Yesterday's Twists

Yesterday's Twists

It started out in peace. At long last, I could take the time to pour out on a piece of paper and feel absorbed by the birds' polyphony outside my window.  Then, a whiz hour of housework and I was off into the world of Bach's playful Coffee Cantata. 

I was even early for the bus and on time to help out with a tango course for people with motor issues. Almost everyone was feeling well and the positive mood carried out into the first exercises.

That is, until one of the elderly gentlemen turned to stone.

A strange sort of gray creeped into his skin and he stared straight ahead as if he were suddenly sucked into a dark world. He couldn't hear his wife's frantic calls nor respond to anyone. The spell was so strong he would have fallen rigidly to his right had the people near him not been ready to catch him.

We were in a private hospital but it took twenty minutes for the paramedics to reach us. His wife tenderly kissed his forehead and told him she would follow the ambulance in the car to the local hospital. We knew he was feeling better because the gray had gone and he insisted on riding with his wife. She and the paramedics assured him that it was safer to ride in the ambulance.

The visible sweetness passing between the couple washed my face with tears, as well as the whole panic and worrying of the ordeal.

I spent a large part of the afternoon baking to bring me back to a state of peace, which was lucky because then a priest stopped by. No, it wasn't random: it was a planned house blessing that the owner calls for once a year. We chatted about life and the house felt more whole after the blessing.

Right after the priest left, I ran to the bus stop because I was late for meditation. (That is something to meditate about: rushing to calm one's mind...) I often doze off during Wednesday meditation, and yesterday was no different. Anxiety to complete relaxation in a half hour.

I then finished the day with a Balboa lesson, completely concentrating on the "bounce" which was the focus of the day.

So many swings, twists, contrasts, and emotions. So many facets of me and my interactions with the world in one day.

Photo: Image by <a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/nurse-holding-senior-man-s-hands-sympathy_10892968.htm#query=elderly%20people&position=8&from_view=search&track=ais">Freepik</a>

Text: Kristen Mastromarchi