I hear that garlic is good for preventing colds and flu, and for easing the symptoms of the sick.

Rinsing the back of one’s throat with hot saltwater helps a body fight a sickness. In my experience, this practice also functions as a preventative measure against sickness – especially if someone living under the same roof is symptomatic.

Honey and lemon in hot water will ease the discomfort of a sore throat.

Acetaminophen helps with fever.

When I twisted my ankle badly in the last week before the musical, in my senior year – I drank mug after mug of home-made bone broth, for something like three or four days. I think it helped.

For sprains, remember the acronym RICE – rest, ice, compress, elevate. Don’t walk on it.

Higher stress levels increase the risk of getting sick because stress saps the resources that a body should be using for baseline maintenance things, like digestion and healing and immunity.

Some of the best things for stress reduction, for me –

Reading. Laughter. Fresh air and time outside. Walking, or sometimes running. Movement. Showers. Comfy pants. Tea and cats and candle wax. Wholesome intimacy – most often hugs and conversations, for me. Intentional solitude. Familiar songs, or things, or places. Singing harmony.

It also helps me to take action on the things I know I need to do in order to keep going. Fill up a gas tank, pay a phone bill, fill out a time entry, send in an application, write an email. Afterwards, I feel lighter.

Some of the more dangerous self-soothing things:

Driving at 80mph down the back roads, at night. Drinking coffee after sunset. Getting lost on purpose. Arguing for my side of things, for what I want, instead of compromising enough to keep the peace. Scrolling through social media. Turning the music up too loud. Hidden whiskey. Impulse-buying, especially food. Putting things off.

I know that sometimes I try too hard to help everyone, to know what to do, to know everything. On the other hand, I often catch myself curling up into a useless little ball, and falling silent, and feeling powerless compared to all the things that are wrong in the world.

I think that for me the most effective kind of distraction from the hard things in life is time spent worrying about them.

I hear that the topical application if lavender is good for burns and for sleeping, and tea tree helps to disinfect the air. Eucalyptus keeps the mosquitoes away. I also know that some people’s lungs and noses are sensitive to these smells, and that it’s baseline decency to ask.

I hear that burning sage helps to keep the bad spirits away, and that smudging can help cleanse a space of negative energy.

I believe that all of this is somewhat silly and arbitrary, but this morning I needed something to write about, and focus on, and think through.

Stay healthy and take care of yourselves and each other.