Today

Dear reader,

Today has been quite long. I can tell you are waiting for it to end more peacefully than it started. I'm afraid that I can't help with that. I apologize. If you have time, you can reflect. Take a moment to think about what you had for breakfast so many hours ago. Think about why you ate that. Do you like eating breakfast? Were you hungry for it? Are you hungry now?

I had a sandwich during fourth period. I was rushing too quickly out the door to grab much, but I did have a sandwich at about 11:30 while my friends were talking and the teacher was asking questions. I don't much like food, but I am hungry now. I ate very long ago.

Take a moment to think about the layout of your bedroom. If you are in your bedroom, close your eyes and feel the corner of your bed, the space under the arch of your foot. This is your space. You are alone here. If you have a roommate, let them be part of your room. If you like them, make them a guest, or draw a line on the carpet where their space meets yours. If you don't like them, make them a chair. Make their space a heap of stuff you walk around to get to your heap of stuff.

My bedroom is dark. My father calls me a vampire when I nap in there, but I hardly ever do because I like to sleep with music playing and the house wifi doesn't reach my room. It is the only room in the house with wall-to-wall carpet. I rarely vacuum it. Do you vacuum your room?

Take a moment to consider your breath. When did you last sigh? Why? Are your lungs big enough for your chest? Can you hear your heartbeat the way you are sitting? What is a song that always makes you choke on your breath? Think about what your chest looks like when you breathe in. Now open your eyes and look.

My ribs are uneven, and sometimes it hurts to breathe. This means that if I ever have to get CPR, I will definitely get at least one of my ribs broken, because they aren't shaped regularly. I had forgotten about that until now. I enjoy songs whose titles don't match what they sound like. Someone thought that this piano sounded like a Best Friend, but I hear piano, and I think that is really cool. I sighed when I looked at my grades. But I will graduate anyways. I will sigh as many times as I need to.

Take a moment to wonder about something someone said to you today. Did you understand them perfectly? Is it possible you didn't? What would that same sentence sound like in your head? In a song? As a poem? How else can you recreate meaning without speech?

My teacher talked about sign language today. I have friends that don't have hands like me, and they can talk with their mouth instead, but what happens if a baby is born deaf and with one arm? I wonder if they must learn to speak orally, or if most signs can be figured out even when they are done one-handed.

Take a second to yourself now. What questions do you wish people would ask you? Did you hate reading this? Did you even read this?

I hope you did. It would have made today a little shorter for you.