This week, during my eye exercises I opted to have Alexa play ‘Motown Christmas’ rather than my usual healing and meditation music. Diana Ross singing, ‘My Favorite Things’ caught my attention. (There is no mention of Christmas in this Christmas song). Specifically, the phrase, “When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad.” While gratitude is wrapped in it all, favorite things seem easy to spot.
In that moment, the dog bite represented physical things that require medical intervention. I have had my share of those this year. While in the hospital, my favorite things were the conversations with the night nurse and the warm blanket over me while having MRI imaging done. The bee sting represents those things that sting and hurt physically, but that we can self-resolve and will be okay. The feeling sad represents the non-physical emotions that are a result of the other two.
The dog bite and the bee sting both come with emotions. It could be anything from missing a loved one to the loss of a job. We’ve all lived through holidays that a love one was missing for different reasons. The day after Thanksgiving, we lost my sister-in-love, Marquita. Reminiscing is bittersweet. Remembering our favorite things overall is a way to ease the pain and sadness just a little.
I’m thinking of Autumn and the sound the leaves make when the wind blows through the trees. I’m thinking of Aunt Bell’s chair that I sit in every morning that I am home. It was in her living room, and I sat in it as a child when me and my sisters spent Summers with her in St louis. Starting today, I’ll add a few more favorite things to my gratitude journaling. Today, I wrote about being grateful for the ability to smell and taste, which I’m grateful for all the time. I also wrote about my favorite things to taste and smell—which changes from time-to-time. I noticed that, while I’m grateful for my ability to smell and taste, my favorite tastes and smells do change.
Spending time thinking about my favorite things, helps me to know myself a little better. I find that favorite things point to something deeper. Such as, when did they become my favorites, and why? I really like trees a lot because there was one that I used to sit under as a child when we lived in the South, and the sounds of the leaves made me think that it was communicating with me. Some things are my favorite just because Mom said so. Favorite things are a great way to find common ground with others, or to start conversations. We often ask someone their favorite color, food, hobby, etc. in an effort to know them better. What are some of your favorite things? And by the way, Luther Vandross sings my favorite rendition of ‘My Favorite Things’.