Resisting change is innate in the human psyche rooted deeply in our fear and desire to control. Grumpiness is the negative attitude that arises when we are faced with the truth and choose to resist reality – we can’t control anything other than what we are doing in the moment. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Allow Love
I have always loved music and have always loved the sound of wooden flutes. Once long ago I discovered a recorder in a second hand shop and a little booklet explaining how to use it. I tooted on that recorder whenever everyone else was out of the house and I day dreamed and dreamed about becoming a flute player.
Time passed and I met my husband to be. He had a silver flute that he tooted on when everyone else was out of his house and he day dreamed and dreamed about becoming a flute player. We tooted to each other, became close friends and confidantes. Eventually we married and decided to move to the coast to live a very simple lifestyle. We stripped our possessions down to the basics and sold our “tooters” to secondhand dealers and moved.
Today I enjoy the simple pleasures like making music with friends. I don’t “toot”, I sing and drum, and use whatever I can find to use as a percussion instrument. But the tooting never stopped and by that I mean the music in my head and in my dreams.
This week I received a tweet from my friend Robin Easton. Robin is an Author, Blogger, Speaker, Musician, Nature Photographer, Adventurer, Hiker, Canoeist, Camper, Potter, Glass Artisan, Gardener, Traveler, Lover of Life and Laughter. The link she tweeted was to a wonderful piece of flute music. TheKeithESmith was so inspired with Robin’s Naked in Eden book that he created a lovely piece of music for her.
If you have visited her blog then you will know how connected to nature Robin is. You will know the source of that connectedness is her capacity to love without reservation; to allow love to fill the spaces and places within where fear once had its stronghold. And you will know she’s a self-taught musician.
Naked in Eden is a story based on Robin’s life, the story of a young woman’s awakening, as she turns away from death, and walks into the arms of Life.
‘You must be mad to live in the bloody jungle, mates.’ Not mad exactly, just disconnected and seeking more meaning and adventure in their lives. An eccentric free spirit who never quite fit in, Robin Easton saw her soul mate in Ian—a rugged, rowdy Aussie who wanted out of the confines of his family’s business. Together they planned their Great Escape: to live off the grid in a remote area of Australia’s Daintree Rainforest.
But as their Jeep wound its way closer to the tiny black dot on the map, Robin couldn’t have fathomed just how the jungle would test her mentally, physically, and spiritually. As she came face to face with her fears of deadly snakes, leeches, and man-eating crocodiles, she began to unravel the mysteries of life and death, love and loss, and nature and humankind. Hidden in the forest mist, she discovered our biological relationship to the natural world and our unique place in it.
Allow
Love will flow in just as swiftly as it flows out.
It’s Broken: Stress Fracture
Earlier this week I awoke in the middle of the night with foot pain. I swung my feet out of bed to head for the bathroom and stood up. I immediately crumpled to the floor as pain shot through my left foot. Though I tried to be quiet my husband who has paramedic training awoke and sprang into action.
So there we sat in the moonlight with my foot in a bucket of cold water and ice cubes. We discussed how much we hoped my foot wasn’t fractured but knew it probably was. Two days and a set of x-rays later confirmed our hunch was correct. It’s broken. I have a stress fracture – a broken foot.
What is a stress fracture?
A stress fracture is a small crack in a bone and most stress fractures occur in the weight-bearing bones of the foot. Stress fractures of the foot are also called marcher’s foot, due to of the high incidence of occurrence in military recruits. Stress fractures are also common in ballet dancers, gymnasts, athletes, and others who spend a lot of time on their feet.
Predisposing factors are stress fractures in adjacent bones, neuropathic disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. Insufficiency stress fractures result when the bone itself is weak due to conditions like osteoporosis reduce bone strength and density.
Foot pain is severe and it’s very difficult to walk. The pain from stress fractures run along the long bones that lead to your toes. The foot is swollen and red and if you press on the fracture area, even slightly the pain intensifies. When the bone shaft is examined and pressed on the sides, the experience is stabbing pain.
Stress fracture treatment
In cases of stress fracture like mine a removable plastic cast is better than a plaster cast, as it can be removed for physiotherapy treatment, which is aimed at preventing stiffness in the ankle joint. Mine is a blue boot and I’m now the owner of a collapsible cane. My physiotherapy won’t start for a couple of weeks.
It usually takes 6 to 8 weeks for a stress fracture to heal. Stress fractures in the fifth metatarsal bone (on the outer side of the foot) like mine take longer to heal. So I won’t be walking, hiking or dancing for a couple of months.
I’m keeping my foot elevated most of the time. The ice bath was effective to help with pain relief and reduce swelling, immediately following the stress fracture and I’m keeping that up. I’m using ice packs for 20 – 30 minutes every 2 – 3 hours help with the pain. But the pain is so intense that I have been taking Motrin so I can get some sleep.
Body talk
My body has been telling me to take a break and now I have no choice — I’m broken. My to-do list has become my can’t do list. I am exhausted and easily irritated. But I did manage to get 3 draft posts underway and I do expect to publish one tomorrow, if all goes well.
Update: May 12, 2011 Re: X-ray results – 3 broken foot bones. Two breaks in the 5th metatarsal bone and one in each of the 4th and 3rd metatarsal bones.
Exploring Spaciousness: Experiencing Peace
In Are You Afraid of Stillness and Space? Part 1, Sandra Pawula suggests nourishing yourself with space. She explains how space is a vital element that brings balance into our lives, helping to keep stress, distress, and illness at bay.
In Are You Afraid of Stillness and Space? Part 2 Sandra’s advice is to slowly break free of our driving need to do and to accomplish and begin nurturing ourselves with small, less threatening doses of space. Continue reading
