Do you ever say, “How much worse can it get,” only to have something follow that with something worse? Well, it has been that type of few weeks. The craziness has even interfered with my weekly blog postings! YIPES! Well, every week something gets experienced, learned, logged. With luck, we get a chuckle out of some aspect of the event and, eventually and usually much later, we can smile about it. Such has been my last few weeks.
It is good to have your routine completely disrupted from time to time. It challenges your ability to response and adapt and change as needed. For example, I had the next few weeks completely planned out, or however relatively they get planned out, when suddenly I had to attend a training session for 3 days. Then throw in taking my mother to the Emergency Room, then the doctor, following up on prescriptions and more phone calls. My iCal became an I Can’t Take this Anymore!
But that is not true. I did take it and adapted as required and moved on.
Now my mother is home and relatively well and my schedule is someone back on track. What this experience reminded me of was that life IS unpredictable. You can plan and cover every base, but that just does not stop “stuff” from happening all over place. Gee, I just sounded like a Seuss book!
I have been talking about preparedness a lot lately. To faculty and staff, to friends and acquaintances. Gentle reminders, mostly, but also pointed conversations about the “what if.” We simply cannot predict what will happen in the next minute or hour or day. We can expect and plan our day around those expectations, but ultimately we react to whatever comes our way.
E is for Emergency, but it is also for Expect. Expect something will not go as planned, or even desired. But with some level of preparedness, we managed to get through the crisis and end up a little battered but not broken and ready to face whatever E comes our way.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
With A Song In My Heart
That’s what I need. A song. Something snappy like Queen’s head bobbing “Bohemian Rhapsody,” or melancholy like the song “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan they play on that ASPCA commercial. Something people instantly know and can get into.
I was listening to Dick Gordon’s “The Story” on NPR last Thursday night when I heard the most remarkable thing that I had heard in a while. Dick was interviewing this delightful young musician by the name of Dafnis Prieto. A Cuban-born jazz percussionist, he received the 2011 MacArthur Genius Grant, and after listening for just a few minutes, I could see why. He was so absorbed into his music, but yet cognizant of everything around it and himself. A true genius at the drums (of several types, I might add, sometimes using multiple drum sticks in each hand!), he was an extraordinary musician who understood and expressed the power of music in a way I had never really heard of before. For him, music was his life and a way to express himself through sound. What caught and stopped me was his brilliant response to the question of transitioning between different types of music – for example, how he could so easily move from Cuban to New Orleans jazz. He said, “The wonderful thing about music is that you hold the whole world inside yourself...you can go from Brazil to Norway in a matter of seconds...there is no limit in time, space...”
Wow. No boundaries. Just ever present. That’s what I want. Something that transcends a door, a state line or an ocean. One sound, one song that binds and strengthens all of us. Imagine! Yes, John, I can imagine that now. Somehow those words really hit me. An “I am ready” song. Ready for today, ready for tomorrow, ready for whatever crisis comes my way.
Yes, yes, I really have to work on better lyrics, but I am imagining that thread of notes, flowing, swirling, gathering us all. In sound. Like Richard Rodgers, I am “with a song in my heart,” and I just need to catch that tune. Maybe if I start by humming...
B flat, please?
I was listening to Dick Gordon’s “The Story” on NPR last Thursday night when I heard the most remarkable thing that I had heard in a while. Dick was interviewing this delightful young musician by the name of Dafnis Prieto. A Cuban-born jazz percussionist, he received the 2011 MacArthur Genius Grant, and after listening for just a few minutes, I could see why. He was so absorbed into his music, but yet cognizant of everything around it and himself. A true genius at the drums (of several types, I might add, sometimes using multiple drum sticks in each hand!), he was an extraordinary musician who understood and expressed the power of music in a way I had never really heard of before. For him, music was his life and a way to express himself through sound. What caught and stopped me was his brilliant response to the question of transitioning between different types of music – for example, how he could so easily move from Cuban to New Orleans jazz. He said, “The wonderful thing about music is that you hold the whole world inside yourself...you can go from Brazil to Norway in a matter of seconds...there is no limit in time, space...”
Wow. No boundaries. Just ever present. That’s what I want. Something that transcends a door, a state line or an ocean. One sound, one song that binds and strengthens all of us. Imagine! Yes, John, I can imagine that now. Somehow those words really hit me. An “I am ready” song. Ready for today, ready for tomorrow, ready for whatever crisis comes my way.
