This Spinning World

Day 2 of this Sydney Jazz Course every bit as glorious as Day 1, but even more so as the already congenial and enthusiastic teachers loosened up yet more. Tempting to describe the particulars, but it all is a “you just had to be there” kind of experience unlike almost anything else most people encounter. I was feeling so happy and grateful to be there and then…

 

Just before the last session, I got up from my chair and was hit with a dizziness that felt sickenly familiar. The exact same thing that had happened to me in Ghana. With a half hour left to teach, I soldiered through, which was no small task as I wanted to acknowledge Martin Luther King Day and led them in the song Free at Last, showed them the video of the last five minutes of Dr. King’s still powerful speech and then had them all stand in a circle singing We Shall Overcome with me at the piano. They sang so strongly and beautifully, but there I sat, with the world spinning around me. At the end, I said goodbye and stood there wondering how I could walk to the car.

 

My lovely course host, Peta Harper came over to me and I told her what was happening and suggested she might want to find a bucket, because as we were talking, I felt a cold sweat overcome me and the moment the bucket came, up came the vomit. Just like had happened in Ghana. They walked me to the car and I was driven half an hour to my host house, vomiting every ten minutes and trying to empty the bucket on the side of the road. Not a pleasant experience for me or the driver, to say the least. 

 

Lay down when I arrived and slept for a couple of hours and woke up feeling better, as had happened in Ghana. Lucky for me, my host’s husband Paul is a doctor and described a condition of fluid in the ear that he has that sounded exactly like mine. That certainly would account for the dizziness and the sense of pressure I had felt in my ear.

 

Slept through the night and woke up still lightheaded, but ready to try the third day. And a marvelous day it was, with break-out groups doing such a fine job playing their chosen Blues from my books and then learning Perdido in the 36-person Big Band, so swinging and joyful. Felt a tiny wave of dizziness after lunch, but now it seems a bit better again. Going to lie down before trying to go out to dinner with the group. 

 

Yu can imagine my concern with this new condition that could erupt unannounced at any time, my worry about a 9-hour flight to Hong Kong with a 6 hour layover before getting to Taipei, my fear about meeting the task of the 16 straight days of teaching awaiting me. I needed the Inspiring Quote for the day from Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield:

 

Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting. Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be.

 

Well, I’ll give it a try. Really, what other choice do I have? Wish me luck!