"MEDIA FAST". . . . "OFF THE GRID". . .. ."NO CONNECTION". . ."UNPLUGGED". . . . . . "MINDFULNESS". . . ."SERENITY!"

 "Don’t meditate to fix yourself, 

to heal yourself, 
to improve yourself, 
to redeem yourself; 

rather, 
 do it as an act of love, 
of deep warm friendship to yourself."

I was in need of continuing education credits to renew my nursing license, so I decided to attend a MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION RETREAT at Commonweal Center in Bolinas. I would receive 24 CEU's and it was promoted as:   a place where you can be “unplugged” for several days to recover a sense of personal presence and well-being.  The location was idyllic-- Point Reyes National Seashore.  I had no idea that "unplugged" would literally mean NO wi-fi or cellular service.

OUR HACIENDA!

The you that goes in one side of
 the meditation experience

 is not the same you that comes out the other side. 

I didn't know what to expect.  I just hoped I would have some good food and relax for the weekend. Didn't want to have to do any role-playing or oral presentations!  

I hadn't noticed that it advertised- "gourmet vegetarian meals"- I was just so set on getting the CEU's! 

We left Sac, the temp was 92 but as we got closer to the coast, it began to cool dramatically! The scenery was beautiful as we curved through the  green rolling hills and arrived at Bolinas. Our group was an eclectic bunch.  Some professionals in need of CEU's, several alumni, and then   others who like me had no idea what "mindfulness" 
involved, but thought their lives were so stressful, they would benefit from stress reduction. 

THE LABYRINTH

 I thought the weekend would be filled with lectures, maybe a few power point presentations, and a syllabus to follow along with.  I was in for a big surprise.  Basically, it was 3 days of meditating.  Sitting, walking, laying down for "body scan". Our leaders Steve & Bob, would talk a little, then we'd meditate. Usually once or twice a day, we would go around the circle, or divide into small groups expressing some of our thoughts or feelings, what we expected, feared , enjoyed or anticipated about our meditations. I confess that during our meditations times,  my mind at times became so uncluttered and blank that I nodded off now and then. But on the whole I stayed focused.


 

We started each day with some yoga or Qigong.  We even had one day of "silence".  For those of you who know me--not one of my strong suits.  I enjoy the fellowship with others and feel I learn a lot from hearing other peoples stories. Once again, I may have slipped a little on the "vow of silence", so guess I wouldn't make a very good Trappist Monk or Vestal Virgin for that matter.

There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt, containing a tornado. 

Dam a stream and it will create a new channel. 

Resist, and the tide will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry you to higher ground. 

 

NEW GROWTH!

As I mentioned before, I had no idea that the highlight of this retreat was the fantastic food!  Certainly gourmet and all vegetarian, organic and locally grown.  While there were books and CD's on meditation, I wanted THE cookbook.  However, our chef said it was "under construction"!  Every meal was a culinary delight!

MARSHA MEDITATING?!?!

There was plenty of time to take long walks and enjoy the countryside. I could meditate on the beauty of the ocean, blooming flowers and magnificent trees. I didn't miss the lack of cellular service one bit!!

WATCHING OWNER SURF!

 Mindfulness meditation doesn't change life. Life remains as fragile and unpredictable as ever. Meditation changes the heart's capacity to accept life as it is.

FEET OF A DOG  RESCUER!

I was surprised that I really did come out a different person, more aware and that I really wanted to have a time everyday to meditate and quiet the chatter in my head.  It was amazing to watch many morph into kinder, softer, and less stressed persons.

 The time will come when with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the others welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, 

 to the stranger who has loved you all your life, 

whom you have ignored for another,

 who knows you by heart. 

 

I highly recommend you check out one of these retreats! 

You will find it is a rich and powerful program.

http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com 

HAVE A HEART?

So Valentine's Day usually brings visions of hearts, chocolate, roses, passion and 50 shades of whatever you want.  Yesterday as I was listening to: SCIENCE FRIDAY --Tales of Broken hearts. 
I realized I would be remiss to not mention the marvels of THE HEART-our human hearts. After all, we wouldn't be here without them.

I made me more aware of my wonderful heart and respect the pioneers that have made advances in healing "broken hearts'. 

Did you realize that there are 60-100,000 miles of blood vessels in our bodies!  Enough to travel the world 3-4 times. 

