Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Sick with Pavarotti

Korrin B.

October 4, 2009 - 8:10 PM

Yesterday, while most UO students were headed off to Autzen, various sports bars, and their friend's houses to watch the Duck game against Washington State (another solid win, by the way, go Ducks!), I was spending my Saturday afternoon a little differently. I woke up at the ripe hour of 2:00pm feeling awful. Ever since I was in New York, I've had this lingering cough. Initially, I just blamed it on the bad air I had been breathing for two straight weeks, but it has now come to my attention that it is more than it. For the past month, I have been mentally fighting it off, but I couldn't any longer - I have a cold, I'm sick.

I'm usually the type to just attempt to plow through a cold. Even if I feel like death, I leave the house and meet up with some friends or something. However, on Saturday, all of my friends were at the Duck game, so this left me with the opportunity to do the unthinkable. I spent all of Saturday at home, relaxing and nourishing myself. Oh, and it begun with a good friend of mine, Italian opera singer, Luciano Pavarotti.

As soon as I crawled out of bed, threw my hair in a ponytail, and began to cook myself a delightful, comforting breakfast of blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs, I knew it was a Pavarotti kind of day. I set my iPod to Pavarotti's greatest hits, and began to heal. Tissue after tissue, I sat and saw the colors of Pavarotti's music in my head. Herbal tea after herbal tea, I reclined in my chair, noted the partnership between spirituality and pleasure, and knew that Pavarotti agreed. Pavarotti's music is so incredible. It's rich and bold and emotional. I have no idea what he's saying, but I can feel it. I wanted to paint his music onto a blank canvas. My mind felt alive with every crescendo.

I began to peel some garlic for the dinner I was making. Garlic is a power food, full of healing. I love its smell and its taste. I love it with nearly everything and in mass amounts. The garlic's intense aroma found its way up my congested nasal passages and Pavarotti danced into my clogged ears. I realized that healing, indeed, starts with Pavarotti and garlic, no question.

Eight hours later, I noticed that I was still listening to Pavarotti. I had, in fact, listened to Pavarotti for the entire day, straight through. I lit some candles while I ate my dinner and the flames flickered with the intensity of the opera. I felt miles better than I had when I had first woken up in the morning. My final herbal tea with dinner had a quote on its tag that read, "A relaxed mind is a creative mind." It is so very true.

Point of this blog: relax. People, especially college students, are too often overworked and stressed out. People, myself included, often don't even slow down to acknowledge that they're sick and that their body needs a break. I feel so much better today and I think that the worst of my cold is long gone. I know that this happened so fast because I took the time to relax for an entire day and overindulge myself in whatever I so chose. To those of you planning a relaxation day, I highly recommend Pavarotti. Maybe you're not into opera, but I promise, you will be once you can see the paintings. My relaxation day helped in all three of my pursuits this year - mind, body, and soul.