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.

Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer

November 9, 2010

If one were looking for the profound in the mundane (and here in the Archives that ‘one’ is me, and I am on the lookout) then I may have found something.  It doesn’t get more ordinary than a teeth cleaning at the dentist.  And yet…

Perhaps modern dentistry isn’t so commonplace.  I ponder further and realize that for a large portion of the world without access to regular dental care, having the plaque scraped free and the teeth polished is an extraordinary experience.  And in my case, couple that with a dental office nestled in a Hawaiian seaside village and you have one impacting appointment.

below the dentist's chair ~ photo by Jessica Dofflemyer

 

Impacting being the operative word.  (Oh, the puns abound).  The first question the hygienist asks me when I arrive is if I have had those impacted wisdom teeth surgically removed yet.  I explain that saving up the $1500 to do so has been slow going – but hey, I think one of them has poked through the gum.  That’s helpful, right?

Just like Jeb, I’m still cutting teeth.  Wisdom ones at that.  I reflect on the significance (if any) and wonder at the fact that these teeth are still moving.  Nothing is stagnant.  I’m still changing.

I go to Louise Hay‘s, “You Can Heal Your Life” (I can’t help it, my friend gave me the book) to find out the thoughts she believes are connected to my teeth.  She suggests that impacted wisdom teeth may come from “not giving mental space to create a firm foundation.”

To be honest, I don’t understand exactly what this means.  Maybe I’m not giving enough mental space to it.

Still, my wisdom teeth and I are feeling quite open-minded as I consider Louise’s affirmation antidote:

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

Maybe that little protruding tooth has dropped down as proof-positive that I am opening and expanding.  Let’s hope so.  Maybe I’ll expand into a couple thousand dollars so I can spring for the happy gas.

In perfect Kauai woo-woo fashion, the oral surgeon who can remove these impacting teeth offers a yogic meditation CD to help calm prior to surgery.  I have the choice to use just the meditation techniques and a local anesthetic or be completely put under with the laughing gas.

I’d like to think that I could Buddha myself into such a calm state that I wouldn’t mind hearing the sound of the teeth coming out of my head.  But I don’t want to risk being wrong.  Perhaps I’ll be accessing this level of expanded consciousness after they’re removed.

http://www.freeclipartpics.com

I’ve got the meditation CD.  I should just start listening to it so I can cope with regular day stuff.  Getting Jeb to shampoo his hair is like pulling teeth…

 

 

Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer

October 13, 2010

It was just me and my neti pot today.

Came down with some sort of head cold last night and have been flushing the nasal passages all day.

I gave my boy a late lunch of pad thai noodle take-out but by now dinner is looking like some beef jerky, a pickle and a glass of milk.  I ponder the fact that I’m blogging here but not making a decent meal for my son.  I made a commitment to post one daily chronicle for 40 days.  Come hell or highly stuffed noses, I’m writing once a day.

Jeb is ready for bed and now I’m going to go curl up with Louise Hay.