“I will . . . help other people every day” was a part of the motto that I spoke in unison with my fellow Girl Scouts at our weekly meetings many years ago. It must have become ingrained in my psyche along with the common axiom that encourages us to do a good deed every day. It wasn’t hard to accomplish when I was working, but now? Not so much.
One of my favorite jobs was being a home health nurse, not one who gave IV meds and did other medical stuff but one who primarily visited and chatted. Since I have been blessed with the “gift of gab” I didn’t mind walking into a stranger's house and spending up to an hour in conversation with them. Remembering that, Monday I went to the church and offered to visit some shut ins. The pastor gave me a list of folks, all old and with varying degrees of health problems, and he placed dots by the four who got fewer visitors than the others.
Yesterday afternoon I went to visit two of them, women who were in nursing homes but who still had some of their wits about them. The first was only 77 but failing and in a wheelchair. She, a former nurse and nursing teacher, and her husband, a former attorney who was ambulatory but “confused” as she put it, share a room. He paced about the halls and did not join us. She seemed quite depressed and was slow to speak, but I could tell she was able to pull the correct information out of her brain, all but the name of her granddaughter. That concerned her. She sustained a worried stare at granddaughter’s smiling photograph speaking an occasional “I can’t believe I forgot her name,” until eventually her soft voice said, “Christina. Her name’s Christina.” What relief!
The next woman I visited was older but more quick witted and had had a series of back and heart problems that pretty much confined her to bed. Some of the staff came in while I was there, and I could tell she had established a supportive relationship with them unlike the quiet first woman.
One of the biggest things I learned when I was a home health nurse was the importance of family, especially to the old and isolated. Neither of these women had much family, and if for no other reason, I believe my visit made them feel a little special. And of course I was glad to have done my good deed for the day. Maybe I will get to the other two who are housebound soon and knock out today's good deed.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Summer 2010 Grasshopper
It has been so hot this summer that I haven't spent any time sweating in the great outdoors looking for bugs. But the heat seems to have broken a little this evening so out I went. Taking pix of bugs isn't as easy as it looks. There is always a breeze of some sort that lifts the flowers and leaves around, and with a small bug and a macro lens, a photo is quite a challenge. But it is the subject I have to work with, and this young grasshopper is the best of today's safari.
What a little coffee can do!
When my daddy was older, he would say he started the day with his drugs, "nicotine and caffeine," as it was something he looked forward to. Though nicotine is not one of my vices, the drug caffeine does seem to be one that I enjoy. When I became a nurse, I got into the coffee habit. It was plentiful in every nurses station or office, its aroma filling the air, and I came to believe that it was a plot by administration to keep us all working at maximum capacity. It seemed to do the trick, at least for me. Though I appreciate a fine cup of java from freshly roasted and ground beans, I found myself settling for whatever was in the pot just for the drug effect. I have always attempted to avoid being dependent on "substances" and so, especially since retiring, I have tried not to drink coffee every day in spite of its therapeutic qualities. Over the past few days I have relied on teas for my early morning drink, but even the yerba mate did not seem to charge me enough. Last night I realized that the drag I was experiencing could be due to the absence of coffee, and I promised myself to find the coffeemaker that I had stashed during a house showing and brew some. My current favorite coffee comes from Costco, the organic blend medium roast in the gold bag, and I made enough for two full mugs this morning. When I am caffeinated, I tend to be over talkative and a little too animated. I can tell it's working.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Having an issue?
Per request here are some thoughts on the use of the word issue, as in, "She has some issues."
Groups of people meet and discuss certain pertinent topics (issues) that must be addressed and dealt with. News sources present to us issues that politicians are trying to work through, some new ones like the oil disaster and old or ongoing ones like civil rights. Often they are the result of disagreements or complicated, diverse viewpoints, or a conflict in belief systems.
A personal issue is similar in that it is something that hasn't been completely resolved and must still be worked through. Resolution would involve some sort of mental process such as acquiring new info, changing perception, forgiveness, or letting go.
