Convalesce
Convalesce :: to recover health and strength after illness.
I am especially happy to be living a slower life these days. You see, many in our culture are greatly pressed upon to hurry up and get back at it when they’re ill. Or, even worse, they are forced to artificially suppress their symptoms instead of truly addressing the root of the illness.
A few weeks ago Papa came down with something. This mysterious illness has had him out of commission for one reason or another ever since.
And then there is the virus. This stomach virus has swept through our entire community, leaving almost no one unturned. It is hard to watch your child be so sick when the only thing you can do for them is hold them and reassure them.
Just when the worst was over for them it hit their Papa… and the next night their Mama. Our little bean slept through much of the chaos of the virus that went on around her and never caught so much as a touch of it. I attribute that to the fact that she is still nursing like a champ.
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The one thing she has caught is a slightly stuffy nose, which in the life of a baby can cause quite the ruckus with her difficulty in performing the most basics of life such as eating and sleeping. But a little eucalyptus oil and some snuggles and a song is all this little one usually needs for a smile that could cheer up even the most ill among us.
I know there are some things that just have to get done, no matter how sick you are. I know about icky laundry and preparing nourishment and work deadlines. I know what it’s like to really need to be somewhere but still having to say no. But if you can surround yourself with people who truly care about your well being they will honor the rest that is needed and the time that it takes.
And they might even wash your laundry and your dishes when they’re not knocked down themselves.
So we’ve been here, we’ve just been taking the time to recover our health – to drink bowls of broth and mugs of tea, to snuggle up and take extra naps when the baby sleeps, and to only do the most basic of living.
And maybe, just maybe, we might be getting back to normal. And normal is highly underrated.
I too had to make a conscious choice to convalesce last week. I’m a schoolteacher and there’s a culture of “fighting through it” because hiring a substitute and making lessons in absentia is hard. But I think the culture I’m in also values work over health. I chose to stay home on a Friday and the following Monday…feeling a little bit guilty, but knowing in my heart I needed to just lay down and do nothing….not even grade papers!
Mental work (like grading) is work is still fatiguing, even if you’re laying down.
I like how you talked about “doing the most basic of living.” As basic as they are, In the end, it’s just the breath and the moment that matter anyway, right?
Thanks for the post. I always love your writing Shannon.
Sarah
There is nothing worse than seeing your children miserably ill and there isn’t much you can do to make it better. Can you tell me how you use essential oils? I have been wanting to get some but cost and shipping always hold me back.
I love the word convelesce. It made me so happy to see it at the top of your post. It also made me glad to see that others are valuing it and not just work, work, work. Be it homework, house work, going to work, whatever. It seems so valued in our culture if you go to bed late and wake up early and go non-stop. I have been sick for almost 2 weeks and finally stopped, stayed home from work and did nothing but “the most basic of living” for 2 days. I’m so glad I did and wish I would have done it sooner. I also agree with the comment about mental energy. It can be so stressful and really make things a lot worse.
The look on that precious little girls face is wonderful. I bet she is very strong minded and will, with time, be very stubborn, like most of us women. LOL She is beautiful. So are the boys, but don’t tell them I said so. That would attack their manhood. Most men don’t know that they can be very beautiful. God only makes beautiful things. Right?