TheraFlu Philosophy....

Confined to my room due to illness (you remember that scene from "The Matrix" where Agent Smith just pummels the shit out of Neo in that subway tunnel toward the end of the movie? That is how my chest feels right now) and completely doped up on TheraFlu, I have just read the entirety of "My Sister's Keeper," by Jodi Picoult which, has to be said, is a FANTASTIC book. I could not put it down. I guess if I am going to be trapped in a small room for hours on end with nothing to entertain me but a pile of movies I have seen 100 times and stack of random books, I could not have asked for a better novel.

Anyway, I came across this great passage from the book that I thought I would share.

"Life sometimes gets so bogged down in the details, you forget you are living it. There is always another appointment to be met, another bill to pay, another symptom presenting, another uneventful day to be notched onto the wood wall. We have synchronized our watches, studied our calendars, existed in minutes, and completely forgotten to step back and see what we've accomplished" (341).

Funny, as I was walking home last night, up Nauwieserstraße, there was such an overwhelming scent emanating from the trees that lined the street. Because it was around midnight, there were not too many cars driving on the road, and I had to stop and just take in that powerfully aromatic smell; oddly enough, it reminded me of home--not a physical place, but that metaphysical place that resides in all of us, that sometimes gets lost along the way.

I stood on the sidewalk for five minutes, eyes closed (probably not the smartest thing in Saarbrücken late at night, but oh well) and just appreciated the moment I was in. I cannot remember the last time a smell caused me to stop and just breathe, to take in the air and the light, to experience life at that exact moment. Granted, I think my little stop last night in the rain caused my slight cold to explode into what it is now, I remembered what it was to truly appreciate these tiny instances that are connected, to everyone and everything, and that these instances only seem random until they are woven into the larger canvas that is our existence, our lives.