My first three-week vacation was rapidly approaching. The best part is the weeks that precede it. You secretly count down the days, but you also don’t want them to arrive too quickly, because you want to luxuriate in knowing that in just a short amount of time, you will be AWAY!
My husband and I divulged to friends, coworkers and whoever would ask that we would be gone during the Christmas and New Year holidays: destination, Florida.
The response to this was usually mixed. It ranged from genuine shared happiness to complete Mr. Grinch resemblance. Even if the green-with-envy reactions were in jest, I wondered; is it OK to exhibit excitement, or should we be more guarded and play it down, for fear of welcoming the kibosh gods?
But I was determined to change and not let superstitions and my belief in jinxes take over my mindset. This sort of mentality was ingrained and observed during my entire childhood and into adulthood. Milestones were celebrated, for sure, but anything good that happened was not broadcasted or boasted about.
Of course, back then, social media and technology were very limited, so news was spread with only a landline phone call… but even that was kept to a minimum. You kept contentment and happiness to yourself, for any Twitter-like announcement would just be inviting an evil eye cast in your general direction.
Evil strikes the eye
Aristotle said, “No notice is taken of a little evil, but when it increases it strikes the eye.” Well, that certainly hit home: A week before we left for our trip, I noticed a pain in my left eye. I thought perhaps I’d rubbed it too hard, but when I saw my reflection in the mirror, I noticed that it was expelling pus and a slight film was covering it.
A trip to the doctor and I was given antibiotic drops and cream for my eye, after being told it was infected. I was relieved to know it was nothing worse than that. The next day, after my right eye got infected, I was relieved that I had the necessary tools to deal with it.
In the back of my head, though, I could still hear all those well-wishes of “Have a good trip!” and “You are so lucky!” I promptly tried to Taylor Swift them and shake it off!
Perhaps I shook too hard, because mid-week, I felt congested and my left ear became completely blocked. I kept tugging on my earlobe, hoping I could somehow dislodge whatever was blocking it. I Googled the things you could do and tried most of them, including something called a Valsalva maneuver, but to no avail.
¿Unnother trip to a medical clinic and an exhausting long wait proved that I now had an ear infection. Another prescription for a 10-day oral antibiotic was prescribed, but I was still given the green light for travelling to Florida.
I made it through the flight with no change to my ear, and was so incredibly relieved that the condition did not worsen. I tried to keep out those nagging, negative voices in my head that were screaming, “See, I told you so, this is what happens when you tell people you are going away on a trip, bad karma happens!”
Again, I tried to favour a different view. I squeezed my husband’s hand and smiled, letting him know that all would be OK now. Once we arrived in our hotel room, I reveled in the view of the Florida sun and the ocean shimmering and glistening—but were those dark, ominous clouds I saw in the distance?
Self-fulfilling prophecy?
You lose track of time when you are away. Everything is so fresh, and your routine is so off-kilter. South Florida was experiencing some very wet weather, so we spent almost a week not having fun in the sun. But that was OK, as we were still grateful to be away and out of the snow.
I didn’t notice, until I changed into my bathing suit for the first full day of beautiful beach weather, that I had a rash on my upper thigh. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was also on my forearms, and in fact, every part of my body! After a consultation with our insurance company, we were on our way to a medical clinic that deals with Canadians.
It was confirmed that I am allergic to the penicillin in the antibiotics I was given back at home, and would need to take steroids for a week to combat the rash. In addition, I would need to start another round of new antibiotics that my body could tolerate, and combat the ongoing congestion and the infection in my ear.
Was I creating a self-fulling prophecy? I kept playing back those voices in my head saying, “You will have a great time” and “You are so lucky,” and wondering, was all of this the product of intended bad mojo or something more sinister?
Maybe I was having another reaction to the antibiotics, but I refused to let that line of negative thinking sink into my skin. I observed the ocean once more, and noticed how it changes from one minute being so languid to the next minute being so rough and violent.
I decided that I will have to be more accepting of life’s crazy and unpredictable ebbs and flows. No one can invoke a curse on us, unless we let them!
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