My heart is broken…Kate McGoey-Smith was a wonderful friend who I came to know after being diagnosed with restrictive lung disease. I follow a whole food plant-based lifestyle because of her… her mentorship helped to profoundly improve my health (and the health of so many others). Kate, you will be dearly missed.
I have not been actively posting on my blogs during the past year. My focus has been on my personal health, caregiving and advocacy with the CURESZ Foundation at https://curesz.org/. While I have participated on social media (primarily a personal Instagram account), I have chosen to spend far less time online as the political mudslinging, fear mongering, labeling, blaming and shaming was impacting my wellbeing.
I am grateful to so those who have been able to stay the course and make a positive difference in so many lives over the past year. I am grateful to those who encourage connection, recovery and hope rather than those who seek to divide, dismantle and distrust.
Special thanks to https://plantbasedcookingshow.com/, https://janeesselstyn.com/, https://www.dresselstyn.com/ and https://teamsherzai.com/ for persevering and continuing to encourage and enlighten so many.
“Kindness covers all of my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.” (Roger Ebert)
Today’s Caregiving Post
I wanted to share a great resource for understanding the difference between happiness and joy found at Compassion.com.
There’s a difference between joy and happiness. But what that difference is, is difficult to definitively define. For every person who says joy is an underlying truth that good or bad circumstances can’t dictate, and happiness is rooted in circumstance, there will be others who think the opposite.
Despite the different perspectives, the idea that holds greater sway today is that happiness depends on external factors to exist. Happiness happens to us. Even though we may seek it, desire it, pursue it, etc., feeling happiness is not a choice we make.
Joy, on the other hand, is a choice purposefully made. Joy is an attitude of the heart and spirit, present inside of us as an untapped reservoir of potential.
It’s possible to feel joy…
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As we make our way through sheltering-in-place, we’ve been focusing on eating nutrient dense foods in order to boost our immune system. My husband had some difficulty finding fresh produce during the first couple of weeks but it is currently not an issue (he does the grocery shopping for our family). I did have trouble finding many grains and beans but was able to order some from a variety of grist mills across the country as well as Rancho Gordo Beans. Understandably, shipping took longer than usual but we were thrilled when they arrived. While my diet is primarily plant based, I am now eating fish on occasion with my rheumatologist’s recommendation/encouragement…my diet is still roughly 95% whole food plant based.
My lungs and heart health continue to slowly improve. I can go without oxygen most of the day (while at home) but still need to wear it at night. I always also use oxygen while running errands (before sheltering in place) and driving. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate NOT hearing my oxygen concentrator running 24/7 running for several hours at a time…especially while sheltering in place.
We will continue to fortify our immune systems while sheltering in place and nutrient dense meals help tremendously.
Posted on my caregiving blog this morning. ❤
Before sheltering in place, I began re-reading Willa Cather’s books.
I have a fondness for historical fiction, especially when it explores the resiliency of men and women facing especially difficult challenges…turning adversity into opportunities to improve their lives and the lives of others…not Pollyanna’s or wide-eyed optimists…but indefatigable people who are able to maintain a sense of integrity and altruism in the midst of the storm.
I was also reviewing our family’s genealogy prior to this pandemic.
One piece of recorded family history speaks so clearly as we experience this unprecedented situation…a handwritten memoir recalling how some of my family members dealt with the extreme difficulties they faced while homesteading. It makes it very clear that family members who focused solely on themselves and their immediate needs negatively impacted the wellbeing of their families and community as well as future generations while other family members who made family and community…
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A post from my caregiving blog. ❤
We need to remember this as we make our way through this health crisis.
Give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
A post from my caregiving blog. ❤
Anna Marshall, a close friend of my mine, is a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern. She sent these Mental Health Wellness Tips for Quarantine my way. Thank you, Anna.
MENTAL HEALTH WELLNESS TIPS FOR QUARANTINE
1. Stick to a routine. Go to sleep and wake up at a reasonable time, write a schedule that is varied and includes time for work as well as self-care.
2. Dress for the social life you want, not the social life you have. Get showered and dressed in comfortable clothes, wash your face, brush your teeth. Take the time to do a bath or a facial. Put on some bright colors. It is amazing how our dress can impact our mood.
3. Get out at least once a day, for at least thirty minutes. If you are concerned of contact, try first thing in the morning, or later in the…
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Part II of my blog posts on my caregiving blog. ❤
Prior to the Covid-19 Crisis, I had also been preparing caregiving/self-care tips on behalf of our loved ones for a brain health advocacy organization (I have been a primary caregiver for over a decade and a brain health advocate for seven years). I am sharing some of these tips received by friends and loved ones, young and old, living with brain illnesses (revised a bit in order to pertain to this current health crisis) as I feel they are also beneficial as well. The most important tip is the one below in bold font.
Let me know I am loved in words and in action. Please say, “I love you,” every single day even if I don’t reciprocate or respond. Please keep telling me I am loved.
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Sharing my current caregiving/self-care blog post. ❤
Prior to the Covid-19 Crisis, I had been preparing caregiving/self-care tips for a brain health advocacy organization. I am sharing some of these tips with you today as they apply to caregiving/self-care through this particular situation as well.
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TakeABreathAndCarryOn 