Root Canal Repeat

"At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source.”  ~Rachel Naomi Remen
 
I had so much fun with a root canal on my back tooth that I decided to do it again.  Okay, not really, but I am grateful for dentists and endodontists even though visits to them are not high on my list of fun things to do.  I get to choose my attitude and I feel fortunate to live in a time when dentists can relieve my pain. My tooth has been causing pain for over a month.  I thought I could wait until my six-month visit in three weeks, but in addition to the pain when eating and after eating for hours, the pain was waking me in my sleep.  And anyone who knows me understands that I need my sleep.
 
I have a great dentist and staff and I learned that the root canal I had 25 years ago could fail – who knew?  Once they saw my problem, they got me an appointment with an endodontist on the same day.  So, all I had to do was wait for 6 hours.  The tooth was throbbing like it had its own heartbeat, so I decided to paint with watercolors.  And like magic, I was in the present moment putting paint to paper and for hours the pain was not in the forefront of my mind.  I painted small wet-into-wet pieces of nature.  They are not masterpieces, but they were the perfect pain reliever. The painting above is one of the pain relieving pieces.  The creative process brought me to the present moment and eased my pain.
 
How can you use present moment awareness when you are in pain?
 

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