And on an individual or personal basis, issues are more related to the emotional response - whether or not we are aware of what the emotion is - to what is happening to us or around us. We have emotional responses to just about everything, and while some are mild and fleeting, other emotions affect us profoundly in disturbing ways causing us to develop an issue. Having an issue with something may be another way of saying, "I was hurt by, upset with, traumatized by, had a bad experience with, haven't recovered from..."
Individually we may feel conflicted or ambivalent about something until we have thought through it, talked through it or whatever works best for us, until we have figured it out. A solution may be the end of one issue but at the beginning of another. Sometimes we think we have resolved an issue and then something happens to bring it back up.
"Issue" has a somewhat negative connotation, as if it stifles or prohibits a person from going forward or interferes with relationships, but it can be a good thing in that if acknowledged provides an opportunity to lead to more understanding and acceptance.
I suppose an "issue" can turn into a conflict and then a battle and then a war whether it is raging in one's psyche or waged between countries.
Groups of people meet and discuss certain pertinent topics (issues) that must be addressed and dealt with. News sources present to us issues that politicians are trying to work through, some new ones like the oil disaster and old or ongoing ones like civil rights. Often they are the result of disagreements or complicated, diverse viewpoints, or a conflict in belief systems.
A personal issue is similar in that it is something that hasn't been completely resolved and must still be worked through. Resolution would involve some sort of mental process such as acquiring new info, changing perception, forgiveness, or letting go.
And on an individual or personal basis, issues are more related to the emotional response - whether or not we are aware of what the emotion is - to what is happening to us or around us. We have emotional responses to just about everything, and while some are mild and fleeting, other emotions affect us profoundly in disturbing ways causing us to develop an issue. Having an issue with something may be another way of saying, "I was hurt by, upset with, traumatized by, had a bad experience with, haven't recovered from..."
Individually we may feel conflicted or ambivalent about something until we have thought through it, talked through it or whatever works best for us, until we have figured it out. A solution may be the end of one issue but at the beginning of another. Sometimes we think we have resolved an issue and then something happens to bring it back up.
"Issue" has a somewhat negative connotation, as if it stifles or prohibits a person from going forward or interferes with relationships, but it can be a good thing in that if acknowledged provides an opportunity to lead to more understanding and acceptance.
I suppose an "issue" can turn into a conflict and then a battle and then a war whether it is raging in one's psyche or waged between countries.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
An Amazing Word
“How was dinner?” (substitute any noun)
“It was amazing!”
“Causing great surprise or sudden wonder” is how the online dictionary defines amazing, and as the word emerges from the lips, there is usually a slight pause preceding a barely perceptible gasp, and then a wide eyed reverential surprise to accompany it, even if it was just spoken in the previous sentence in the exact same way. Everything is amazing nowadays - or else there are many people who are easy to impress and amaze. And from my observations, it has become the most commonly used adjective of the past couple of years, surpassing even the popular awesome and totally awesome. Each generation has had its share of words to describe likable things or experiences. My generation overused the word great, and I carry on the tradition. We may have been the ones to change the meaning of cool, but then as if cool were not strong enough to stand on its own, we started saying way cool. Back in the 1920s, I understand that the bees knees and the cat’s meow were today’s amazing. Since then there have been keen, snazzy, hip, neat, neato, radical, and those old standbys terrific, wonderful, the best, incredible, super, marvelous. No complaints from me. I like the positive energy it exudes.
“It was amazing!”
“Causing great surprise or sudden wonder” is how the online dictionary defines amazing, and as the word emerges from the lips, there is usually a slight pause preceding a barely perceptible gasp, and then a wide eyed reverential surprise to accompany it, even if it was just spoken in the previous sentence in the exact same way. Everything is amazing nowadays - or else there are many people who are easy to impress and amaze. And from my observations, it has become the most commonly used adjective of the past couple of years, surpassing even the popular awesome and totally awesome. Each generation has had its share of words to describe likable things or experiences. My generation overused the word great, and I carry on the tradition. We may have been the ones to change the meaning of cool, but then as if cool were not strong enough to stand on its own, we started saying way cool. Back in the 1920s, I understand that the bees knees and the cat’s meow were today’s amazing. Since then there have been keen, snazzy, hip, neat, neato, radical, and those old standbys terrific, wonderful, the best, incredible, super, marvelous. No complaints from me. I like the positive energy it exudes.
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