A Gratitude Post #4

Gratitude today is for the opportunity to be alive, and have the sick leave I need to stay home and rest, when I cannot function adequately.  That is a multiple blessing, acquired from years of  hard work, not using sick leave unless I really needed it, and having a supervisor who understands my health problems.  Plus being ready to retire soon. 

Gratitude Post #3

So, today, I was feeling very poorly. I have a combination of health issues, but the worst is fatigue.  I could have predicted my fatigue by the end of my workday on Tuesday, but I hate to assume the worst about my health status. I had to call into work about being absent.  Today, I slept until after 2 PM. I actually was able to get onto the computer, and do some things, with the opportunity to lie down from time to time.

I am grateful that I have supervisor who is understanding of my physical health issues, and also have the sick leave to cover me when I have these days.  

A Gratitude Post #2

Last night, we had some thunderstorms blow through.  This time of year, we usually need some rain, and 2021 is no exception.  The farmers worry about the rain damaging their cotton harvest, but everything else is pretty well dried out.  So, we had some solid rains, and thunder and lightning. This was a blessing.  I could see the lightning to the north, and at one point, it was right over my neighborhood.  My power never went out, and my electronics were not effected.  So, another blessing.

My work day went well, and a meeting was cancelled, which gave us all a breather.  Yet, another blessing.

I was so tired, it was difficult for me to finish my day.  I was able to leave after 8 hours, today at 4:30 PM, earlier than i have been able to leave work lately. I had hoped to get some extra things done at home tonight, but I was too tired, and slept while I watched TV and tried to read some professional materials. Well, I needed to sleep.  I am still tired, and hopefully my nap will not interfere with my sleep tonight.  

Focusing on positive thinking feels good.  I have had so many negative experiences in the last 2 and a half years, it has really been oppressive.  I realize, though, that I have become habituated at looking at the negative or the worst.  Focusing on a positive outlook makes things easier.  I know that.  I have known that for more than 40 years.  I just needed to be jolted out of my rut, so I can again focus on the positive.   

A Gratitude Post #1

Today, I had a very good day.  I was able to go to work and accomplish a lot, which always makes me feel well.   I had 3 patients who told me I helped them with something, and 2 family members who expressed gratitude for my contacting them.  One disliked what I was telling her, but still acknowledged having a contact was better than not hearing anything at all.

Taki woke me up this morning.  She wanted breakfast, but when I was getting ready for work, she sat on my clothes. A sure sign she did not want me to go to work.  I thought she might be upset by the possibility of storms.  We had some showers this morning, but the storms came tonight.

For those of you who do not know, Taki is slightly developmentally delayed, so some things upset her more than others.  She was potty trained quickly as a baby.  However, some days, she has problems with making her mark, if you will.  Tonight was one of those times.  We had an electric squall blow through, at about the time Taki needed to use her litter dish. The storm was pretty much over head. She missed the litter box.  That upsets her, and she scratches, and scratches and scratches.  I think that is left over from when Sake schooled her about litter box etiquette, and did not hesitate to tell her when she violated that etiquette.  However, when I assure her she is okay, she is able to settle down.

The thing is, we do not always know, and often do not at all know what things will impact those in our world.  As Taki's life companion, I can predict some things, and sometimes, read the signs when I am missing the predictions.  And  Taki is persistent but patient.  

But we are all different, and something that impacts one of us, may not even have an effect on another of us. We cannot know.  But this is one of the skills of a social worker, to be receptive and open to the messages our clients give us that inform us of what is impacting their life and adding to their distress. Social workers start where their clients are: this may be physically, or even environmentally, but more often socially, emotionally, and psychologically. 

Oh, my gosh.  So I am thankful for my patients and their families, and for Taki, and her insecurities, but also her willingness to accept assurances from me.  These folks allowed me to address them where they were and gave me the indicators I need to address their needs in the future. 

Wow, I would consider that a highly positive day!

I Stopped Blogging

For a long time, I tried to blog daily, and it became too cumbersome, so I just abandoned that effort.  I have been thinking lately I want to blog, but not with any pressure or stress to do so daily or for any particular reason.  I have a lot to say, but by the time I am done with my daytime world, sometimes, I cannot think about what I want to share and my mind is too cluttered to make much sense of my world.  Today is no different, although I called in sick, and mostly read and slept today, while nursing my back spasms.  I still checked my email, and doing my routine of thought games to keep my mind focused if not sharp. 

Our world is a mess, with global warming, and the extreme weather events we are experiencing.  COVID 19 is devastating populations, and even though we have a vaccine,  so many people do not trust it, or it is not available to them. The resulting variants make the coronavirus that much more virulent, although that is not a word you will hear in the world news. And politicians have not and are not advocating the use of masks, which are helpful in delaying the spread of COVID 19.  Although science demonstrates that mask wearing is a major safety for our population why would our leadres be opposed to that measure?  

