Saturdays…

Not sure what your Saturdays were like as a teen, but especially in my early teens (i.e., before the driver’s license years), after I got up and did whatever it was my mother had on her agenda (housekeeping things, so I’d dust or clean a bathroom, or whatever), my late mornings and afternoons were mine. Sometimes I went walking in the woods. If I was lucky, Lynne had spent the night, and we’d hang out talking about everything, including our characters, and maybe doing crafty stuff like collages, and records would always be on my record player.

If I was alone, I’d read, and if I didn’t feel like reading, I’d lie on my bed and listen to albums start to finish in the order that they were intended to be heard.

That’s what I’m doing today, though it’s with CDs and an old boom box. I’m not thinking about all the things I should do (they are always plentiful). I’m not multitasking. I have on a particular box set I got last year, which I’ve listened to, but this time, I’m doing nothing else. Just lying on the bed in the sanctuary (where so much of my youth and youthful interests surround me), occasionally looking up lyrics on my phone so I can sing along, and just absorbing music.

It’s a form of self-care, giving yourself permission to act like you’re young and don’t have a million worries and responsibilities. Also, when you sing, really sing along, it’s good for your lungs. You breathe out more than you breathe in. It clears you physically and spiritually. I’ve been prescribed breathing treatments, and I’m doing them, though they leave me crazy jittery. However, singing-along breathing is good, too. Go ahead: Google “Is singing good for your lungs?” and find the many answers, oh ye who like to do your own research.

Happy Saturday.