Sunday, September 28, 2014
"At any age we grow by the enlarging of consciousness, by learning…. That implies a new way of looking at the universe." ~ May Sarton
In the fifteen months I have been writing my blog I occasionally like to use the medium as a means to highlight the work of a very talented and kind person whom I have been fortunate to cross paths with. The words of May Sarton quoted above remind me of the encouragement and wisdom I have received from a local health-care practitioner who practices at the Parkside Alternative Medicine Clinic. The name of the physical therapist I am referencing is Carol Michalicek.
Carol has practiced as a physical therapist for a number of years. You can find her professional online profile here. I was first referred to Carol at the end of last year. I received a referral to her to treat low back pain. By the time I began working with her I had already been diligently following a gym regimen for about five months. Carol possesses a skill, attentiveness and thoughtfulness you do not necessarily find in every physical therapist out there. Her competence is quite naturally a result of the length of her experience. But she offers other qualities that experience alone doesn't necessarily guarantee a person will develop over time.
I have found the brief time Carol and I speak at the beginning of a session to always be a very enjoyable time. Carol has a strong capacity to be present. I have never had the slightest sense that she was preoccupied during any of the sessions I have had with her. Active presence (which could perhaps loosely be translated as active witnessing) is not exactly something many people in a harried society like the United States practice on a regular basis.
[Slight tangent: Indeed, I think we are becoming a distracted society. To live with a relatively uncluttered mind and be present to the present moment (and your surroundings beyond your phone) seems to be almost counter-cultural at this point. I occasionally joke that the day will one day come when children have a microchip implanted in their heads at birth so they will no longer need a device separate from their bodies to reach out to the world at large. The technology would be embedded. It may sound far-fetched but I believe some would actually embrace such an idea.]
And now back to my main subject...
I have come away feeling personally inspired when Carol and I have spoken about people of all backgrounds doing deep personal growth-work. I recall her once saying that eighty-year old people are doing the work (of engaging in the personal inquiry and related dedication necessary to grow). I find her sharing of her experience so inspiring and consoling because it reminds me that people of any circumstance can reach for the stars...and one day find themselves among them.
In the darker moments of the last fifteen months of my life history it was sometimes quite difficult to imagine that my efforts would eventually bear the fruit I wanted. Feeling disheartened by how the members of my father's generation (he and his siblings) have behaved as they have aged left me sometimes feeling quite disenchanted and alienated. I have gradually learned to let that disappointment go. I have come to understand that it is a healthy and necessary choice for me to seek out fun and aliveness among the six billion people of the planet outside of my own family of origin. In other words a person must eventually stop going to dry wells in search of water and look elsewhere.
The issue of the importance of elders as mentors to the younger generation cannot be understated. Richard Rohr often references his perspective that the United States is very much a "first half of life culture". This is indeed true. Elders typically do not hold an esteemed position in this society as compared to many other cultures throughout the world. I count myself lucky that I have crossed paths with amazing people including elders whom I have referenced elsewhere in this blog. I had lost all four of my grandparents before my twenty-first birthday. Between these losses fairly early in my own life history and the trauma and loss I experienced (which I have already extensively documented here in this medium) in even earlier years of my life I have often marveled that I became as productive and responsible as an adult as I did.
The bottom line is that healing and health is possible at most any age. You get to decide how you will define yourself and how you will live your life. You do not have to succumb to the circumstances of your current life reality. Some circumstances and challenges may take years to outgrow. But change and abiding health is possible.
We need more people like Carol in the world!
Post Script
Fifty Day Challenge, Day #3
Today I did the following nurturing things for myself:
"At any age we grow by the enlarging of consciousness, by learning…. That implies a new way of looking at the universe." ~ May Sarton
In the fifteen months I have been writing my blog I occasionally like to use the medium as a means to highlight the work of a very talented and kind person whom I have been fortunate to cross paths with. The words of May Sarton quoted above remind me of the encouragement and wisdom I have received from a local health-care practitioner who practices at the Parkside Alternative Medicine Clinic. The name of the physical therapist I am referencing is Carol Michalicek.
Carol has practiced as a physical therapist for a number of years. You can find her professional online profile here. I was first referred to Carol at the end of last year. I received a referral to her to treat low back pain. By the time I began working with her I had already been diligently following a gym regimen for about five months. Carol possesses a skill, attentiveness and thoughtfulness you do not necessarily find in every physical therapist out there. Her competence is quite naturally a result of the length of her experience. But she offers other qualities that experience alone doesn't necessarily guarantee a person will develop over time.
I have found the brief time Carol and I speak at the beginning of a session to always be a very enjoyable time. Carol has a strong capacity to be present. I have never had the slightest sense that she was preoccupied during any of the sessions I have had with her. Active presence (which could perhaps loosely be translated as active witnessing) is not exactly something many people in a harried society like the United States practice on a regular basis.
[Slight tangent: Indeed, I think we are becoming a distracted society. To live with a relatively uncluttered mind and be present to the present moment (and your surroundings beyond your phone) seems to be almost counter-cultural at this point. I occasionally joke that the day will one day come when children have a microchip implanted in their heads at birth so they will no longer need a device separate from their bodies to reach out to the world at large. The technology would be embedded. It may sound far-fetched but I believe some would actually embrace such an idea.]
And now back to my main subject...
I have come away feeling personally inspired when Carol and I have spoken about people of all backgrounds doing deep personal growth-work. I recall her once saying that eighty-year old people are doing the work (of engaging in the personal inquiry and related dedication necessary to grow). I find her sharing of her experience so inspiring and consoling because it reminds me that people of any circumstance can reach for the stars...and one day find themselves among them.
In the darker moments of the last fifteen months of my life history it was sometimes quite difficult to imagine that my efforts would eventually bear the fruit I wanted. Feeling disheartened by how the members of my father's generation (he and his siblings) have behaved as they have aged left me sometimes feeling quite disenchanted and alienated. I have gradually learned to let that disappointment go. I have come to understand that it is a healthy and necessary choice for me to seek out fun and aliveness among the six billion people of the planet outside of my own family of origin. In other words a person must eventually stop going to dry wells in search of water and look elsewhere.
The issue of the importance of elders as mentors to the younger generation cannot be understated. Richard Rohr often references his perspective that the United States is very much a "first half of life culture". This is indeed true. Elders typically do not hold an esteemed position in this society as compared to many other cultures throughout the world. I count myself lucky that I have crossed paths with amazing people including elders whom I have referenced elsewhere in this blog. I had lost all four of my grandparents before my twenty-first birthday. Between these losses fairly early in my own life history and the trauma and loss I experienced (which I have already extensively documented here in this medium) in even earlier years of my life I have often marveled that I became as productive and responsible as an adult as I did.
The bottom line is that healing and health is possible at most any age. You get to decide how you will define yourself and how you will live your life. You do not have to succumb to the circumstances of your current life reality. Some circumstances and challenges may take years to outgrow. But change and abiding health is possible.
We need more people like Carol in the world!
Post Script
Fifty Day Challenge, Day #3
Today I did the following nurturing things for myself:
- I ate a healthy breakfast
- I spent time with three friends at the 2014 Minnesota Renaissance Festival
- While outside at the Festival I enjoyed the valuable benefit of managed sun exposure (for metabolism of Vitamin D)
- I gave myself some quiet time in the evening to relax and not engage with any sort of technology to connect with the larger world
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I invite you to accompany me as I document my own journey of healing. My blog is designed to offer inspiration and solace to others. If you find it of value I welcome you to share it with others. Aloha!