There is definitely no halo above my head!

Nice rain yesterday.

The Sufi acupuncturist says that a "saintly" person (his word) tends to be content with their areas of weakness. Saintly folk can have a strong physiological aversion to - say - oak pollen, but because of their pure and gentle natures, they can allow that physical aversion to just BE, and therefore not react when the trees are rutting.

For most of us, he says, a more practical strategy is to build up the immune system. When the immune system is robust, it is less likely to call up the warrior histamines to fight against the "invader." In my case, that would be pollen. Before I began my journey into Chinese medicine, I was so allergic that even if I saw a photograph of pollen (on car windshields, for instance) or an image of grass going to seed, I would begin to react, to sneeze and become congested. I was so not saintly then! Wow.

For two and a half years, the Sufi acupuncturist (and I) have been working to strengthen my immune system, to bolster my deficient kidney yang, as they say in Chinese medicine, to "awaken" my Qi so that my body doesn't feel it must fight for its life while the pollen flies. It's working. There were those two ridiculous days last week when the pollen was so heavy I could actually see clouds of it moving past the window. On that day I decided to be saintly; I closed the windows and remained indoors, I decided to be happy with that situation. I decided to be grateful I could avoid the triggers. And so I didn't get all congested, I didn't sneeze a single time all day, even while watching the clouds of pollen fly. I remained calm. It was kind of a miracle.

And so it goes with my curiosity, that can be, when I allow it, overly zealous. I wonder what kind of weakness it is that propels me to go so far beyond healthy curiosity into what I've decided to call "grasping" curiosity sometimes? What part of me can I bolster in order to help me open to the world, ask the questions (of course!) but then not be tyrannized by the curiosity? How can I be gentle with my curiosity? How can I let go of the little questions so as to free up more time for the big questions that are well worth pondering (as long as I let go of any ambition to answer every one of them)?

There are SO MANY GREAT comments attached to yesterday's post. The combination of opinions has set me on a path towards a place of balance and healing around this great, and sometimes burdensome, curiosity of mine. I'm going to mention it to the Sufi acupuncturist as well. I know he will have many wise and helpful things to say about it.

You - you blogfellows? You are AWESOME in every way possible. Thank you so much for your wisdom and advice. Bravo! Thanks. I salute you.