When Reading is Medicine...
Can words bring us closer to health?
What is medicine?
Medicine is something that helps us move towards health.
It could be an allopathic antibiotic intended to rid our bodies of harmful bacteria so we can return to health or an adaptogenic herb that will support our body in managing stress.
Can words be medicine? I believe they can be. Words can nourish us out of despair and into hope. Words can crack our hearts open to the possibility of love. Words can hold our hands through grief.
I hope my writing serves as a micro-dose of healing.
In the Jewish Tradition they say that dreaming is one sixtieth of prophecy and sleep is one sixtieth of death. Well my hope is that each time someone reads something I write it’s at least one sixtieth of an acupuncture treatment...
My intention is to share words that touch people’s hearts and minds and bring them into contact with the wholeness that's already there.
On my better days, when I'm checking out at the grocery store, I make eye contact and connect with this other human as a human. Maybe that's medicine too?
When I'm resourced I reach out to friends who I know are in the thick of it to say hello and check in. Medicine.
Holding the door open for the person behind you...Medicine?
It's a big world. We're small people. But each an every gesture of kindness has an impact. So many things we can do to make a difference. Maybe we won't solve world hunger or poverty. But maybe contributing to the dignity of someone living unhoused by making eye contact and smiling at them and wishing them a good day,(and giving them the granola bar we keep in our bag for just these occasions), is enough.
I see you're a human being just like me.
What's it feel like, right now in your body. Eyes glued to a screen. What happen when you take a deep breath, feel your feet, wiggle your sweet lovely toes, smile. Medicine?
With warmth,
Noah