"MEMORY CARE"

November 5, 2013
It's tough being a resident in a nursing home.  Especially in one that specializes in memory care.  Faces are seldom familiar to you, the question on your lips is "where am I?"  But there's one thing that always seems familiar and takes you back in time to a memory you thought you'd long forgotten, and that's hearing the songs you love.

Today residents at Elderberry Square sang along to MY GUY and BILL BAILY (always a favorite) and clapped and moved to ONLY YOU and IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT, and one woman in the back shed many tears as I sang JUST THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT.

I never know which songs will bring back memories, or whether they'll be sad or happy ones, but because I focus on songs from the 1930s to the 1950s there seems to be something there for everyone.

When I departed, Evelyn reached up from her wheelchair, tapped my leg and very quietly shared, "When I was a young child, I used to sing A TISKET, A TASKET as I skipped down to the water hole to go swimming with my brothers.  It is a favorite of mine. Thank you."

THIS is why I sing for seniors, to bring them a bit of comfort, a little ray of sunshine, and to take a walk with them down memory lane.
 

Heart Strings Meet Harp-strings

November 2, 2013
I'm sure many of you have experienced the magical connections made while traveling alone. 

These "synchronisities" just seem to occur far more prevalently on solo journeys.  From the jungles of Costa Rica and Ecuador to the gypsy festivals of Stes. Marie de la Mer in France, to the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, England or the tulip fields of Holland - it doesn't matter where I am, unusual happenings just seem to pop up often when I'm on my own ---- well, that's my take on it anyway.

I had a str...
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"Inspired by My Grandmother"

October 22, 2013
"Where are you from?" the activities director asked as the elevator neared the second floor.
"I'm from Washington," I said, and explained that I planned to travel the country singing for senior living centers and VA Hospitals. 
"Oh, I'm from Washington, too!" exclaimed Shawna, "from Bothell."
"Ha, I lived in Bothell for several years and attended Inglemoor High School."  I said.
"Hey, I graduated from Inglemoor.  What year?"

...and so the synchronisities began. Here in the lovely town of Seaside ...
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MY PHILOSOPHY

March 10, 2013

MY PHILOSOPHY

 "Language, which mediates human perception, results in extremely complex operations: the analysis and synthesis of incoming information, the perceptual ordering of the world, and the encoding of impressions into systems. thus words - the basic linguistic units - carry not only meaning, but also the fundamental units of consciousness reflecting the external world." (Luria, 1976)

Words as "consciousness reflecting the external world"...every thought connecting to someth...


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Integrative Circularity: Moving toward a Global Consciousness

September 16, 2012


 

The whole story in the ascent of consciousness is the story of the opening of an aperture, the passage from a linear and contradictory consciousness to a global consciousness.                                                                                                            Satprem[1]

 

            Strongly driven by my direct connection to Spirit at a young age, I have spent most of my life feeling as though I were walking in-between two worlds. Perhaps due to my stubborn an...


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Sustainable Living

March 3, 2012

I've four itty bitty chicks under an incubator in my utility room.  I seem to have caught some sort of "fever" while living as a WWOOFer for a time while in Hawaii and France.  "WWOOF" stands for "Willing Worker on Organic Farms" and the opportunities and living conditions are as diverse as the folks involved.

 In my own particular case, with my background in landscaping and as one of two groundskeepers at a large chateau in the South of France, I mowed acres of beautiful green grass, crea...


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My Christmas Guest(s) 2011

December 26, 2011

I now know, without a doubt, that one is NEVER alone....especially on Christmas! 


At 1pm I looked outside to watch my Christmas guest(s) arrive.

He and his spirit guide found a place beneath the weeping tree and fell asleep for nearly 3 hours. 
Meanwhile, other guests arrived to make contact with his majestic brilliance:
 


and suddenly my entire backyard was FULL OF LIGHT. 
The light was so bright it blocked out the trees~!

A Christmas I will NEVER forget.

So I have decided to write a story abo...


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Thanksgiving & The New Moon

November 24, 2011

 

Earlier today had a visit from an old fear - a test to see how far I'd really come in my life and to see how grounded and strong I'd become due to struggle, suffering and adversity.  For each and every lesson I have learned so much, have developed strength of character, depth, and so much compassion that my heart is now vibrantly alive.  I am so thankful.  What an initiation.

 

Tonight I was brought up close and personal to disasters and horrific trials and to those brave souls  who surv...


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Sustainability

October 16, 2011

There seems to be something to this process of releasing: household items, personal belongings, thoughts that no longer serve, beliefs...such a weight upon the shoulders. I just got rid of 3/4ths of my "stuff" - totally cleaned out the attic and went through all the rooms in my home. Gave it all to my boys to have a yard sale. Ryan and his friend took it all and had a three day event where they scored close to $1000.
And me...I'm losing weight...


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THE HEALING POWER OF NATURE - May 1, 2011

October 16, 2011

"Nature gives forth of itself willingly and abundantly.

~Sharon O'Hara, The Growing Place

Ah, the beauty and simplicity of nature, particularly in the more unspoiled wilderness areas unpolluted by noise, lights, sirens, signals and radio frequencies. In nature our spirits soar, our energetic fields expand, and the brilliance of the stars in the night sky are beyond compare. Traversing nature’s pathways silent and alone, it seems an effortless endeavor to access balance. Along ...


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