An acupuncture interlude

I'm really trying to get into the habit of blogging every day again.  On my old blog, I would go through pretty prolific streaks, but since I've been pregnant and uncomfortable and lazy, I've gotten out of the habit.  Plus, I feel like I need to have something really profound to say, and most days I just don't.

I live in the mountains in SoCal, and this morning we woke up to late-autumn in May.  I love these days when I can burn gingerbread candles and listen to Christmas music because the weather demands it, rather than the calendar.  Waking up to three cats and a husband cuddling with me in bed is a great way to start the day.

This afternoon I went to acupuncture.  I started acupuncture just over a year ago when I started having really awful anxiety attacks, probably related to PTSD after having a stillborn son.  I heard acupuncture might help, and so, ready to try anything to get rid of what Churchill called the "black dog," I made an appointment.

So here's what you need to know about me and needles: We don't get along.  I have a pretty high pain tolerance for long-term chronic pain, even like childbirth.  But short stabs of pain?  Not my friend.  I passed out getting my eyebrows waxed when I was 19 and woke up in an ambulance.  True story.  I got my ears pierced at the doctors office in case the same thing happened.  Two summers ago I worked up the courage to get a nose piercing, which I love, but I needed to have three people around me holding my hands, like I was in labor.

The first time I went I kept my eyes closed the entire time.  The acupuncturist used the tiniest needles on me, the ones she uses on small kids.  But even still, I couldn't look.  The idea that I was voluntarily getting needles stuck in me, and that this would somehow alter my chi and my well being; well, it seemed...odd.  But I got braver each time, so that now I even get them in my wrist, which is just too freaky for words.  I'm still not a huge fan, but I can tell it makes a difference in me.  When I need to miss an appointment because of travel or something, I wind up noticing it much more than when I miss a therapy appointment.

Now I'm so comfortable that I wind up falling asleep during the appointment, so I get a nice nap.  The music she plays in the afternoon is new-age arrangements of popular 80's songs, so there's a Chicago, "If You Leave Me Now," played on a didgeridoo.  I love that juxtaposition.

I'm going to watch and read the rest of King Lear tonight.  I couldn't take it all in one sitting yesterday.  No wonder the Fool plays such an important role; you need a comedic break for that...