But the story that really captured my interest was about doctor that did the first human cardiac catheterization in 1929 - - -  on himself.  He had begged his chief to let him do one, but was repeatedly refused.   He persuaded the OR nurse in charge of the sterile supplies to assist him. She agreed, but only on the promise that he would do it on her rather than on himself. However, he tricked her by restraining her to the operating table and pretending to locally anesthetize and cut her arm whilst actually doing it on himself.  He threaded a catheter into his vein threading it partly along before releasing nurse (who at this point realized the catheter was not in her arm) because he needed her help to get to the Xray department a couple floors below. On the way down, they bumped into one of his colleagues who tried to get the catheter out. . . . But finally they did get to x-ray and a fluoroscopy and his achievement was official! Whew!! And the rest is history.  He did get a Nobel Prize 27 years later for his work.
 
I hope all of you are enjoying this Valentine's Day!  I remember when my sister was little and my mom told her that she loved her.  She said,"that makes my heart go piter-pat!"

May your heart keep going piter-pat. . . and you feel the love that wraps around and around us.

"EVERYBODY NEEDS A MARSHA"

 

"A friend knows the song in my heart 

and sings it to me when my memory fails." 

 
Recently,I was hanging out with my dear friend Marsha. She rents a room to Phillip, a young German interning at Siemens. He is really enjoying the "American Experience", the food, people, places--just having a great time.  He said his brother did an internship in San Jose and generally disliked it and was only too happy to return to Germany. That's when Phillip said: "He didn't have a Marsha!"

A true friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart. 

As I was driving home, those words struck me!!  How grateful I am that I "have a Marsha"! An extraordinary friend, nurse practitioner, therapist, caregiver, cook, with firm shoulders to laugh and cry on!  Over the last 31 years, we've ridden the roller coaster of life, through ups and downs,marriage and kids, sickness and health,births and deaths . . . . . What a ride-- with many moments of sheer hanging on for dear life!


  My friendship with Marsha started in 1983 when she started working with me in Labor and Delivery. Even though we were seasoned nurses, we were "new" to Sacramento and the "veteran" nurses basically ate their young! So we bonded immediately, in our efforts to survive and blow them away with our awesome teamwork.  Not only did we have similar mid-west roots, we were born in '52!  So as Bogart put it--that was just  "the beginning of a beautiful friendship"!!

A good friend is cheaper than therapy.

Yes, I am truly blessed to have THE Marsha!!  I must not be remiss in saying that, "Oh, by the way, she saved my life!"  Probably in more ways than just one, but in 1995 on a routine exam, she discovered lumps in my groin and sent me to a surgeon for a biopsy.  .  . and consequently my diagnosis of lymphoma.  So I am eternally grateful for her clinical expertise as well, plus all her support through that crisis. "The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it!" 


 

 

Let’s swear each with our pinky
We’ll be the best of friends
Until we are old and wrinkly!

Mother and Son

Keep smiling and keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me,
 for sure
That's what friends are for
In good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for

 

EVERYBODY NEEDS A MARSHA!!!

 

"STEWARD OF THE LAND"

As many of you might know, I have been on a extensive exercise program for several months.  Now that I am on vacation, I am not just sitting back and letting that muscle turn to jello.  My "host family" is nestled in the trees here in Crescent Valley, Eastern British Columbia. 

Everyday, I have been exploring the trail that leads to the Slocan River.  This has been a good workout, even according to my Polar monitor. Although I prefer fast and flat, these hills are just beautiful and there are so many different trails to follow.

Yesterday, I met Michael, the owner of the property I have been exploring. He purchased the land (@300 acres) 20+years ago. It had been heavily forested or rather "raped" were his words. It had been bulldozed and the best trees taken and the others left in shambles.  Michael brought his parcel back to life, with meadows, trails, and even planting more groves of  trees.  

 

What is here now is a jewel.  I loved this unexpected covered bridge with hanging flower pots. The bridge over troubled waters! 








The beach by the river was perfect for cooling off today.








There is even the occasional surprise. . . like a sculpture or two. The lion's den and the temple, I have yet to find!! But I have been told the vicinity!

 He says that he likes to think of himself,

 not so much the "owner", but the "steward of the land".

 Thank you Michael, for seeing the possibilities and making it happen.

A SENIOR MOMENT!

Only "A" senior moment, I hear you say?  I actually have many but only this one that I want to write about. 

So last winter, my Canadian Cuz hand carried a Heirloom Homestead Squash picked from the fertile Creston Valley, BC.  We cooked it up and it was just delicious and moist. So we saved the seeds and when it was warm enough here, I planted an entire grow box with the Homestead.  At the same time, I planted another box with another one of my favs, butternut squash.  Alas, I did not mark either box.  One box spouted immediately and in just a few days had lots of foliage.  The other box had not one sprout.  So for some reason, I assumed the the box that sprouted was probably the butternut. I proceeded to replant the derelict box with some more Homestead seeds.  Now that both boxes are producing, I have discovered the error of my ways!  Yes, I have 2 grow boxes of Homestead squash.