Yes, yes, I really have to work on better lyrics, but I am imagining that thread of notes, flowing, swirling, gathering us all. In sound. Like Richard Rodgers, I am “with a song in my heart,” and I just need to catch that tune. Maybe if I start by humming...
B flat, please?
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Day Was Saved – Even without the Power Puff Girls!
Once in a while you hear about a great story of someone’s life who was undoubtedly spared by the preparedness of another. Just last weekend, a local professor was out for a jog when he experienced a heart attack. A person observed his collapse and immediately ran to his aid. Apparently recognizing the signs of his distress, the good Samaritan started to perform cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until professional medical help arrived. The good-doer’s exemplary deed undoubtedly helped keep blood circulating enough to his heart muscle to delay any damage and, with the quick efforts of the medical personnel, the professor is apparently recovering remarkably well.
I teach first aid and CPR and I often tell people that knowing these basic skills are so important to know and are potentially life-saving. However, when you hear of it happening so close and with someone known to you, it really makes these words even more true. Both first aid and CPR are relatively simple skills to learn, take only a few hours and can cost next to nothing.
Some might think that the professor knowing CPR didn’t help him. In this case, that seems to be true, but CPR training is also about recognizing the signs of heart attack and stroke for yourself and others.
It is very common that warning signs of a heart attack commence hours if not weeks before the life-threatening event. Rather than the dramatic clutching of the chest-type pain we all think heart attacks hit you, it is often more like extremely uncomfortable indigestion. Occasionally the pain or fullness feeling will occur in the chest, but it could also pain or discomfort in the back, arms, jaw, neck or stomach. Fatigue is also common, as is nausea, shortness of breath and breaking out in a cold sweat, which all seem to occur more in women.
Whereas heart attacks are about the heart muscle not receiving enough oxygen, strokes are the result of an artery to the brain being clogged and brain cells dying. Signs of a stroke are tested by remembering this simple test: FAST. Face – when they smile, does one sign droop? Arms – when raised, does one side go lower than the other? Speech – is it slurred or strange? If yes, to any of these, Time to call 911 right away!
Most people deny that these symptoms could be serious and often delay seeking treatment until the effects are life-threatening, but being prepared, learning some basic skills can change that.
It was really lucky that some knew what to do for our professor when he needed it most. But, simply relying on someone else to know how to save you, just isn’t enough. When we encourage this type of basic training for all citizens, we all win. So, no matter where we are, we can help or rely on someone else to save the day. And we don’t need to be Blossom, Bubbles or Buttercup to do it.
I teach first aid and CPR and I often tell people that knowing these basic skills are so important to know and are potentially life-saving. However, when you hear of it happening so close and with someone known to you, it really makes these words even more true. Both first aid and CPR are relatively simple skills to learn, take only a few hours and can cost next to nothing.
Some might think that the professor knowing CPR didn’t help him. In this case, that seems to be true, but CPR training is also about recognizing the signs of heart attack and stroke for yourself and others.
It is very common that warning signs of a heart attack commence hours if not weeks before the life-threatening event. Rather than the dramatic clutching of the chest-type pain we all think heart attacks hit you, it is often more like extremely uncomfortable indigestion. Occasionally the pain or fullness feeling will occur in the chest, but it could also pain or discomfort in the back, arms, jaw, neck or stomach. Fatigue is also common, as is nausea, shortness of breath and breaking out in a cold sweat, which all seem to occur more in women.
Whereas heart attacks are about the heart muscle not receiving enough oxygen, strokes are the result of an artery to the brain being clogged and brain cells dying. Signs of a stroke are tested by remembering this simple test: FAST. Face – when they smile, does one sign droop? Arms – when raised, does one side go lower than the other? Speech – is it slurred or strange? If yes, to any of these, Time to call 911 right away!
Most people deny that these symptoms could be serious and often delay seeking treatment until the effects are life-threatening, but being prepared, learning some basic skills can change that.
It was really lucky that some knew what to do for our professor when he needed it most. But, simply relying on someone else to know how to save you, just isn’t enough. When we encourage this type of basic training for all citizens, we all win. So, no matter where we are, we can help or rely on someone else to save the day. And we don’t need to be Blossom, Bubbles or Buttercup to do it.
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