Okay, Listen Here

Okay, Listen Here

Monday, September 27, 2010

Sympathy Pain


I am seldom sick. Oh, sure, I have the occasional bout with allergies but even that isn't very bad.
I haven't had a antibiotic since 2007 and before that, 1995. How do I do it? Lucky, I guess but I also believe in mind over matter.

I simply refuse to be sick. I fight it with every bit of willfulness I possess and, believe me, that's no small amount. Ask The Guy. This does not mean that I think people who are sick want to be--far from it. It does not mean that the times I am, that I want to be. I just think that when I do get sick, it's because it sneaked up on me before I had a chance to will it away.

Well. There is a scene for our new WIP that I have been playing in my head for a week. (This will be news to Stephanie. She has been getting ready for her comps for her Master's Degree so I haven't discussed it with her--nor have I set anything down on paper.) In this scene, the hero has a cold. ("Rotten with a cold", as my grandmother would have said.) I've played the scene from his point of view, so I know how miserable he feels. I've played it from the heroine's point of view, so I know how sick he looks, how feverish he feels to the touch, and how he's pretending not to feel bad.

And now, I have a cold.

What do you make of this?

13 comments:

  1. What I make of it is that some colds just can't be controlled, no matter how hard you try. He must've been waiting in the alley and got you as you passed by.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, I think you thought yourself into this one. I had breast cancer a few years back. My mother had breast cancer;my grandmother had breast cancer. Because of this, I was very pro-active. But I've often wondered if thinking about it so much in order to avoid it actually kept it on my mind and opened the door to it. I'm just sayin'... ^shrug^

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think it could be the power of suggestion. Perhaps the reverse will work - how are you curing the hero? Hmmm...maybe The Guy could help.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am thinking that I can't wait until we talk this afternoon.

    I hope you get to feeling better so that you can tell me all about what's going to happen to our hero. lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. OF--You have never believed in my powers. Some day you will believe.

    Pamela--I know what you mean. Though she was thin as a rail, my mother had high blood pressure and high colesterol. I have worried all my life that I would have high blood pressure--and I do. (It is very controlled, but I still have to swallow that little pill every day.) I have never given one bit of thought to the colesterol and mine is practically nothing.

    Cheryl--I can't cure him. It's the common cold. He just has to wait it out--though the heroine does give him what comfort she can.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Stephanie--Now, now, now. You know it's just a thought. You really decide what is going to happen--and it's better that way. Also, it will be too long. This we know.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sorry about the cold Jean! Hope you fell better soon!
    Now if this mind over matter thing really works...well...all I can say is I am going to think 24-7 that I am a svelte size 8. ;-D

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sorry about the cold, Jean.

    I have learned not to underestimate the power of the mind. So, visualize powerful warriors vanquishing those germs, Jean, and keep those positive svelte size 8 thoughts flowing, Sherry!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I propose you continue to use your power for good. Now your poor hero has a fighting chance of being reasonably sympathetic because you are "in the moment" with an awful cold. Most people don't give a rat's patootie about the details of sickness because they don't want to think about being sick, until they are sick. It is a lonely weird place, sickness. I think I'll start imagining you well again just as soon as you give this guy the most believable "in the moment rotten cold" you possibly can. Bravo, dream weaver, Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  10. i say the heroine is crazy to tend to the man who, i am certain, is an awful patient (as they all are). When women get sick, we suck it up and get everything done. I once asked my dog to call 911 if I didn't get off the bathroom floor soon.
    Knock on wood, i haven't been in the hospital and haven't been to a doctor of sickness since i was a kid. I attribute that to resting and not stressing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Okay. I guess we're back in business.

    Crystal—Let's visualize selling!

    DRW—I appreciate the good thoughts. I am already feeling better. The poor hero is not only sick, he is being lied to. What will he do?

    Heart Breaker, Soul Shaker—I think we fight being sick because we know going to the doctor will make us sicker. We should go on the buddy system. When you get old enough to need a mammogram, I promise I will go with you.

    ReplyDelete