Skip to main content

Making waves

A recent trip to the pool reminded me of the importance of tolerance, letting go and acceptance.  Just as there are different ways people 'do' their recovery, people have different ways to enjoy the water.  Mine happens to be swimming.  Up and down, ideally with a lane to myself.  Others prefer to jump and jive about in the water.  Aqua is a keep-fit class that takes place from time to time in the pool I like to swim at.  It's not for me to judge what goes on in the lane beside me (or, as is more usually the case, the greater part of the pool that gets reserved for the class).  Continuing to swim amidst the ripples and waves that their athletic aquatics create is a challenge, but one that is made all the easier when I keep the focus on myself and my breath, and remember that swimming, like recovery, is better when I'm kind to myself and to others.  Time passes more quickly, and I get much more done.  The 'ripple effect' is clear to see, particularly mid way through the class, when they're getting into the swing of the routines (which do look so funny when demonstrated by the land loving, fully clothed poolside dry instructor), and provides a very real reminder of the impact my own actions may have on those around me.  Apparently there will shortly be a new addition to the pool timetable: Aqua Zumba...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Table. Apple. Penny.

Whilst there were several places I might have been that morning, I wouldn't have been anywhere else.  The practitioner from the Memory Service arrived promptly.  I liked her instantly.    Mum was nervous.  I think I was a little, too.  It's been a difficult year.   "It's Friday, it's the fourteenth of December and I'm at home..."   No problems there.  CAMCOG, or the Cambridge Cognitive Examination is a thorough assessment tool used to assess the extent of extent of dementia, and to assess the level of cognitive impairment.  The standardised  measure assesses orientation, language, memory, praxis, attention, abstract thinking, perception and calculation.    "Table.  Apple.  Penny."   Three everyday items that were introduced at one point, and then referred to again later on.  Again, Mum was able to recall each.      I am reminded that the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Glass half full? Glass half empty? Or perhaps the glass is broken

I am, constitutionally, a glass half empty gal.  I will always first acknowledge what I don't have, what I have lost, and what it is that I am seeking.  I tend to overlook my strengths, concentrating only on those bits of me that are underdeveloped or weak.  I refer to myself as a realist, but in doing so compliment myself and insult those who genuinely are simply realistic.  My modus operandi is to identify what's not working and acknowledge this before seeing more clearly what functions perfectly well.  This has its place: I edit others' written work pretty well.  My fastidious attention to detail serves me, and the author.  Accuracy counts, for me and I have an excellent memory.  I can remember a great many of my sessions with clients verbatim.  Even this asset is something I can, and do, diminish the true value of, by concentrating on 'I should have said...' or 'why didn't....  occur to me during the session?' Earlier this we...
Post a Comment
Read more

Joan Miro: Emotional Art

"Painting and poetry are like love; an exchange of blood, a passionate embrace, without restraint, without defence.  The picture is born of an overflow of emotions and feelings." Miro, The Farm 'La Masia' (1921-22) I learnt a great deal about Miro on a recent visit to the Tate.  I learnt a great deal about a lot more too. Miro wanted to discover the sources of human feeling.  He described his method of creating poetry by way of painting, using a vocabulary of signs and symbols, metaphors and dream images to express definite themes he believed to be fundamental to human existence.  The exhibition displays his sense of humor and lively wit.  His chief concern was a social one; he wanted to get close to the great masses of humanity, and he was convinced that art can only truly appeal when it resonates with roots of lived experience.  "Wherever you are, you find the sun, a blade of grass, the spirals of the dragonfly.  Courage cons...
Post a Comment
Read more