My mind told the sneeze, "KEEP IT TOGETHER."
"Nope," the sneeze replied.
Last week during a meditation class, we were guided into a state of peace and communion with our bodies in a moment of silence to ask our bodies to reveal a deep need we had in our lives.
I felt a sneeze coming on. I am known for projectile laughs and sneezes.
My mind couldn't think of anything else.
I had to K.I.T. this.
In the Steve Martin movie Bowfinger, Eddie Murphy plays a movie star named Kit Ramsey with impulse problems and a penchant for paranoia. The mantra he uses to overcome such moments is K.I.T.— an acronym for Keep. It. Together.
Saying "keepittogetherkeepittogetherkeepittogether" has been stuck in my brain ever since. In hindsight, this was the first mantra I ever used, on special occasions, to make myself or my husband laugh.
Every so often, it still pops up in my mind.
When it popped into my head this time, I wanted to laugh.
Clearly, my meditation was being highjacked.
Which meant there was going to be a big ass laugh right after the sneeze!
Hoping to hold back the sneeze, I pressed the middle of my throat with my fingers and found it, but the more I pressed down the middle, the more the sneeze pushed back.
Sneezing tears started to pool in my eyes.
Unlike those that burn with anger or sting with sadness, these are even crueler because they tickle. Now all I could see was Kit Rhampsey's face.
Meanwhile, the silence in the room kept getting more and more deafening.
I made one last ditch effort and asked the sneeze, "what do you need?"
RELIEF, I heard it say.
So I let go.
A warm wave came over my throat as I felt the sneeze turn around and lovingly make its way back into my body.
Which is all my body wanted.
g