Bowl of Oranges

There's a Bright Eyes song that I recently listened to for the first time (gosh there are so many of them!). It's called Bowl of Oranges and it reminds me how important human connection is. I tend to cut myself off and whole up in my room after school. I often forget to interact with other human beings. And in a way this blog sort of reconnects me with humans but it isn't enough. I need real human interaction, and Bowl of Oranges has helped remind me of that thanks to these few lines:

"I came upon a doctor who appeared in quite poor health
I said, 'I am terribly sorry but there is nothing I can do for you
That you can't do for yourself'
He said, 'Oh yes you can. Just hold my hand. I think that would help.'
So I sat with him a while and then asked him how he felt.
He said, 'I think I'm cured, no in fact I'm sure.
Thank you Stranger, for your therapeutic smile.'"

Not only does it remind me to not keep to myself quite so much, but it also shows me how important it is to ask for what I need. In this case the doctor needed someone to just sit and hold his hand a while, and sometimes all I need is that too. I also need to remember how sometimes others need that too, or even just a smile from me. Sometimes I need to be the one holding the other.

There's another part of Bowl of Oranges that I like a lot. It goes like this:

"And your eyes must do some raining if you're ever going to grow.
But when crying don't help and you can't compose yourself
It's best to compose a poem, and honest verse of longing or a simple song of hope."

Sometimes you just need to get it all out. I have a wall in my room in which I took a Sharpie and wrote different things on it (including the lyrics to First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes). One of the things I wrote on what I call my Inspiration Wall is "Cry If You Need To" because holding it in isn't very healthy, and crying can actually calm you down afterwards. All very helpful stuff in my opinion! I hope some of this is a good reminder for you too, and that maybe you'll remember to ask for what you need. Self advocating is so vital in this world, as is helping others.

Thoughtfully yours,
Liv Eckert