Aromatherapy
Judy Conlin
Nurse Judy, my diva alter ego, is lying on the couch in her pink negligee and open-toed pink high heel slippers with a fashion magazine across her lap. She scowls at me. “Will you please sit down? You’re making me nervous flitting around like a Junebug.”
“It’s a good thing I do flit,” I say. “Since you do absolutely nothing.”
I am taking care of myself,” she says.
“What do you mean?” I ask. “It looks to me like you’re just lounging around as usual.”
“I’m practicing aroma therapy,” she says blithely.
“What is that? I ask. I notice she has candles burning on each end table. “Don’t get hot wax on my sofa,” I tell her. As I walk away, I add. “A
nd don’t set the house afire.”
“They are part of the therapy,” she says. “They soothe one’s senses and rejuvenate one’s soul.”
Nurse Judy always smells good. When you walk by her you feel like you’ve just walked by the perfume counter in a department store. The smell wafting from the candles was lovely but different. It was softer and more relaxing “.Why do you need this therapy?”” I ask her. “You are the most relaxed person I know, and I’ve never noticed you worrying about your soul before.”
She gives me a sour look. “It’s all because of you.” she says. “You have disruptive energy flying out of every pore and it is unsettling me. “You cook, but you don’t eat. That doesn’t bother me because you could stand to lose a few pounds. I just can’t understand why you keep flitting around the kitchen cooking up all that stuff and then not eating it. You love to eat.”
“Just not hungry,” I say.
“You don’t sit in your chair and watch TV. Like you used to,” she observes.
“Not interested,” I say.
“You’ve been carrying that book around with you, but you haven’t read one page.” She says.
“Not interested,” I respond.
“You are not sleeping at night,” she says, “and you’re keeping me awake with your pacing around.”
“Just not sleepy,” I say.
“The puzzling thing is that you’re not doing the things you always loved to do. I know you do not have the fashion sense that I do. You do not love to go shopping like I do. You don’t love parties and social events like I do and am so good at. You don’t love to entertain like I do, but you do love to eat, to sleep, to read, and to watch TV. and you’re not doing those things. What is going on? You are disturbing my inner harmony.”
I look at her and start to cry. “It’s just that I am overwhelmed right now,” I wail. “We’ve been trying to downsize and look at houses. We’ve been trying to fix this house up for sale. Our AC hasn’t been working “
She looks at me. “None of those are major problems,” she says. “Shape up.”
“And worst of all our patient has gone to Hospice House.”
Nurse Judy hugs me.
“Come over here and have some aromatherapy with me,” she says.
I may not be able to do anything about any of these problems, but I sure am going to smell good. I need to stop and smell her candles and be thankful for all my blessings.
More later,
Judy
www.nursejudyinfo.com