Adaptation ~ 1

There’s a pizza in the oven.

not made by my own hand

but purchased with my groceries,

a treat to have on hand.

And when I looked upon it,

although it seemed delish,

pepperoni, mushrooms, mozzarella

were definitely amiss.

I fixed the lack that I saw,

my taste buds were my guide,

and soon I’ll have my pizza

sliced up and tucked inside.

We each have come upon this earth

pre-made and set to grow.

We learn our tastes and what to choose

to set our lives aglow.

This is not always easy

and always not to pass,

but if you can, and if you will

small steps will bring pizazz.

“Whatever there be of progress in life comes

not through adaptation but through daring.”

~  Henry Miller

Should there be Stillness

Stillness within

Calm uncertainty

Shouldn’t there be more?

Vibrant busy energy

Explosions of words

Shouldn’t there be work done?

Shouldn’t I want to do more?

But stillness is still within

Certain calmness

There should only just be.

“We all have within us a center of stillness  surrounded by silence.”

~ Dag Hammarskjold

Space in Time

Is this adventure into space really the final frontier or the opening of a door to the next room of this universe?

My memory fails me to date and time, but I recall Grandpa Garratt, one eye blind, in his living room, watching black and white TV through his one ancient eye still clouded with cataracts and thick lensed glasses as a rocket lifted into space.

I thought of him today while I listened to, and saw, the conversation between Commander Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut, aboard the space station ISS and William Shatner aka James T. Kirk, Captain of the fictional Starship Enterprise as they spoke over satellite channels this morning. The camera was on Cmdr. Hadfield floating in space, words strong and down to earth.

I listened and watched on this very laptop.

I thought of Grandpa sometime in the space of the 1960’s.

Always interested, these marvellous advances would have fascinated him.

“In more than one respect, the exploring of the Solar System 

and homesteading other worlds constitutes the beginning, 

much more than the end, of history.”

~ Carl Sagan

The Construction of Nursing

Nursing ~ a job, a career, a vocation

The image of the nurse has changed dramatically in 45 years, no longer seen with white starched uniforms and caps

Haven’t been for years.

We are not relegated to hospitals and doctors offices.

Nurses are spread liberally throughout communities

not just in hospitals, but in clinics, schools, in work places, on cruise ships, in isolated communities in the north.

Nurses are street nurses, detox nurses, intensive care nurses, pediatric nurses; nursing specialties abound.

For most nurses in hospitals, we are clothed in scrubs (once only relegated to the Operating Room) and in community clinics attire may be denims and t-shirts.

Nurses are considered by many to be the front line of health care.

(Makes it sound like a battle zone!)

And, I can’t think how many times I’ve heard nurses called

angels of mercy or cruel and heartless.........

It doesn’t seem that what we wear always makes much difference

although when some one of us does take the time to appear ‘professionally dressed' it is appreciated - ‘I know who the nurses are.’ Whether starched whites or denims and t-shirts, in clinics or hospital units (or pods, or neighbourhoods), nurses aspire to provide the same care.

And then there are all the changes in health care systems that

nurses manage as well as managing their clients.  And we continue aspire to provide the same care.

Hospitals are built, reconfigured and torn down as 

technology changes

space needed is re-evaluated and revamped.

Salaries change with the 

seesaw of union and management conversations

variant budget needs of societies.

Equipment used is upgraded for 

ease of use

improved safety features

Documentation of patient progress also is upgraded to

computer driven programs

while many still are pen and paper

some still are transitioning so are using both old and new

always taking care that legalities are maintained.

Despite all these changes - 

nurses in any and all of these areas

ride with the changes (not always patiently so)

caring for their patients and advocating for your good health.

“To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do,

in spite of all we go through; is to be a nurse.”

~ Rawsi Williams

Purpose and Direction

Following along

Stopping and starting

Waiting for permitted directions

Vaguely unsettled even after clear direction

Inner purposes stifled

Is it right that creativity be pushed to the rear?

Recognizing soul, spirit - that spark that is uniquely you - is a courageous act.

Courage to act does not require permission.

“Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed

because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Limiting Gestation

Not my back yard,
but down the alley from me.

Musing about limits these past few days, here's just a few thoughts.

Someone - can’t think who right now - says that limits are, well, limiting.

All of us try to live within the limits of

budget 

health

employment

speed laws!

I could go on but there is not enough room on this page to list all of life’s limits.

So what do I think about limits?

Limits can be an advantage whether

fixed,

moveable

or both

In the real world of the everyday

but imagination is where it gets really exciting.....

Now, that is where limits are malleable

and I get to set them inside that world.

Writing on a work day is a short bit in the morning

and then this late afternoon into early evening time where I peck out

an opinion piece like this, 

polish a story, 

scribble a bit of poetry

The limits are only

time at my disposal and

ink in my pen

paper of any kind

power for my computer

all of the ideas, thoughts and stories planted

in the morning for the evening’s harvest.

On days off, the time for my writing practice, 

while more expansive

is chopped up into little bits or

sliced off in larger slabs

And, over time, my body memory has it written that 

something will flow at about this time

and so it does - for better or for worse.

Limits tell me when to focus and how quickly

Limits encourage imagination to 

flow like an open faucet or 

rest and gestate while other work is being done.

“The world of reality has it’s limits; 

the world of imagination is boundless.”

~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Playing with Words

Words uttered have 

no visible font or shape,

only tone or quality of voice.

Words are hooks tossed through the air, and in any conversation, will be snagged by someone’s ear.

Ouch!  That hurts!

What a sound image!

A better sound image ~ 

Words float gently by like clouds in a summer sky.

Wouldn’t those be lovely sounds to hear?

Another sound image ~

Words thundered and cracked like a prairie storm

raining wisdom along with bouncing harsh sleet

attempting to bring enlightenment to all and sundry.

Oh, and here’s another ~

Words snaked thinly out of pursed lips,

hissing angrily, meaning dripping with venom.

Another much nicer sound image ~

Words tumbled out so-o-o fast, 

like pebbles spilling from a bright orange plastic sand pail.

Breathlessly, the child told fifteen stories in five minutes!

A last image ~

Words carefully constructed a linear argument on two sides.

Each voice adding one rung after the next

until a decision had been reached.

Well that’s all the word pictures for tonight!

“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for

people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.”

~ Buddha