Laura Lavigne
  • Home
  • COACHING
    • COACHING PACKAGES
  • THE SCHOOL
  • Blog
  • ART
  • MORE
    • Happiness Retreats >
      • Sacred Joy Gathering 2023
      • La Dolce Vita Happiness Retreat 2019
    • THE HAPPINESS SPRINKLING PROJECT
    • THE CENTER FOR HAPPINESS
    • HAPPINESS SPRINKLING CARDS
    • BOOKS BY LAURA
    • Laura's YouTube Channel
    • Essence Facilitators

Scared Out of Her Wits - and an Idea.

5/7/2019

 
Picture
At a cardiology appointment last week.

I am there for support. To soothe nerves, take notes, hold a hand and ask cool headed questions.

As we enter the waiting room, I can feel my own heart shrink around the edges.  Nice room, art on the walls, many chairs, tall check-in counters. The kind that separates elegantly the well from the not-so-well..

We find our spot with one empty seat on each side of us and we get settled for what could be a long-ish wait.

I watch people enter the room, make their way to the tall counters then look for their own waiting spot.

An older woman walks in pushing a walker. She looks around the room, seeming a little lost,  and decides on a chair a few feet from us. She makes her way there, sits down with a sigh and I find myself unable to stop staring.

She looks scared out of her wits. Her right hand is shaking. Her eyes are darting from left to right to left.

Pretty soon an older gentleman arrives, picks up some paperwork at the desk, and delivers them to her. She shakes her head and pleads with him: "I don't want to fill out any more forms." "I know you don't sweetheart. But we have to." Looking exhausted, he sits on the walker and starts to shuffle the papers, maybe considering filling them out himself.

My mind is having a talk with my heart. My heart says "Get your butt off your chair and walk to her." My mind feigns outrage and retorts: "and then what? Do you think you can do something about this? Who do you think you are?"

My heart wins and my feet make their way right next to her. To her left.

Of course, I don't have a plan and my mind is having a good time with it all, rolling its little eyes.

So my heart takes over and makes me bend down and ask the woman if it would be okay for me to touch her. Will she think I am deranged? Touch her how? I don't even know the answer to that.

She nods and whispers "Yes please."

I place one hand on her back and one on her left arm. I don't move either hand, but instead, just settle right there. Within less than five seconds, I feel her relax from the inside out as though something rigid had suddenly melted. Her right hand is steadily on the arm of the chair. No more shaking.

Feeling the same softening inside of me (my mind seems to have gone out on an errand), I whisper to her that it's going to be okay. I say it once more.
I see her husband watching us and looking relieved.

When the nurse calls out her name, all three of us look up and they begin their trek to the examination room where someone, something, awaits them. As they walk away, she thanks me quietly, he thanks me quietly. I walk back to my chair.

So little happened. And so much happened.

No money was spent, no special skills were used. We were together for less than 4 minutes.

And yet. Yet, I truly believe that they walked into the exam room much calmer, much more available to receive whatever was going to be needed of them.

Which of course, planted an idea in my head: Waiting Room Hosts and Hostesses. Someone whose job would be solely to welcome and nurture patients and their families before big appointments. I see them in cardiology offices, cancer wings, surgery departments, children hospitals (oh yes, in children's hospitals).

Offer a cup of tea, a few seconds of eye contact, possibly a hand on the back if welcome, a genuine, non-medical question... some human connection.

Medical waiting rooms are scary, sometimes lonely places. We might be at our most vulnerable, whether we are the patient or the support person - the one who feels as though their heart walks out of their own body.

Chances are, we will all spend a few minutes in these environments. Or someone we love will. All of us.

Wouldn't it be nice to receive some personal kindness, during these moments? Some reassurance?

So yes, that's my big idea today. I am not sure what happens next, but I would love to read what you think about it.

Today, I invite you to dare to send your mind on a little walk when your heart asks to be the boss for a bit. I invite you to risk being turned down or worse,  ridiculed when you know that doing nothing would be cutting off a part of you.

I invite you to write back to me and let me know your thoughts about this idea that has been turning round and round in my head.

Wishing you a lovely day,

XOXO

Comments are closed.

    ♥️
    SUBSCRIBE
    TO MY BLOG HERE 

    ♥️

    SCARED OF THE SACRED

    Picture
    Picture

    HAPPINESS SCHOOL:
    90 days to up-level your life in a FOREVER way.


    My Elephant Journal Articles:


    Scared of the Sacred - Texas, Afghanistan and Sea Turtles

    What Happens When We Half A** Our Apologies

    I wasn't Expecting to Lose my Emotional Virginity on Lesvos

    Becoming One With My Backpack, at 53

    Some Days We Have to Mow the Lawn Twice


    The Lesson I Learned from a Moroccan Street Market

    Dear Man Who Says He Wants Intimacy

    How to Not Abandon Ourselves When the Going Gets Rough

    Just Sitting There Doing Nothing: What I Learned From an Italian Balcony
    Picture
    "Every time I read your blog I am so profoundly happy I did.  The truth you speak is just mindboggling.  The real, real voice you have.  It makes me almost crazy how much I love your words and your way of telling stories that cut to the quick- and I never have the words to really say how much this all means to me. 

    You put out so many heartfelt blog pieces that touch my heart and move me down the right path at the right time.  Pure beautiful magic girlie. I love you for this.

    Thank you for digging in there and finding the gems of wisdom and then just sharing them out as if there's an endless supply ... which with you, there is."


    "Thank you for sharing your wonderful, heartbreaking, exhilarating experience with the world."

    "Thank You Laura for sharing, for teaching and spreading loving kindness. "

    "I think I love you. You bring good things into my life, or remind me of things I love and know, but have let go of."

    "Laura, you are so good for me. I laugh and sniffle and get the shivers when I read your essays. Thanks so much for letting all your wonderfulness run around loose."

    "Heart-achingly beautiful, your words and how you reveal your truth."

    "Thank you so much for who you are and what you share with the world. Your mere being transforms lives as it has transformed mine. This particular post did to my heart what water does to parched soil."

    "Thank you for your gentle words that are packed full of wisdom. I have been struggling with the concept of what words can do to another person when they are negative words. Your words are the flip side of our word power, and shows how delightfully powerful kind words can be. Thank you."

    "Once again Laura Lavigne takes you on an adventure of the heart. She has a way of pulling you right in the car with her. Asking you to consider changing a fear to taking thoughtful action. Whether she's teaching a class, leading a retreat or heading for a happiness sprinkling, Laura will invite you to shed old ways of thinking and be completely authentic. Join in!"

    "Essentially pure love.
    I enjoy how Laura is kind to herself and to us other humans who dance in and out of each other's lives. "


    "Don't miss a post!
    You can count on Laura for warmth, humor, charm, and a lift to your day and your heart. She inspires me to be braver than I am, and to love the world out loud. She's a gem, and a generous one at that!"

    Me

    I write because this is the way I am able to  taste life more deeply.

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
  • Home
  • COACHING
    • COACHING PACKAGES
  • THE SCHOOL
  • Blog
  • ART
  • MORE
    • Happiness Retreats >
      • Sacred Joy Gathering 2023
      • La Dolce Vita Happiness Retreat 2019
    • THE HAPPINESS SPRINKLING PROJECT
    • THE CENTER FOR HAPPINESS
    • HAPPINESS SPRINKLING CARDS
    • BOOKS BY LAURA
    • Laura's YouTube Channel
    • Essence Facilitators