http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioGiE_MP6ZQ
Here is a great gift of the ripple effect, take heart and watch or listen and you will be glad you did.
from the youtube intro:An emotional spoken word poem written by a father to his son. Robb Scott
wrote and performed this poem for his son who was born with Down
Syndrome. The poem expresses how the R-word changed for Robb and how he
hopes he son deals with hearing it as he grows up.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Friday, December 6, 2013
pop psych and investedness
We have all heard that you get what you pay for - it's one of those cultural telling points in our western capitalist society. A topic we are also mostly familiar with is whether and what to charge for or pay for. In the last 20 years it has become commonly accepted (to the point that a lecturer at ECTOM declared in tutorial)
that patients who do not pay top price, for instance if they go to the school clinic for care, are not invested in achieving wellness. That stung because I go to the clinic for care, and I have provided care in the past for people who did not pay me. I believe that:
in fact the lecturer was saying that practitioners must receive payment sufficient to make them invested in order to provide adequate or better care,
or was justifying his high prices to himself. Whatever, it is interesting that later that same day the supervisor at the clinic did not come in to see me but left the treatment up to the intern. I believe also that:
Patients are always invested in achieving wellness, they are paying with their time, effort and trust, not just money. They are throwing the dice every time they consult a healthcare provider. Some develop a level of cynicism about the care they receive. Those who persist are commonly labeled professional patients. This has become a bad habit of professionals in all traditions, callousness saves energy even as it wastes it. Employing callousness prevents vulnerability and immediate pain but in the long run prevents renewing and refreshing Qi via that same vulnerability which can reward with enthusiasm and authentic interaction. It demonstrates a lack of healthy Qi, a developing burnout, sometimes difficult for the busy professional to see in themselves.
Payment can be many things, for some it's only about money. Others are rewarded by success, reputation, respect. Some keep score, like mental hash marks on the nose of the fighter plane in a game. Good physicians of all traditions know this and use it to keep themselves motivated and fresh.
Pop psychology is not necessarily justified just like wikipedia is not always right, both can be useful but should not be elevated to the status of concrete evidence. Virtually everyone becomes attached to the benefits of whatever problems they are having - that is what attachment is all about, there is some benefit to our challenges, our problems - that's why we say challenge is a learning opportunity, illness is a learning opportunity. No one likes to admit there is some value to them in their problem whatever it might be. This reminds me of the allegory "those who live in glass houses should not throw stones." We cannot say those who go to clinic are not invested in achieving wellness any more than we can say the poor deserve to be poor, and the rich must be wonderful people. Sheesh, we all know this but out it comes whenever the person talking is tired, careless, or just running their mouth. Some really get invested in their opinion though, Who? Who is invested in their opinion? (grim smile) This brings me to what I wrote in the middle of the night last night, here it is - a gift for us to talk about when we get together again:
"Discernment doesn't even begin until turned on itself."
Dhamma is priceless and is supposed to be freely given but we know it is often an issue for monastics - where and how to get support, is it much different from physicians? We have heard that if "it" is not paid for the consumer doesn't care as much about it, we have experienced the returns from giving freely - always what is most needed even if we didn't know that was what we needed. This is anticlimactic at this point and a dead horse as well except in contrast to medical care, more food for thought...
that patients who do not pay top price, for instance if they go to the school clinic for care, are not invested in achieving wellness. That stung because I go to the clinic for care, and I have provided care in the past for people who did not pay me. I believe that:
in fact the lecturer was saying that practitioners must receive payment sufficient to make them invested in order to provide adequate or better care,
or was justifying his high prices to himself. Whatever, it is interesting that later that same day the supervisor at the clinic did not come in to see me but left the treatment up to the intern. I believe also that:
Patients are always invested in achieving wellness, they are paying with their time, effort and trust, not just money. They are throwing the dice every time they consult a healthcare provider. Some develop a level of cynicism about the care they receive. Those who persist are commonly labeled professional patients. This has become a bad habit of professionals in all traditions, callousness saves energy even as it wastes it. Employing callousness prevents vulnerability and immediate pain but in the long run prevents renewing and refreshing Qi via that same vulnerability which can reward with enthusiasm and authentic interaction. It demonstrates a lack of healthy Qi, a developing burnout, sometimes difficult for the busy professional to see in themselves.
