Monthly Archives: January 2005
Reality, and Other Strange Notions
“What is Real?” asks the velveteen rabbit in one of my favorite stories. Not a bad question, coming from someone with stuffing for brains. What, indeed, is real? Carl Rogers said, “The only reality I can possibly know is the world as I perceive and experience it at this moment.” Which implies that if tomorrow I experience something different, then reality has changed. If reality is truly real, then shouldn’t it remain the same? If today’s reality is not the same as tomorrow’s reality, which of them is really the … Continue reading
Further Explorations
I like it when pieces of a puzzle begin to fall into place. My ponderings of late (see Have You Hugged Your Rabbit Today? and Let There Be Light) have prompted me to go exploring, and in doing so I keep stumbling over things that make me go “Aha!” I love the sense of finding new pieces of the puzzle, new discoveries that help to (in my mind, at least) unify all of the separate realities I live in. Today I got to start a course in Quantum Touch. That’s … Continue reading
Waking Walter
It’s 7:45am. In the assisted living facility where I work as an aide, that’s late morning. I’ve been on the job for over an hour, and most of the residents are already down in the dining hall eating breakfast. I always save Walter for last. I pick up the newspaper at my feet and knock on his door. It’s the rule, even though most of the residents can’t hear it anyway, at least not before they get up and put their “ears” in. I know my residents, and know which … Continue reading
Have You Hugged Your Rabbit Today?
Researchers at the Ohio State University School of Medicine were studying atherosclerosis, observing the effects of a high-cholesterol, high-fat diet on the arteries of rabbits. At the conclusion of the test period, they discovered that one group of rabbits had 60% less blockage in their arteries than the rest, although all had been on the exact same diet. An investigation was launched to determine what factors might have influenced the outcome so drastically. What they discovered was that the person who was responsible for the care and feeding of that … Continue reading
Let There be Light
Since starting nursing school I’ve done a lot of thinking about health and wellness and healing. The power of touch, and the importance of being cared for. The desperate need of a human being to be loved, and what a difference a smile or a touch can make. A lot of various thought threads came together in my mind one night in my psychology class last term, when we were discussing a particular theory of personality and whether it was sound from a scientific point of view. I commented that … Continue reading