TAKE CARE OF YOUR WINGS

 If anyone had told me when I was 7, or 9, or 13, that I had wings hidden in my back. I would have scoffed, told them they were crazy, and gone on my way muttering, "Wings, indeed! Where did they get that from?"

 

 You might ask where I got "that" from as well. But it is simply this: as a firm believer in the after-life, I think we shall be transformed in some way. Perhaps with wings, maybe with wheels like the cherubim, or with some other form. And if I believe in this (you may not, of course), then I know I need to start preparing for the life to come.

 That doesn't mean that I go to Confession every Saturday, do the Ignatian Exercises,

 take up traveling to a Monastery and spending weeks there. It just means that I've gotta have my eyes on the prize and be aware of what takes me away from my future life. Here are a few things, familiar to many who have followed my blog before:

1/ StitchFix clothing.

 Somehow it is part of my inner self that getting new clothes in the mail lifts me up. It takes away from some of the feeling that "we are doomed," as my older brother said in a recent phone conversation, referring to climate change. How some little chotchke, made in China, could take away from my feelings of doom is ridiculous. So I have got to work on this, although I seriously do not want to.

2/ Seeing how many people have clicked on "Like" on my FB posts, food photos, photos of the dog and relatives, and more. How could this possibly add to my sense of inner worth? Gad.

3/ Spending too much time on Social Media, especially FB, Instagram, and Pinterest. Although to be fair, I did start this during chemo, and it helped me enormously. But now I waste tons of time following people I will never meet in my lifetime, making comments on folks' posts who I will never see on this earth but who I am convinced are wrong, and if I could only meet them in person and shout in their faces, they would be convinced of my rightness.

4/ Shopping for food on Instacart. 

Now, there is a good reason for doing this, seeing as I am now 76 (say it ain't so!), with Dysautonomia and Peripheral Neuropathy, which can make walking challenging and shopping difficult. But again, the very act of firing up my computer, going to the InstaCart site and buying things, gives me a lift inside. OG RED PEPPERS! FRESH CILANTRO! NON-GLUTEN BREAD! RICOTTA CHEESE! Nothing wrong with a lift, esp. seeing as the pandemic is not done yet, if ever. But I cannot rely on these external things to get my internal wings in shape. What can I do? What can you do?

REMEDIES:

1/ Get out in nature,

 watch the birds, stand on a beach and feel the water curling over your bare toes. Snuggle with your dog or cat, hug someone you love, and more. Being near other creatures helps our souls. God appreciates us when we love her creation. And remember this: as some of you know, I get "God messages" from time to time. Awhile ago, when praying I told God I would miss birds in heaven. The immediate reply was, "What makes you think there are no birds in heaven, Annie?" This was a tad shocking but also reassuring.

2/ Do something for someone else.  This has been a bit hard during the damn pandemic, when we were virtually house-bound. But now we can get out and about, there is so much we can do, such as: giving money to the Food Bank; sending a check to the Survival Center; making chocolate chip cookies (argh, 2 sticks of butter and 1 and 1/2 cups sugar!) for street people as our UCC church does "Cathedral in the Night," an open-air, short church service in Northampton with food for 70-100 people. I think sugary, buttery cookies might give some folks down on their luck a lift, don't you?

3/ Call and/or email someone who is hurting. So many folks are suffering after these last almost 3 years that I am sure you have--as I do--a long check-list of people to call and ask, "How's your day going?" As a cancer survivor remember not to ask, "How are you feeling?" Because often they feel like utter crap. Much better do inquire about their day.  Another good one is, "What did you do that you liked today?" Sometimes it could take a long time for your person to respond, esp. if they are depressed. I always like: I kissed the dog, brushed my teeth, made my bed, had a cappuccino, and ate ice cream straight from the carton with the fridge door wide open, making that annoying beep.

4/ Spend time with the Daily Readings. 

 Scripture helps to fill up that void inside, to give you a wider view of the world and what is happening. (And I don't mean reading the news here.) This news is from God, however you conceive him or her to be. It reminds me that I am not alone on this difficult journey we call life. It tells me that someone bigger than me adores me, despite my many failings. It reminds me that I am held in God's heart and hands. Whatever you need to do that keeps you connected to God is good, unless it is snorting white powder as Trump's kids are said to do.

5/ Play with children. Kids are in the present, and anything that draws us in and keeps us in the present is invaluable. It is hard to think about your weird toes and the way your neck cracks audibly when you turn your head when you are on the floor making Lincoln log cabins or playing jacks. Also kids laugh way more than we do, as research shows: 300 per day for them and about 15-20 for us. Sigh. Also, remember Jesus said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me," so he must have known being in their presence would help us become more holy.

6/ Confront your mortality. I so hate this. As Woody Allen once said, "I am not afraid of dying, but I don't want to be there when it happens." Ditto. As a 76 year-old broad, I need to make some plans, as in: cremation or burial? In a forest, the ocean, or the village cemetery near my beloved parents? I saw on FB awhile back a great group of older women who got some cardboard coffins and put them in the church basement. 

Using many different colors, they painted beautiful, bright designs on the inside and outside of these "coffins," joking and laughing as they did so. This is one way to take the sting out of mortality.

These are just some ways you can polish your hidden wings. I bet you have more you could add, and please feel free to do so in the comments section. (It takes awhile to appear as I have to approve as moderator of this site.) And me? I am denying my mortality as fast as I can: buying things online, singing off-key, making tons of food--'cause if I am eating I am not dying, right? And knowing that in the end, when it comes, I will slip out of my body like one of my children being born, slipping into God's hands who will say, "Here you are, sweetheart! I have been waiting for you, my beloved!"