Warm Socks on a Cold Night
For me, there’s nothing more comforting than a pair of warm socks, just out of the dryer, on a cold night. In fact, if I keep my feet warm, I can survive just about anything, even the darkest, most arctic night.
And so it is now. Chilled by current world events, I am searching for warm socks. It’s not just that cold feet are uncomfortable; it’s that they keep me from dancing through life.
Recently, in order to avoid either podiatry or psychiatry (I am not sure which) I polled my friends and associates. What, I wanted to know, calms, soothes, and comforts them in today’s changing world climate?
As Kate Potter, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Carl G. Jung Center in Brunswick, Maine, says, “What nurtures the anxious self within?”
Fur Therapy. Ed Knox, a retired college professor, suggests purr therapy. “I pet my cat. My cat likes it. He purrs. It soothes me.” So cuddle up with your cat or pet your puppy.
Breathe In. Breathe Out. “Watch your breath,” says Kate Potter. “I pay attention to my in and out breath,” she says. “I breathe in love, peace, and harmony. When I breathe out, I let go of all toxins such as worry.”
Flower Power. Power your happiness with fresh flowers. Tamesin Fleenor, a devotee’ of the book, The Artist’s Way, takes herself on an artist’s date once a week.
Last week Tamesin treated herself to twenty-five dollars worth of fresh flowers from the grocery store, Shop and Save. It was an armload, she says. “I was able to make two huge bouquets. Everywhere I looked in my home, I saw flowers. It made me smile.”
Dig in the Dirt. Or hug a tree. Gardening and yard work seem to comfort both men and women. Lauralyn, a vivacious young mother, says her husband spent eight hours working in the yard after he saw disturbing world news on television.
Another way to ground yourself is to sit in your yard with your back to a tree and place your feet firmly in front of you. Imagine that the life-force from the earth is surging up through your feet into your body, calming and balancing you.
Bake Bread or Quilt a Comforter. “Keep your mind and hands busy,” says Rosalie Ober, a retired educator. Although she is quilting a soft, plush, multicolored comforter for her bed, she is also comforting her soul, she says. Baking bread, knitting, woodworking, even painting the walls of a bedroom, can provide cheer and nurturance for ourselves.
Meditate or Pray. When we ask a higher power for help, it centers and calms us. “The world situation has pushed me deeper inside myself,” says Catherine McIntyre. “I have faith that God is with me wherever I am, whatever I do. No matter what happens to me, I know I will be okay.”
Relax in Nature. “What I do,” says my landlady Jean Lincoln, “is feed the squirrels, watch the birds, and take a drive through the back roads.” Jean enjoys the crimson splendor of the changing leaves.
Remember a Happy Time. “See if you can fasten onto a memory of a time when you felt safe, loved, and comforted,” says Kate Potter.
One woman mentions a memory from last summer when she was sitting in a swing by a lake with two college friends whom she had known for thirty years. Rocking slowly back and forth in the swing, she felt soothed and happy. Yet in these stressful times, she says, she likes to know she can return, in memory, to those feelings of safety and joy.
Become a Citizen of the World. Emory University offers many opportunities to educate ourselves about the world situation. “Some of our frustration,” says Sue Kennedy, a former nurse practitioner, “comes from not understanding what is happening and why.” Sue makes a point of reading international publications as well as attending films at Emory about other cultures, especially ones our country is in conflict with now.
