The decision to depart from my chosen path in life and to start all over again as a wannabe writer both broke my heart and healed it.
"The degree to which you can tell your story is the degree to which you can heal."~S. Eldredge
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
acquiring a knack for discernment
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
the downside of doctoring
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
what you can do when things get to be too much
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."~Mahatma Gandhi |
This week was especially challenging for those of us who identify as empaths.
According to Chivonna Childs, PhD of the Cleveland Clinic, an empath is a person who feels what others feel. They are known to take on the emotional responses of others and to process them on a deeper level. When others suffer, they suffer.
This week's news was hard on empaths. It featured the devastating loss of life and property in the California's wildfires. The continuing challenge of frigid temperatures, wind, and drifting snow that have had a paralyzing grip on the mid-Atlantic states and on New England for weeks. The fact that residents of North Carolina are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Helene. Not to mention the political chaos our country is facing. Not to mention the unavoidable static of illness, grief, and despair that blankets so many.
On the other hand, some things barely made the news at all this week. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza. A massive earthquake in Tibet. The all but forgotten refugee camps in Sudan.
On a more personal note, I have been fretting about the deer, the little squirrels and chipmunks, and the birds outdoors with nothing but a little fur or a few feathers to keep them warm. My heart aches for all the pets who snuck out the door and wandered off when no one was watching and are now lost out in the cold, without shelter or food...which is why I doubled the amount of birdseed I put out. Even the deer are eating it.
People suffering. Animals suffering. Empaths suffering.
How do you process it? Where do you begin?
Well, you can try to ignore it. You can turn off the news. Distract yourself with mindless entertainment, go shopping for things you don't need (...be honest), or attend to some of those mundane chores you've been putting off. You can pretend it isn't your problem, even though, in a way, it is.
Here are a few things that helped get me through the week:
- I was finally able to get outside and walk, which is a contemplative practice for me. It may not have helped anyone else, but it gave me time to reflect on my place in the world with gratitude and compassion.
- I watched the squirrels scamper around and the deer bound out of the woods the minute I put the birdseed out...the good kind with whole seeds, real nuts, and dried fruit in it. Happy to oblige.
- Night after night I watched the sun set in brilliant shades of pink and orange and purple.
- I watched the "wolf" moon rise.
- I learned something new from Neil deGrasse Tyson about the tides. You can visit him here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBwNadry-TU
- I took note that snow still glitters in the sunshine.
Monday, January 6, 2025
a pathway to healing
I came up against this situation several times recently, and I wasn't exactly sure how I could help. In each case, the circumstances were different but the issue was the same.
In one case, a gentleman had fallen and injured his hand, but he didn't seek care for it at the time. Weeks later, he was still complaining about the pain...and still refusing to have it evaluated and treated.
Another person had multiple medical problems including diabetes and a heart condition, but he neglected to see his doctor for follow-up. He constantly complained about disabling shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling in his legs, and back pain, but refused to have his symptoms evaluated and treated.
A third person had a persistent cough and wheezing that she blamed on the "flu", even though she was a smoker. She knew it could be something serious, but she refused to have it checked.