Politics is generally no longer an exercise in compromise and consensus, but a tug of war between political factions who are more concerned with promoting their personal political agenda, then trying to promote governance that will benefit all constituents represented, regardless of political party.  This is not democracy  This is governance by threat.  Pure and simple.  "Disagree with me, and I will make sure your views are not considered"  is the general tenor of our legislators.  Where has democracy gone?  

There is too much headache in this world.  We have been here before, many times.  Let us  hope, this time, we do not obliterate ourselves off of the face of the earth.  

  

Transfer of Power

 One of the hallmarks of the United States of America is the peaceful transfer of power when a new President has been elected.  That was disrupted this year when, on January 6, 2021, President Trump incited a mob to attack the Capitol building in an effort to stop the certification of Joseph Biden as the 46th President of the United States.  The Road to a Riot.  

Although law enforcement was found lacking, the Representatives and Senators involved in the certification process were kept safe, and determined to complete their task the same day, no matter how late they had to work.  They did.

On January 20, 2021,  Joseph Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States, and Kamala Harris was inaugurated as the vice-president.  There was highly increased security, coupled with safety and security measures taken due to COVID - 19 precautions, which made this inauguration very different from most in the past.  Additionally, outgoing President Trump was not present, although he did leave a "gracious" note for President Biden in the Oval Office.    

I was very relieved to see, ultimately, a peaceful transfer of power, although it took such security measures to ensure it.

At work today coworkers who knew my political leanings greeted me with "It's a good day"  "It's a really good day." was the response.  And I greeted other coworkers the same.  One, who did not know my political leanings, nor I his, talked about how surprised we were that well educated, Christian people bought into the divisiveness and hate of the Trump Presidency.  We also shared that we have felt a great weight lifted from our shoulders.  This coworker talked about how Christianity cycles (he had a technical name for it, which I cannot recall.)  But he used the examples of the Crusades, and the NAZIs as examples of how Christianity cycles to be negative, derogatory, and used to promote supremacy of a faction of our population.   An interesting hypothesis.  And, he commented that this gives us a better understanding of how Hitler was able to convince the German people that his policies were acceptable. A comment that was so accurate.

I am so thankful that our country did not succumb to the persuasion of power by our former President.  It is really easy to do so.  I was saddened to see how members of the Republican Party kowtowed to the president whether out of fear, or loyalty during his presidency. I hope other members of Congress learn from this lesson.

More importantly, I am so thankful that people in opposition to the President Trump did not succumb to his terrorism, threats, hyperbole, and lies.  The people against President Trump worked hard, they campaigned honestly and diligently, and they carried the day in the election on the side of unity, mercy, justice, and values such as equality, integrity, and honesty, to name a few. 

Thoughts about change and COVID-19.

 

Something I have decided, and have not really shared with anyone, but have started living my life in this way, and that is, to think that calling this our new normal is the pragmatic thing to do.  We do not know if, when and how this will end.  We do not know what  things will look like on the other end.  We do know we will never go back 100% to the way things were before.  We initially kidded ourselves, with the help from some national leadership, to believe this would be resolved by this summer.  And it has not.  So when I cannot change things around me, sometimes I have to decide whether to change my outlook and expectations.  This may not work for everybody, especially someone who is idealistic. But sometimes an idealistic person understands how important it is to adjust and adapt.

 

I liken this to being in a war.  Too long ago for my lifetime, but we hear about the sacrifices and contributions the American people were asked to make during World War II:  rationing, recycling, women working in jobs that were formerly felt unfit women, including manufacturing, farming, and other businesses.  And, it opened up some integration prospects previously unthought of.   Well, although people tried to put the genie back in the bottle, women and minorities slowly expanded their roles after the war, often, with a very tough fight.

 

We are now engaged in a multi-front war:  The war against COVID-19.  The war against natural disasters, that are more difficult to deal with because of COVID -19 (wild fires, heat waves, hurricanes, etc.)  The war against social injustice and racism.  This always gets worse when the people on the bottom of the social ladder see possibilities of improvement, and then those possibilities are snatched away. (A black, inclusive president is replaced by an anglo, divisive president.)  When I was in college we learned about it as the Revolution of Rising Expectations.  This article https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/revolution-rising-expectations indicates it may not be that simple, but it plays a part.  

 

The idea is, we have to change with the change. And the way we change influences the way the change impacts our world.  The actual quote from Mahatma Gandhi is:  “We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body.  If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.  As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.  This is the divine mystery supreme.  A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”  This has been shortened to “be the change you want to be”

 

The societal changes give each of us the opportunity to decide how we will go forward from here.  It is a major burden. Do I have an answer?  No.

 

So, forgive my ramble.  Thank you for letting me ramble. Sometimes, I just need to get it off my chest.  And I ask for answers.