Those of us who have pets can usually know if our dog, cat or horse is out of sorts or happy. It is this same reading of energy we naturally do with them, that I am learning to do with Andy.
One of the strangest symptoms of Parkinson’s is the inability to express emotions with one’s face.
Patient’s faces become stuck in a blank stare.
The sparkling eyes, dimples and toothy smiles, forehead lines of confusion, open mouthed shock and surprise, all disappear into a serious looking facial demeanor that doctors have labeled, “the mask.”
Human beings are expressive creatures and most of our emotional moods are shown through our facial movements. Without those movements, life becomes full of misunderstandings.
We were at some friends home for a dinner party and live music was played. Andy and another man with Parkinson’s, named John, were sitting next to each other and after each song they both sat stoically in their upright chairs, staring straight ahead without any emotion showing.
John’s wife and I were making up for what appeared to be a complete lack of enthusiasm by cheering like we were at a rock concert. It seemed incongruent but was our way of overriding the misunderstandings that masked faces can provoke. It was nice for me to share this experience with another person.
I can sometimes be fooled by the mask of Andy’s face.
I have had times of feeling hurt when good news comes along and Andy doesn’t respond with a smile. I have felt upset when I’ve shared something important to me and my thoughts are met with a blank stare. I have felt lonely when I come home and there is no welcome from Andy.
I have had to learn to read Andy in a different way from how I read and react to most people. I have learned to tune in to the higher vibration of his energetic field. Energy is still a factor that can be read even without facial expressions to guide us.
Those of us who have pets can usually know if our dog, cat or horse is out of sorts or happy. It is this same reading of energy we naturally do with them, that I am learning to do with Andy.
I have also learned to ask Andy if he is feeling something negative when I perceive that from his face.
“Are you mad?”
“Are you upset?”
“Are you bored?”
His eyes often with open a bit wider in response as his serious looking face shakes his head, “No.”
He lets me know he is fine and that I have experienced another chance to feel his energy and read him right.
The mask is disconcerting but it doesn’t have to rule.
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