Romanticizing sickness

St. Valentine's was on the 14th of February. And what is a more romantic couple than February as a month itself and a flu pandemic?

You constantly hear sneezing and coughing every time you get on a subway, and if you also dare to blow your nose, hundreds of eyes will be judging you. Being sick sucks. But as a person currently covered in used napkins, religiously sniffing essential oils and drinking ginger shots, I discovered a hidden beauty within having a cold.

Nowadays, society is all about rushing and optimizing your time. But when you´re sick, it´s okay to slow down and take care of yourself. It sounds rich coming from someone whose family will be running marathons with a fever and who, in case she is sick and has a match, will swallow a painkiller and go on the field.

But your body literally begs you to rest, and I decided to listen for once. I have a free day today to heal, which made me appreciate my sickness. Because after a long time, I put both lemon and honey in my ginger tea (usually, I would dismiss it for it taking too long), I bought food that´s beneficial for my body, more expensive napkins, so my nose won´t be bruised and put nicely smelling lip balm around my nose.

Normally, I won´t treat myself so nicely because I would think I don´t have time for it, and I´m okay as I am. But when you´re sick, you suddenly pay more attention to what you´re doing and pamper yourself.

I didn´t walk the stairs as usual and decided to treat myself to an elevator ride. I put herbal essential oil in my bath, and now I´m breathing through my nose, which feels fucking amazing (and my ass burns from the intense herb oils, but that´s irrelevant).

I read a book because I had time, and since I was sick, I decided not to do any university stuff.

The problem with me is that I will obeyingly take all the pills, eat the food with the most vitamins, and drink gallons of tea, but if you say I have to stay at home and do nothing, I will drown you in ginger shots. So it´s a miracle I don´t have anything much planned for today and can actually dedicate the day to healing.

But it does feel lovely, and it makes me think, when did I go wrong so that I think of sickness as a time when I finally treat myself and rest.

Love,

Book and Tea Girl