Favorite Place

Cape Breton.
Most beautiful place on earth.

My surgery is tomorrow, and I’ve been getting prepared. Belleruth Naparstek, my new best friend, has been guiding me through some meditation. Her voice, which comes through my ipod, tells me that my body (intelligent & vital) and the doctors (caring, confident) will work together to make me strong and whole. In soothing tones she reminds me that bright new cells are lining up to do exactly what they’re supposed to do, and I am completely, and utterly safe. She neglects to mention if any of the doctors are incredibly handsome.

Then Belleruth encourages me to go to a place that I love. It is of my choosing, and can be real, or imagined. Once there, she invites me to look around, feel the sun on my face, enjoy the comfort of a warm breeze, or a cozy fire. The feel of a soft blanket,  the smell of the ocean, a pine forest,  the sounds of laughter, or birds.

This part of the meditation drives me a bit nuts because there are too many choices. At first, I settle down with Earl and Kathleen on the back deck of their house in Cape Breton, and listen to the crickets. The sun is indeed on my face. From the kitchen I hear fiddle music on the radio, and off in the distance, the sound of tires crunching on a gravel road. Earl is telling a story, and is chuckling. I am breathing deeply and with contentment. But wait!  There’s an empty muskoka chair on a dock in Honey Harbour. Dammit! I’m on the move.

I'll be back!

In a split second I go from Cape Breton to my cousin’s dock, where she is laying out lunch for four of our girlfriends, which we will eat while gazing out over the water. Belleruth tells me to breath more deeply, but I’m not even settled into my chair! Would I like a glass of  Proseco? Yes please, that would be lovely. Quickly I try to catch up to Belleruth. I experience the sun on my face, a bird, and the sounds of the popping cork. I await contentment.

At this point I’m supposed to be deep in my favorite place. I try to concentrate on the soft air, and the gentle breeze that blows around me. Is my hair blowing?  (Belleruth doesn’t mention whether or not my hair has grown back, or if I’ve been able to dye it, or if even Cosmo has been available for an an appointment). Perhaps I am barefoot, says Belleruth, and can feel the warm floor beneath my feet. Wait! Warm feet are a great idea, but why not go for warm rocks – the kind that slope gently from Kathy Morgan’s cottage in Go Home Bay. And just as I’m supposed to be going into deeper relaxation I’m zipping off again, where I quickly place myself down on the warm rock between my friends Kathy and Katie, and a delicious plate of cambazola.

Kathleen, Jim, Lobster

By now Belleruth is way ahead of me and is introducing my ‘magical friends and protectors’. Huh? I’m barely settled and have to start all over with the warm breeze on my face. I look for a bird. I haven’t even decided if I’m lying on a towel or directly on the rock, and Katie still hasn’t opened the wine cus she can’t figure out the corkscrew. I lean back and try to inhale sunlight into my belly. (Why didn’t I bring a screwtop?) I should be relaxed, but I’m curious about what Kathleen was making for dinner, and end up back in her kitchen just as Earl and Jim are about to crack into a perfectly chilled lobster claw.

I am not relaxed. Not at all. I have too many favorite places, and my ‘magical friends’ are getting hungry, and one of them is a vegetarian.  But I am happy and grateful that I have so many places I like to be. So I send the vegetarian back to Marilyn’s, and tell Katie to call me when she figures out the corkscrew. In the meantime, I stay in Cape Breton for a lobster dinner, and listen to the rest of Earl's story.