As far as I can remember, this is the first time that our
anniversary has fallen on Erev Yom Kippur. So this year we got each other
flowers a day early. Here are those
flowers, with a bonus ‘self-portrait’ included in one of the photos.
Now it’s Tuesday already, and I’m still recovering from the
weekend. A 25-hour fast is not to be
undertaken lightly. I participate in the
fast partly because I feel it makes fasting easier for those around me. I once tried a fast on Good Friday, when no
one else in the family was fasting, and it was a complete failure. It’s hard to abstain from food when everyone
else isn’t.
The Yom Kippur fast is also a spiritual exercise for
me. In a certain sense, I find this holiday
satisfying because it allows me time to spend concentrating on prayer. It’s amazing how much less I have to do when
(a) I have already cleaned the house and (b) I don’t have to prepare meals for
anybody.
This year it was not the fast itself that was difficult for
me, but other things about the weekend that don’t have anything to do with our
anniversary or with the Jewish holiday. Things
that won’t be posted here, to preserve the privacy and sanity of people I love.
But the weekend is over now.
In order to dissipate my tension I did what many self-respecting
American suburbanite mothers would do: I
baked chocolate chip cookies. I talked
with friends. I also went to the dentist
today, which turned out to be an excellent psychotherapy session. And.... no cavities!
And so we move on. On
to the beauty of fall, the pressure of PSATs, the mailing of care packages to
college students, the horror of 7th-grade math homework (actually it’s
not the homework itself that is a horror, but the reaction of the 7th
grader to the homework).
So, dear reader, what have you been up to? Anything satisfying, difficult, or
cookie-related that you would like to share?
3 comments:
Satisfying? The glass of wine I'm enjoying. Difficult? The daily grind of going to work everyday. Cookie-related? I ate a whole bunch of them today!
I'm so glad you satisfied yourself after a fast. I've never fasted--don't know if I could.
What satisfies me is the great weather we're enjoying AND an edited manuscript all wrapped up.
I have never fasted either, but I can understand how that might free up time for meditation and reflection :-)
I am feeling satisfied by having finished both the anxiety-ridden hurdle of Emma being away for two nights (the anxiety was on her part, but that stresses me), and the coming-down-from-that-anxiety week afterward. She has finally gotten enough sleep again, and has resumed her normal behavior.
Ah, math homework. I am constantly amazed at how much Emma hates math homework. If she'd put half that energy into just getting it done, the whole process would be so much less consuming!
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