Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer · 2 Comments

Laughing Gas Enlightenment

Not having perfected the one-handed typing technique, this post will be short as I am still needing to hold the ice bag to my post-operative cheek.

Yes, I ventured into the mists. And though I didn’t walk there like the ancient Chinese poets, I was still gifted with a nitrous oxide-induced moment of divinity.

Here at home, as I rest and heal, I recall how I lay beneath the mask in the dentist chair. The misty cool entering my nostrils in a whirring, soft hiss. How soon, some goofy smile spread across my face, despite myself. And then the elation. All points culminating to that time and place. A reverberating space where there existed one simple truth: nothing is all that serious.

What was real was a pervasive sense of happiness. And in that moment, all was right with the world.

And then everything faded as the anesthesia took over and my wisdom teeth were extracted from my jaw.

Jessica Dofflemyer

Surfacing from the haze, I linger with that silly smile that bloomed upon my face. I want to remember that and conjure it for the rest of my days. Tap that source that doesn’t need a tank of nitrous oxide.

Right now it hurts a bit to grin that big. Right now, it’s just me and my starry ice pack. Arnica and carrot juice. Salt water swishes. But I’m still basking in the gift the mists of nitrous oxide gave me.

Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer · 2 Comments

Into the Mists

The Old Poets of China

Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe
that I do not want it. Now I understand
why the old poets of China went so far and high
into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.

~ Mary Oliver

courtesy of palindrome6996

In my own way, today, I drift into the mists. Anesthesia-induced, yes. Though it still counts. I’ll think of it as time travel.

And when I come back to this world, my retreat will begin. Bed and rest. I’ve put everything in order. The busy will go on without me.

If I’ve got to pull some wisdom teeth to get my modern hermitage, then so be it.

Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer

Extraction

They say you can run, but you can’t hide.  Looks like that little smiley molar has finally caught up with me.

Remember?

Back in November when I first started writing to the Archives, there was that dental visit.  The wisdom teeth assessment.  And me, ever-hopeful to avoid the surgical knife, researching positive affirmations to heal my third molar complications.  Or at least hold the inevitable at bay.

I’m not knocking Louise Hay or the power to heal yourself through the mind (or other alternative methods – if you read my posts of late, you’ll know that is quite possibly happening for me in other areas of my physical health).

Truth be told, I don’t think I was very dedicated at repeating Louise’s uplifting mantra, specifically aimed for wisdom teeth issues.  Not that it’s my fault these teeth are giving some trouble.  Frankly, I’ve been monitoring their progress via x-rays for 8 years.  They’re determined.  They’re on the move.  They want down and out.  Free to be!

Ok, so maybe they’re not going about it on an exactly straight and narrow path (what’s the fun in that?!).  Maybe they do have a bit of an angle in their trajectory.  Looks like they need a little guidance.  Some help in setting them free, once and for all.

courtesy of walknboston

And in their slow-mo descent through my gums, perhaps I need the Louise-Hay-positive-affirmation-reminder as a peace-maker.  An antidote to the suffering that comes with resistance.  A way to embrace this extraction.  Frankly, until this morning, I’d forgotten the maxim completely.

 “I open my consciousness to the expansion of life.  There is plenty of space for me to grow and change.”

Ok.  I feel like I’m expanding already.  Busting out into new realms.  Just like my top two wisdom teeth, which, as of Friday, will finally see the light of day.  And then I guess it will be their ultimate demise.  I can bless their passing.  Let go with love.

Discover a whole new appetite for soup.