Sick
December 29, 2008. There are few things in life worse than throwing up. I actually haven’t done it since I was like seven.
My daughter has the stomach flu. She’s been throwing up all evening. When you’re young, that’s got to be such a terrifying feeling. Food isn’t meant to travel in that direction.
Even though it’s been forever since I’ve done it, I still remember all of the sensations that go along with it. The overwhelming nausea, the watering of the mouth, the bizarre out-of-body moment right before.
And there was my daughter, experiencing all of it, and I was helpless. All I could do was hold her and tell her that it would be ok.
You know, I said that there was little worse than throwing up. There’s also little better than the feeling of relief that sometimes comes after we get it all out. Sometimes it takes having one of the worst experiences of our lives in order to fully appreciate the good stuff.
Our physical state affects us so much. If I get the stomach flu, I’m competely laid out. Emotionally I feel drained, my mental faculties don’t seem to work right, spiritually I feel cut-off.
Maybe there’s something to learn here. We rarely (or at least, I rarely) think about the physical state our characters are in. Are they suffering from a cold? Do they have a headache? Peptic ulcer?
Another thing to think about - when something emotional happens to our characters, how does it affect them physically? I know when I get really bad news, it sometimes feels like a kick in the gut.
Anyway, just something for me to ruminate on while I sit and huggle my little girl by the porcelain throne… 
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Great insights
As always! 
Carolyn said this on January 1st, 2009 at 5:11 pm