Payment can be many things, for some it's only about money. Others are rewarded by success, reputation, respect. Some keep score, like mental hash marks on the nose of the fighter plane in a game. Good physicians of all traditions know this and use it to keep themselves motivated and fresh.
Pop psychology is not necessarily justified just like wikipedia is not always right, both can be useful but should not be elevated to the status of concrete evidence. Virtually everyone becomes attached to the benefits of whatever problems they are having - that is what attachment is all about, there is some benefit to our challenges, our problems - that's why we say challenge is a learning opportunity, illness is a learning opportunity. No one likes to admit there is some value to them in their problem whatever it might be. This reminds me of the allegory "those who live in glass houses should not throw stones." We cannot say those who go to clinic are not invested in achieving wellness any more than we can say the poor deserve to be poor, and the rich must be wonderful people. Sheesh, we all know this but out it comes whenever the person talking is tired, careless, or just running their mouth. Some really get invested in their opinion though, Who? Who is invested in their opinion? (grim smile) This brings me to what I wrote in the middle of the night last night, here it is - a gift for us to talk about when we get together again:
"Discernment doesn't even begin until turned on itself."
Dhamma is priceless and is supposed to be freely given but we know it is often an issue for monastics - where and how to get support, is it much different from physicians? We have heard that if "it" is not paid for the consumer doesn't care as much about it, we have experienced the returns from giving freely - always what is most needed even if we didn't know that was what we needed. This is anticlimactic at this point and a dead horse as well except in contrast to medical care, more food for thought...
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Funny
Found this online the author said it was originally in Finnish and it goes like this in English:
"I'm innocent. Most probably. Besides it was an accident"
Oh I love it, makes mirth bubble like a spring... this is the image that goes with it:
"I'm innocent. Most probably. Besides it was an accident"
Oh I love it, makes mirth bubble like a spring... this is the image that goes with it:
Saturday, November 9, 2013
the church of Dog
Lessons from dogs – a variation, (woohoo some sort of deja vu here)
- Trust can be earned
- Dependence is a mutual thing
- run to greet the person you love
- stop and smell the roses
- have a passion (s)
- persist
- let go
- be curious
- pay attention and inquire
- follow your nose
- pick up after others
- forgive
- ask forgiveness and accept it too
- don’t be afraid to try
- take care of your responsibilities
- take a regular nap
- try hard
- play hard
- be willing to be seen as foolish
- let people laugh at you to laugh with you
- don’t pull
- be flexible
- go the extra mile
- learn the way home
- ask for what you need
- stay simple, stay humble
- enjoy simple pleasures
- don’t be snappish
- be kind
- share your food, and water and blanket and toys
- explore
- encourage others to play
- roll on the ground or floor and then shake all over
- smile
- sing to the moon, splash in water
not something I would normally...
watch or consider watching but in that spirit here is a link that is uplifting - remembering grandma doesn't make mistakes, just opportunities. Rion Paige - born this way
Saturday, November 2, 2013
new painting in progress
Friday, November 1, 2013
why ordain, why make this lifestyle choice?
an asian professor who I saw in clinic asked "why you do that, why be monk?" of course I gave some smartass reply like "just crazy." but tonight woken by the helicopter and sirens I thought: "Because one can stay in bed, or one can throw off the covers and take the trail to the lake barefoot in the moonlight."
I think Kim's suggestion for a class title for sensei's meditation group has been percolating for me. She suggested An Examined Life as in 'the unexamined life is not worth living' a quote ascribed to Socrates and used by many since.
I think Kim's suggestion for a class title for sensei's meditation group has been percolating for me. She suggested An Examined Life as in 'the unexamined life is not worth living' a quote ascribed to Socrates and used by many since.
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