Mozart, homemade chicken soup, a long walk through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a hike along the Oregon coast. Science fiction, a British murder mystery, a night at the Symphony or Opera, and the smell of candles in my condo. “When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad.”
Creating a collage of brightly colored shapes, writing a short story or poem, giving library programs to life-long learners, and taking photos of nature. Watching the moon through my binoculars, listening to the sounds of the city from my 9th floor balcony, feeling my body and mind responding to yoga and meditation, and people-watching or cloud-watching on a park bench. “When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad.”
Tracing the veins in a leaf or the path of an ant through my magnifying glass, staring at the stars on a wind-swept beach wondering if someone out there is wondering about me, looking at photos of friends surrounding me on my office walls, and experiencing gratitude to be Dr. Bill Thierfelder–artist, writer, lecturer living in Portland, Oregon and a docent at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. “When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember these favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad.”