15-Second Vacation

Take a look (as the Iyengars say) at Jenn's comment from "Getting Back on Track". She has attached an excerpt from a great article about the lessons of early motherhood. It is very pertinent to my frame of mind these days and is a nice set up for my thoughts in this post.

The lad and I are coming off a vicious yeast infection (for me), mild thrush infection (for him) which has made nursing excruciating. I have been using every breathing and pain management technique I can think of to get through this (the Sleeping Master has been refusing bottles, lately). Throw in a three-year-old who is tired of sharing his parents' attentions ("Any attention is good attention...I'm going to start throwing my cars") and things have been a bit dreary around here.

So I've been falling back on a trick called "15-second vacation" a friend from grad school used to do. Polly would whip out a picture of some lovely vacation spot and imagine herself there for a quarter-minute to try and get out of the academic grind. I've been trying it with any sensory experience that is pleasurable...relaxing in the steam of a hot shower, reclining onto the support of a foam-topped mattress (before the next 2 hr. "nap" of the night), working my way through a left-over Halloween peanut butter cup, feeling my spine unclench during a quick Uttanasana. It's like a Mindfulness exercise, but I figure I've got to grab the peaceful moments while I can and be satisfied with 15-seconds. Most of the time it works.

I remember an episode from "Fraiser," where Fraiser's dad is berating the psychiatrist for being so neurotic. He gestures towards Eddie, his ratty-looking terrier, who is rolling on the floor and announces, "You know, Fraiser, you could take a lesson from Eddie. You know what makes him happy, an old sock!" I think about that sometimes and try to let the simple things make me happy...if all it takes is an old sock, I have a whole drawer of happiness in the bedroom.

I hope you find 15-seconds today to enjoy your old sock...