and the loss of human life of over 1.3 million people world wide, 2nd only to the Spanish Flu of 1918. Here in the United States the number of people infected has surpassed 12 million along with 255,000 deaths within eight months. Covid-19 is thought to be transmitted through droplets. When an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks, the droplets land in the nose or mouth of someone nearby, drawing the infection into the lungs. We have learned from public health officials that social distancing and wearing face coverings is the best defense. However, some people find it…
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A Crowded Restaurant
Standing shoulder to shoulder in a crowded restaurant for an hour waiting for an open table takes its toll. (Four years previous to Covid when doing so was not such a threat.) There were five of us celebrating Matt, my middle son’s 21st birthday. As our wait time progressed, so did the edginess. Yes, it was hot and crowded, but we wanted to stay. It was my first time and everyone in our party raved about the food. So we waited. In his stewing irritation and with whatever else comes along with challenging situations, Matt began to complain to me about something. I honestly can’t remember what it…
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It Only Takes A Second…
But we will give it two minutes. That is 120 times more! Wow that’s a lot. Imagine if our bank account made that big of a change? We probably wouldn’t be sitting at our computers! Maybe??? Change happens on a dime. As we are experiencing during this pandemic. There have been lots of roller coasters emotionally, financially, physically, mentally. And it is summer here in Maine. And it is lovely! Besides shark attacks and droughts and covid, we continue to move forward. And my moving forward is to start a “2 Minutes To Improve Club”. Inspired because I want to hike Mt. Katahdin, the tallest mountain in Maine …
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What Is Enough?
May 25th. George Floyd died at the hands of police. Uprisings spread nationally and internationally over racial injustice. Raw anger and rage led to violence, arson and looting. Protests filled cities across the nation. Interviews, podcasts, videos, poetry, song, dance, and visual art supported all manners of expression. Grief and reflection ensued. This is a “moment”, a moment to look inward individually and collectively. No stone will go unturned. As I wrote the above, I was well aware of thoughts, much more than feelings. The feelings were the week before: grief, disgust, dismay, frustration–all easily tapped into; on the surface, some might say. Grieving for days, feeding my…
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Cozying Up With Breath
Voice going. Energy depleting. It happened one Monday afternoon, the end of January, 2020. Thinking back, there may have been some warning signs, but nothing that was significant at the time. If it were a month later, I would have thought it was the coronavirus. I would have taken my temperature. But I didn’t take my temperature. The most important thing during that week was working to make myself comfortable. Lying down a lot. Resting on the sofa. Drinking lots of fluids. Cancelling appointments. Reading magazines that had piled up. Even thinking back to the magazines brings a smile to my face. In some ways it was a…
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Waking up to breath
Coordinating breathing and swallowing is the first act of coordination that we do as infants. Once that is learned, infants average 30 breaths/minute the first 6 months of life, meaning that infants breathe almost 8 million times by the time they are 6 months old. Pretty amazing! What does that mean for adults? Well, breathing does slow down to 12-20 breaths/minute. If we average 15 breaths/minute, we will have inhaled and exhaled 394 million times by the time we are 50 years old. That is a way larger number than 99+% of us will ever see in our bank accounts. But pretty much we spend more time thinking…
