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Wednesday, October 5, 2022

The Challenges and Heartseases as a Senior Care Giver

Being a senior caregiver is & isn't what you think. 
No matter how you prepare yourself for it. It's not going to go as expected.  So cheer up and expect the unexpected.

For example, in my case, my parents had a medical set back.  I had literally six days to pack up a house and move to another state. Luckily it only took 4 days to sell my house.  Also on the bright side my employer showed exemplary empathy and help to transition my home office to a new state in less than two weeks. Plus they staggered my breaks so that I could meet my parents needs.

That is just outstanding - but you'll be surprised at how many companies will do just that for you.

Number one thing, see if your company has an employee assistance program most do in the United States and talk to the social worker about whats going on and they will fill you in on what you need and next steps for bringing them home from the hospital. Gem 💎 of a benefit they will immediately transport you from reactive to proactive. 

The next big thing is finding appropriate doctors, it's astounding how many doctors do not even look at their patients or treat seniors like they're 5 years old. Seniors are not mentally impaired they're just a little slower at doing some things. Finding physicians who will take your ques as a caregiver, but concentrate on their patients is a monumental task but totally worth the extra time especially with the primary care and specialists so yeah everybody.

But believe me its worth every moment - there will be wacky days, that just make you smile 😁.

So far being on a schedule where they get out daily whether they go to the senior center for lunch to socialize, walk in the park or simply out to lunch at a new restaurant you'll be amazed at the story's they have to share. You'll also be surprised at the memories different places invoke.

How they met? The Y dance, at a restaurant they were both working at. My mom made the move. She walked right up to my father and asked him if he knew the y dance? He didn't. She put her arms around his neck and put his arms around her waist and slyly I imagine looked into his eyes and said why dance? #meetcutemoment
I was definitely one of the lucky ones, my dad was a teacher & chef, my mom was a teachers aid, they accepted all of our friends in their home, I grew up with 13 Foster brothers and sisters. They taught us empathy at a young age. 

So why drop almost everything and move home? Y not 😘 & because they didn't want to leave the home built. 

Saturday, March 5, 2022

The Broken Mirror Argument

 Broken Mirrors - Are You in For 7 years of Bad Luck?  Or is the secret in the details?

Superstitions - it is believing in things that cannot logically be explained.  Mirrors are the source of science, intrigue and myths so dig a little deeper.

If you think about it - it's a choice bad luck or good luck it's subjective. 

Reflective surfaces date back to 4,000 BC some of the earliest forms found in turkey; and probably the beginning of time, because people can also see their reflection in the water, ice, finely polished stones or crystals.


It's also believed that the earliest glass object was created around 3500 BC in Egypt an important element coming up.  Mirrors were also found in the New Kingdom of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty, 1540–1296 BC

                                                 Pic. By https://clevelandart.org/art/1983.196, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77264790

A mirror today in 2022 is a glass surface backed by silvering.  Justus Von Leibig didn't invent the process until 1835. He was a scientist, they believed that the scientific inquiry is a method and form of knowledge Superior to all others that allows us to understand the world. Mirrors are used in optical and scientific apparatuses such as telescopes, lasers, cameras, periscopes, and industrial machinery; they are also used in magic. The terms mirror and reflector are for objects that reflect any other types of waves, consequently if you break a mirror you're breaking a wave.


Accordingly, the thought of breaking a mirror today and running into 7 years of bad luck isn't plausible. I think JVL might agree. 

Looking back a little more,  It appears it was the ancient Romans who first suggested the idea of a broken mirror bringing 7 years bad luck - in line with the belief that the body renewed itself every seven years. That was in or around 753 bc and at that time the mirrors were crudely made of metal, bronze, tin, or silver highly polished.  Seems like they be harder to break. 


Later blown glass with lead backings, and then highly polished bronze or silver backings was  used to make mirrors. In ancient times they would have been made by highly skilled artisans. One would have to consider that any artist would say you're going to have or wish you bad luck if you ruin their work even accidentally.

What are Mirrors? They simply reflect - like a picture they capture a brief moment in time - unlike a picture - as soon as you walk away it disappears.  


So if mirrors are made of glass and glass is made out of sand and sand is also an ingredient in clay - the basic material to consider next is dirt.

If we were talking to a Shaman dirt is a sign of coming through the odds. "(The earliest known undisputed burial of a shaman (and by extension the earliest undisputed evidence of shamans and shamanic practices) dates back to the early Upper Paleolithic era (c. 30,000 BP) in what is now the Czech Republic.)"  Dirt as bearer of bad luck?  Seriously, dirt its everywhere it holds water and vital nutrients to grow things and it is the foundation that we build upon. Embrace the positive.  Dirt isn't vile your perspective might be. 

Dig a little deeper and Kintsugi dating back to the 15th century is the golden repair. It treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object rather than something to disguise.  A mirror never disguises - so if you simply crack it or even shatter it. It's just a reminder that life is fragile - look at the big picture, track the positives after the event, clean it up or save it to create something.  Embrace the change coming and do not get attached to inanimate objects it's an accident - fate - without a doubt beyond your control. 


We're all flawed with imperfections maybe the broken mirror is a reminder to go after something that's actually fixable.  Think about how many mirrors/reflective pieces were broken for the last 4,000 years to make mosaic art that may have originated in Mesopotamia. That's the third millennium BC. We've come a long way from those times; bad luck didn't win.

A broken mirror can realistically simply be a reminder to pick up the pieces and start over, embrace your perceived flaws or imperfections and that age old adage waste not -want not. 

"Observation is like a piece of glass, which, as a mirror, must be very smooth, and must be very carefully polished, in order that it may reflect the image pure and undistorted." — Justus von Liebig

Keep Asking Questions - Read A Book - Investigate Different Perspectives - Embrace the Positive

A Broken Mirror is just that ... something to be repaired or recycled.

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