Fortunately, this is such a flavorful squash, I should be able to interchange it in my recipes for the butternut.  I cooked up an immature one and it was wonderful eaten as a "summer" squash.  Who says you have to wait till "winter"?!



Now speaking of seeds, I was told that I just had to plant a Moon and Stars Watermelon. It is ultra-sweet and delectable with a rind as attractive as the flesh is delicious! The foliage is also spotted.



So I sent off for some seeds from  StoneySoil Seed Co.
When the small package arrived, there was this lovely personal note wrapped around the seeds. 

 Thank you Ira!  That is just so sweet!  Such unique customer service.  I will order from you again. I will report when I have tasted the final product. 

I will also share my prize winning recipe for butternut squash soup. Well, to be honest, I haven't won any prizes with it, but I am sure I would if there was a contest!


 

The glory of gardening:
Hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.  
To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.

NURSES CALL THE SHOTS!!

National nurses week is coming up and I got an email at work saying "we'd love to hear from you  about why you became a nurse, or what you love about being a nurse".  I was close to hitting the delete button, but gave it a little extra thought and since I am in the "twilight" of my nursing career, I decided to accept the "challenge".  In my 40+ years of nursing, I have seen the highs and lows, the ends and outs of nursing.  I've been the patient, Ive been the nurse. . . I seen life from both sides now.

"DR BEN CASEY"

DR UNCLE MARVIN

So let me begin with why I became a nurse.

When I was 6 years old, my favorite uncle-- Marvin, was in medical school at Loma Linda. He was good looking, funny and witty and I adored him. (Later when the Ben Casey tv show came out, I was sure Marvin could have been his double) I think that was when I thought, if I could be a nurse, than I could work with him in his office when he became a doctor. Together, we would save the world!!??

That Christmas, my aunt Marilyn made me a authentic nursing uniform, pinafore, hat and all. I also got a medical kit complete with a real stethoscope, bp cuff, bandages, etc. I was thrilled, and in business!

Over the years, after spending some of my teen years working in a sanitarium and nursing home, the glam of nursing was obviously a little "tarnished" to put it mildy and I briefly wavered in my decision to be a nurse. It was the 60's and I considered being a social worker to solve all the social inequalities of the times.  However, when I got to college, nursing seemed like a more direct path to becoming independent and self sufficient. So I jumped into the nursing que. Little did I know that when I graduated, I'd have no benefits for many years and would get barely $5/hour.

But,I must say my life has not been boring. 

Once I took my state boards, I joined my family in New Guinea where I was drafted since it seemed I was the only medical person in the vicinity, to give lectures to the locals, who had never even heard of a germs. I had some sophisticated public health lectures probably conceived by a Harvard grad with some slides that I realized were almost useless in this situation.  But I managed to keep the people entertained with a few of the slides and making up simple lectures. 

After a stint in Singapore, we moved on to Borneo, where among one of my dad's duties was a bush pilot. I gave him a crash course in triage, suturing, medi-vac, etc. Once he got a flat tire on the cessna, landing on a marginal runway. (We had radioed him to follow the cow path and watch out for the long house built at the end of the runway.)  As we sat around wondering how to fix the tire, I suggested we patch it with some rubber from the local rubber trees and patch from a bicycle. After checking for any escaping air with a stethoscope, he had a successful take off. Whew!!  That was a close one.

MARVIN AT WORK

"LONG-HOUSE"

Sarawak, Malasian Borneo, was a beautiful island at this time, untouched by the deforestation that came all too soon, moving the simple inland hunter-gather tribes from thatched long houses to urban housing. While doing research on goiters with a medical student and some other friends and family, we stayed with the Iban tribe in their long-house. I remember getting little sleep, cause if you were anybody, you would have a prized rooster tied to your front door.  The cocks were out-crowing each other most of the night.   

Almost everyone living inland had a goitor. Due to the research,though,the government began to give the people iodine supplements and sell iodized salt in the shops. My uncle Marvin and his family came out for a vacation and he helped with some clinics. That's about the closest I ever got to working with him as his nurse!?!

This quote sums up what has kept me in nursing for over 40 years:

When I think about all the patients and their loved ones

 that I have worked with over the years, 

I know most of them don’t remember me nor I them.

 But I do know that I gave a little piece of myself to each of them 

and they to me and those threads make up the beautiful tapestry in my mind

 that is my career in nursing. – D.Cardillo-

HAPPY NURSES WEEK!