levitation

I’VE BEEN GOING in to work this week a couple hours early so that I can finally finish the mural I’ve been working on for like a year. I still have about 15 hours of painting left before the Peaceful Habits classroom is complete, and now that the book has been put to bed for a while, I thought I’d try to finish it up.
     This morning, I was sitting on the floor, painting a peony pattern on a low corner of the wall, chilling out to Beach House, when one of our residents was wheeled into the room. He’s not a patient of mine, but I always see him around. He has a permanent scowl on his face. Looks like he might be blind. And probably profoundly impaired from a cognitive perspective as well. He’s always shouting profanities and trying to punch or kick anyone he can, even when they’re trying to help him.
     This morning, he was on fire as usual. So in he rolls, into the Peaceful Habits classroom, shouting profanities, as Victoria Legrand singing Levitation is being piped in through speakers in the ceiling. The floor lamp is on low, and the overhead lights are turned off. Gray daylight filters in through the picture window.
     I surprise them when I say good morning from my spot on the floor behind the piano. Come in, I say. Don’t mind me. And this angry man proceeds to sit back serenely in his wheelchair and listen to the entire Beach House album with me as I paint. Just sits there. Not one peep. Not one punch thrown. It was nice to see that the room was working as I’d envisioned it would.