The Little Things That Keep Me Grounded

It is common to refer to how “li’l things” seem to matter so much in life.

My morning coffee is one of those little things: It’s a pleasurable part of my morning routine that I can enjoy for a few minutes. Then my neurogenic bladder starts reminding me that coffee is a bladder irritant. That’s okay. The price I pay for this pleasure is manageable, provided I have an accessible toilet, preferably my own.

I have often wondered why the little things like my coffee evoke such emotion and are such an important part of my day. It’s probably because these things are consistent in my very inconsistent world.

Some of the small things I value are my porch, with its fairy house, where the hummingbirds and butterflies play; my intense visualization during my daily 20-minute “reset”; and my overall daily routine.

These places and rituals are part of my every day, helping to smooth out all the inconsistent edges in my life. In no way am I saying that this is all I look forward to just because I’m mostly home-bound and need a wheelchair to get around. Actually, I look at all this as a mechanism to further my emotional self, which impacts me physically. So in the overall scheme of things, the “little things” are crucial to my well-being!

My Porch and Fairy House

My porch is not much to most people; it’s just a porch with a trellis with climbing plants. To me, however, it is my Garden of Eden.

I have watched this porch evolve from when the plants were little and the pavers that now make the surface of the porch weren’t there. The only thing I had was a gorgeous view of the meadow in front of me. Now the plants have grown, and the structure is complete. I avoid sitting on the porch during the hot hours of the day but enjoy cooler times.

A good friend used her amazing ceramic skills and made me a fairy house that lights up with solar lighting at night. This has turned out to be a very special space. I can watch the butterflies and hummingbirds sharing my space.

My Daily Visualization

When I do my daily visualization for 20 minutes every day — what I call my “reset” — it somehow grounds me. I have realized that the energy I gain from a good night’s sleep will not last all day. Thus, I reset after lunch. Now, my visualization is detailed, but I trust you will see how I crafted this little time for myself. Here it is:

Two skeletons walk out of a dark space together, holding Greek-looking pedestals upon which to sit, cackling with creaking bones, talking eerily between themselves. As they emerge into the sunlight, which is not their usual habitat, they glow white. They walk over to a nice stone wall (which my partner, David, made), put their pedestals down, and sit on them, as directed by me. I ask one of them to stand up as I spray-paint it an eerie green fluorescent color. The sun beams down and dries the skeleton. I do the same with the second skeleton: spray paint and dry off. I then ask both skeletons to sit and relax on the pedestals. By the way, I am walking in this visualization and not in my wheelchair. I open my bag and retrieve a thick liquid pen with a tip. The color inside the pen is a whitish yellow. I then approach each skeleton, asking them to stand as I draw on each of their myelin sheaths, covering their arms and fingers, down their legs, up their spinal columns to the important optic nerves and the important brain structures. After all that, the skeletons are restless to get back to their dark surroundings. My 20-minute reset is over!

This brief reset puts my whole being back in play, so I can successfully use my motor memory to complete tasks. An example of this is when I go to get on the bed using a bar to push down so I can get my legs to stand. This is part of my motor memory, so I know exactly what to do. A reset and rest just make the task easier to carry out.

My Daily Routine

My daily routine is probably the most important thing I have. To ensure things work out, I make sure I am always hydrated before any wheelchair transfers in the bathroom or elsewhere. A good night’s sleep also makes a transfer better.

My daily routine is never a surprise. It’s always consistent, unlike my MS symptoms.

This might not seem like much to others, but at this point in my journey, it is paramount!