open wound

                                                                                  Open Wound

 

 

The other day at work I accidentally sliced my thumb (again). I have started working at the Horeca Sector here at University, in an old monastery, now converted into a meeting and conference venue. (Horeca means hospitality). And so part of my job apart from being a barista, cleaning the coffee machine and re-filling it, dishwashing and serving etc, also includes the occasional bread and fruit slicing. The first time I sliced the bread, I sliced my thumb also. No-one preps you just how sharp the knives are in a professional kitchen!

 

Anyways, the second time, it happened, the cut was deep-er, and hurt more. I could see a part of my skin hanging out, and the inside flesh was visible. After receiving the basic first-aid, my thump was still hurting and so after 2 days of bandaging the wound, I opened it and it was a not so nice sight. The wound was taking its own sweet time to heal, and the 24hour bandaging and covering it didn’t quicken the healing process. I was told that the wound needed to be cleaned thoroughly (again), and left out in the open after sanitizing it and putting on antibacterial ointment. No more covering! 

 

And so, for the next 24 hours, I had to literally stick out my sore thumb (like a sore thumb) and allow nature to do its course. I couldn’t work, had to be super careful, and not cover and bandage it again. 

 

By day 4, the wound had started to heal rapidly, and on day 5, the first skin started to fall out on its own, allowing new skin to grow from the inside. 

Now day 7, there is new skin and only a tiny scar around it. 

 

Normally a small cut on the finger is not a big deal. However, this time, it was a deeper cut and I did take pics to record and document my ordeal. Things could have gotten worst and in the worst-case scenario, I could have ended up losing a finger.  

But luckily, that did not happen. 

 

The point I’m trying to make here is, the wound started to heal more rapidly after it was exposed. After it had to be cleansed, painfully and thoroughly. After the covering was removed.

 

So why aren’t we talking about our inner wounds? 

Why do we cover it, hide it and let it fester?

Why can’t we expose our inner wounds, take the time to painfully address hurts, and take steps to reconcile?

Why do we cover and bandage it up?

Perhaps like our physical wounds, we need to take the time to –

cleanse- address- and expose our inner hurts and wounds, and allow healing to occur… openly and without any shame or covering. 

 Only then can true healing and restoring take place.

So, lets talk about it…

Open up!

 

Greek Yogurt

 I recently had an unpleasant encounter with my daily dose of Greek Yogurt, and after almost a year of not blogging online, I decided to finally write about it. 

Blogging online is a lot like hearing our voices on a video recording. Cringe, awkward and the need to constantly press delete and throw in the trash.  But anyway here goes..

I am a fan of Greek Yogurt. Coming from India, where I am constantly consuming dahi, my only choice here is yogurt. A few weeks ago, I purchased some groceries and without thinking threw the packet of Greek Yogurt on my backpack along with the other food products. You can imagine what happened when I reached home. The milk cartoon with its super sharp edges had pierced the Greek Yogurt top, and it all spilled over my entire backpack. 

For the next few hours, my backpack and room was smelling of strawberry greek yogurt. 

Anyways, nothing profound occurred to me, until the next time, I made my way to Jumbo supermarket and bought another packet of greek yogurt, and this time... this time I remembered my mistake. I was extra cautious even at check-outs and managed to carefully put all my groceries in my bag, and carried the yogurt on my hand, as I walked home. Careful not to repeat the same mistake again! 

This short but profound incident reminded me of the mistakes we make in life. 

Once we commit a mistake, we become more cautious, more careful, vigilant and try not to repeat the same mistake again. It reminded me of the failed relationships we had in our past, the failed career choices, or certain addictive habits and living with the consequences of it.  It reminded me of how in a strange morbid way, I am now thankful for the mistakes I made in the early part of my life, and feeble as I am now, it taught me to be grateful, humble, patient and careful. 

And so, with my greek yogurt incident, I hope to encourage anyone reading this, let us not live our lives in constant regret over the mistakes of our past, but may we be grateful for the lessons it taught us. 

And remember not to press- repeat.