Sunday, May 31, 2015

Heart Healthy Living


16x20''
Apartment Kitchen Art
in celebration of one of Melissa's and my favorite foods :)

Avocado Toast
(Thanks for this recipe idea, Melissa!)

Toast,
Dijon Mustard,
Mashed or diced avocado,
Red pepper flakes,
in that order

Add-ons:
hummus, salsa, fried egg, garlic salt, Italian seasoning


Friday, May 15, 2015

happy mOThers' day


ADL (typically, in OT dialect, Activities of Daily Living)

Carriers of Life
for Lolly & Sylva

Let me tell you, little one,

If they were to cart your mother off to the end of Wing 1 every week and roll her up onto the scale, they would notice a perceptible change in her:  that’s you.

Your mother has chosen a lifestyle that includes, on any given day, responding to one confined to sitting in a chair.
The way her deft eyes and perceptive mind
Interact with wrinkled hearts
is a response of yes to life and all of its abnormalities and unpredictabilities.

And she has said yes to you, too.

You mother bears hope of new life.
She who knows that Dependency is a part of life,
who knows that falls happen,
will welcome you into a world where she knows that you will fall,
again and again. 

She
Who deals mindfully with dressing and bathing every day,
Who has heard confused cries and responded,
Whose hands attempt to craft responses to pain,
Who intuits that progress take time,
Who has found ways to lift the near-lifeless out of bed,
Who makes a safety plan for one unable to make it for himself,
Who consults within a team on behalf of the interest of another,
Who has felt the spectrum of human need and responded,
is anticipating your arrival.

You have not experienced gravity yet, nor do you know the coordination and balance this life asks. 

You do not know about breath yet.  It is something your mother measures in others.  In preparing for your arrival she has said to you, yes, the air of this world is worth breathing. 

She who has signed countless people up for the Omnicycle
will show skill in signing you up for appointments, leagues, and practices, too.  Your mother has known the demands of schedule.

She knows the benefits of including family in discussion.  That seeking assist is not to be discouraged, but rather is necessary.  That just being present—just showing up—is half the battle.  She knows how to be flexible, figure it out when she gets there.

She knows how to gently arouse one sleeping and to put one back to bed.

She who carries goals for you also knows that goals sometimes need to be adjusted.

We diagnose the unique sounds people repeat, their strange and halting motions, the ways their minds do not match the realities of the world.  But we know that labels cannot capture the wrinkles and swerves of this life.

What a rich environment for you even now,
As you spend eight hours a day in this place that speaks a refrain of:
We stumble and we help.  We transfer. 
We make gains.  We stand by assist. 

Although we can’t fathom it, we understand that one day you, too, will become Independent, and one day again, Dependent. 

The hands that will cradle you have served countless others in corners of their lives, and responded to various darknesses of body and spirit.  But to these bodies and spirits she has said, get up.  Get up, try again.

She is a strong advocate. 

She has chosen a career that sometimes involves this:
Batting a red balloon, watching it lift into the hair, hover for a moment as she meets eyes with another human being, watches how that human being responds, receives the red balloon back, herself responding in turn.

Your mother’s patience has been stretched and grown. 
Her mind does not overlook the subtle worlds of the verbal, tactile, and gestural.  She will know how to read you on so many planes of existence.

She has cleaned up human accidents seven times bigger and more toxic than any you could produce.

She who has attended many an unexpected
Care Plan Meeting,
Cares and Plans on Meeting you.

She brings hope to this world that she knows, daily, will end in frustrations, in discomforts, in limitations.  Your presence in her says, yes, despite all this, yes.  Life: it’s still worth being here for.  She says, come, anyway, come, find brightness in this world.  Because who are we to limit growth. 

And seeing your mothers in our midst, we know the promise and
presence of life she carries in you, little one.
So, when your discharge date arrives,
When they call out your name,
Take comfort that she will welcome you,
first in line for the Nu Step
Into this living, breathing world.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

beet complexity

~ 8.5x11'' linocut


~thought from Henri Nouwen: 

There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another's wounds. Let's remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness.