From Sofa to Recliner
It’s a new phase in mother’s life. She has made the transition from sofa to recliner. This is a small thing with large consequences. Ever since she moved to the residence in 2013, the sofa in the television room was my mother’s domain. Independent and interactive, mother could sit down when she wanted, get up for a walk about, and come back and sit in a different spot—often next to her friend with whom she’d hold hands.
The world of the recliner, however, is a cloistered one. You are assisted to your seat, made comfortable and then, whoop! up goes the lever. You are semi-captive to the construction and body position. You are no longer sitting up, you have “reclined” and your feet are perched a foot above terra firma.
There is no freedom in the recliner position . . . well, there is freedom of abandon. Let’s talk about that. Increasingly, when choices are withdrawn—even the littlest, most insignificant ones such as this—life becomes centered inside the mind. Whether it be memories, creative play, gibberish, or dreaming, thoughts are the focal stimulus of existence.