FIRE IN THE SKY
FIRE IN THE BELLY

The night sky in my jungle is on fire.

Someone, probably my old friend God, has strewn a galleon’s-worth of diamonds over the sea of black velvet above me.

The effect is dazzling, even startling; and I am mesmerized even though the light is so bright and sharp that it is painful in it’s intensity.

But I simply can’t take my eyes off of it. There in the Hawaiian heavens is every constellation, planet and star that I had always heard about but had never seen any too clearly in my hometown.

Unless I was at the BC Planetarium, anyway…

In Kern County, the air gets so thick with particulates that the moon often appears to be light brown with a gold tinge – pretty enough sometimes, but also a reminder of what I was breathing every day, of why I had asthma and fatigue for so many years, of the pollutants that likely contributed to the throat cancer I finally vanquished with the help of my creator, my doctors, and my beloved friends.

Today I started thinking about some of the things I did to soothe the whine-iness of my a-feared little brain, which often seemed to take on the character of the flighty, frightened slavegirl Prissy, who attended Miss Scarlett in The film Gone With The Wind: ‘I don’t know nuthin’ about beatin’ no cancer, Miss Scarlett!’

And since this is territory I have mapped now to a certain degree, I thought I’d put down a few suggestions in case you too get too frightened to think.

I used sound quite a bit. And the sound I used most was that of soothing rainfall, of which I have several recordings, all gotten free on the internet.

In fact, on YouTube there are hours worth of various storms, some featuring gentle thunder and lightning, or the ambience of rainforests, or rain with music.

This one sound is probably most responsible for a type of mental sanctuary that helped me escape the frequently overbearing pain and anxiety that accompanied my illness.

If I couldn’t dissipate it by putting all my attention directly on the signal of pain, as I often did, then I would put on my headphones with the sound of a gentle storm, and the little complainer in my head would become charmed and forget to raise the alarm, leaving me in a state of peace.

And peace is healing on rollerskates!

I sometimes would leave the sound of rain playing all day long, especially in the hot Bakersfield summers (which tended to make me wonder if I did something so terrible in a past life that God found it necessary to give me a little taste of Hell as a reminder to straighten up this time…).

So, rain sounds!

Also, I listened to the most soothing classical music I could find, both instrumental and choral, also widely available on the internet for free.

In fact, I often played both rain and music at the same time with good result, especially at night when I felt most alone and vulnerable.

I hauled out my favorite albums from high school, from college, from my days of playing in clubs and bars.

I listened to Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Elton John, Neil Young, Crosby Stills & Nash, the Beatles, any artist or band who had awakened the desire to make my own music too, anyone who had inspired me to think about the quality of my lyrics or the resonance of my own singing voice.

The word ‘inspiration’ means to be filled with the spirit of God in the present moment, so how could I go wrong?

Doing so brought back memories of youth, strength, romance, ambition, excitement, passion, and acted as motivation to move physically and to be that young healthy man once again in every way possible.

It helped activate my mental screen and imagination, upon which the body relies for direction.

It has been shown in modern studies that the body reacts the same way, in terms of it’s chemical responses, to both real life and imagination; it doesn’t know the difference and so produces the same biological responses either way.

This is incredibly useful!

And as I listened, I would search my memory for those times in my life I felt at my physical and mental peak; and indeed could remember many of those instances, which I then basked in for as long as possible to show my entire being what I was aiming for.

I think it added a necessary component to the process of defeating and recuperating from stage four throat cancer. I can even sing again, and am at about 85% of my former vocal capacity when I’m rested and hydrated.

Sound.

As in Amazing Grace
How Sweet The Sound
That Saved A Wretch Like Me!

It was as though the Holy Spirit had reached my innermost Dave to help awaken my health through my ears, and I thank God for the sounds in which I found healing, for they are part of the voice of God. We have only to recognize it.

And I’m sure these tools are yours as well, in case you forgot they are available.

God loves you; he did not make you sick but made you perfect, no matter what your fear tells you.

Dismantle those fears and become powerful! This is how you take part in your own healing.

I have to go build stuff for the Organic Egg Farm today, but as I do I will be ransacking my memory for other effective little tricks that helped me regain a semblance of my old, stronger self.

Don’t take illness lying down!

Because if you push back harder on illness than it pushes you…you will win.

Every blessing for the week ahead, my loves