Sighs Matters

A sigh is an interesting expression because it is very demonstrative of emotion yet says little. There is always a why behind the sigh. The past few days I have had a lot of sighs with pretty strong whys behind them.

Exasperation: I have sighed several times yesterday and today in exasperation. My place is perfect, my home office is perfect, everything is perfect. Except...a neighbor about 100 feet away apparently loves home projects that involve power saws and hammering. My office window faces that direction and I can't hold interviews with a power saw in the background. So, I have to close my window. Ok, that might be a stretch for exasperation but it's a bit of a nuisance.

Relief: Speaking of my home office, I am breathing a sigh of relief because I get to keep it! Even in the midst of more organizational change, I am apparently just valuable enough not to let go of. Whew! I have a job that I'm starting to get good at and that I'm starting to really like.

Sweetness: You've never heard of a sigh of sweetness? When my niece put her arms around me this weekend in a big hug and said, "I love you so, so much Aunt Eme Ashe," I had a sigh of sweetness. She is sweet, which means someone is being sweet to her, and that makes her loving hug even sweeter. Aw.

Sadness: Sure, I've had a sigh or two of sadness, as I've mentioned. But peace and understanding usually follow sadness so I'm not going to dwell on that kind of sigh for long.

Awe: Have you ever had a sigh of awe? I almost always do when it comes to the weather. Yesterday I woke up to a tornado watch and a strong thunderstorm. I opened the blinds, pulled up the covers and sighed in awe as I watched the storm blow through. It was a nice way to start the week.

Content: I spent some time in Blacksburg last weekend with the family. It was a nice time and the drive "home" was rather pretty. I'm sure I sighed once or twice with content as I tried to take pictures and drive at the same time. It was worth it though!