Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf

I got the proverbial Thanksgiving cold. It was there in the background hovering over my day on Thanksgiving but it held back its full force until my family left and then it slammed me with full hurricane strength. It was the first cold I had in years. Because I hadn’t experienced its personality in many years I forgot all my old home remedies I used to use to send it back out to the atmosphere away from me.

I woke the Friday morning after Thanksgiving knowing my day was going to be challenging. I also knew I was going to save a lot of money as there would no shopping for me on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I couldn’t hold my eyes steady enough to even push the buy button on my laptop let alone find the steals and deals.

The last time Mr. Cold visited my body I had a job that took me out of my home. As I reluctantly threw my covers off to tackle my to-do list for the day, I realized I could stay in bed. I didn’t have a boss waiting for me at the office who expected me to be there no matter what my health status was. And I could stay home because I didn’t have to worry about a paycheck coming from somewhere else. I wasn’t going to scold myself for not showing up to work.

I settled in and tried to decide what I could do to make this nasty intruder go away quickly. I turned on my heating pad, lathered on the Vicks Vapor Rub, gathered a hot drink, Kleenexes and a good book. I must admit I felt guilty wallowing in bed and not doing something productive with my day.

The second day I thought I had whipped the bug. I felt better. I got busy with my writing, doing dishes, washing clothes and more. I worked in my pajamas, something I never do, but my author friends tell me it is a freeing experience so I decided to try it.  And then the bug hurricane hit the shore of my body with a category five cough. Out came the cough drops, the hot tea and lemon and Air Borne. Did I mention I dislike cold medicine and drugs so I tried to stay away from them? Those things calmed my cough for a short time. Night came, and I gave it up and took a cold tablet. It helped me get through the night for a tiny amount of sleep.

I like alternative options, so I thought I might look to see if there was some meditation for coughs and cold. I didn’t believe there would be and if there was, that it would work, but I opened YouTube and ran a search. There was meditation for coughs and colds and flu. It said it was therapy with binaural beats and isochronic tones. I had no idea what that meant but decided to play the hour-long meditation.

Bird tweets, some kind of beat, an ocean sound and piano music played harmoniously. I liked the tones and the music drew me in and I relaxed. Before I knew it, my coughing silenced, and I felt better. I finished the meditation and then fell asleep for hours. I decided my body finally had decided to let up with the coughing, and it didn’t have anything to do with the music.

The next day I again went into a coughing spell. I turned to the same meditation music because it was pretty and it relaxed me, not because I thought it would work. Again, my cough quieted and I felt better.

Trying to decide if feeling better after the meditation was a fluke (it didn’t really work, did it?), I remembered a workshop I attended years ago. The study concentrated on the way music vibrations affect water. Humans apparently are 90 percent water, and since each cell in our body has a high consistency of water, our body reacts to sound based on the properties of water. The woman at the workshop showed us if we played heavy metal music the vibrations changed and the water crystals malformed. If the music was mellow, the crystals formed a perfect snowflake or a whimsical shape. I thought the workshop was interesting, but of course, I didn’t really believe it, although I know there are scientific studies which support this.

I do know my plants actually grow better with soothing music playing. I do know when an acquaintance tried a Reiki session on me, that despite my skepticism my aches and pains and headaches went away for weeks. I do know I can’t touch the air I breathe, and I can’t see it, but I believe that is what keeps me alive. I know when I pray I can’t see how prayer works, but I know it does. There are many unbelievable events which happen that make me believe something works even though I can’t explain why they work.

I conclude that the meditation, despite my common sense telling me the opposite, may have been the catalyst to my healing. It is the Christmas season. The season to believe in miracles, to believe that which our eyes cannot see but which our hearts feel. In my life this season there are circumstances that bring feelings of sadness. However, that which I cannot see or touch, but can feel, keeps the spirit of hope alive in my life.

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at hermionyvidaliabooks@gmail.com.