Either/or ? Both/and ?
Today I walk out of my front door and head to West Chester on a 15-mile round trip adventure full of contradictions. It’s sunny, then cloudy and then sunny once again. I’m warm inside my fleece as I walk against the cold wind. The menu of stops includes both happy places (i.e. Good Fellowship Ambulance Company and The Athlete’s Closet) and others much less so (Chester County Hospital/ER & sick-child visits at the doctor’s office). But am I being too Cartesian in my observations of these opposites? Were there times at these places when Nathaniel was really happy, or was it that he seemed apparently well on the outside, but troubled inside, even at the happy Ambulance Company? Are the two waiting rooms (sick and well) as I enter Dr. Krishnan’s Office (Nathaniel’s pediatrician) omitting another possibility, a waiting room for “sick/well child”? At Dr. Weber’s, a welcoming dental office team gathers around me to wish me well. Can you be happy here even with a drill and gauze in your mouth? Perhaps a more Jungian both/and approach would tell Nan’s story more honestly. I delight in hearing about Nathaniel’s incredible positive spirit from his EMS friend, John. My knowing that Nathaniel struggled internally here, even on his “good days,” confirms for me that life isn’t simply one or the other. I’m only too sorry that his brain disorder took up more than its fair share of happy space. I eventually meet up with Carl, Nathaniel’s Swedish friend, at the Athlete’s Closet. Here’s a place where happy Runner’s High rules. I’m grateful for that, and I embrace the gift of Carl’s company as we both walk back home together. Yup, both/and pretty much sums it up.
