Pages

Saturday, May 26, 2012

How to Create a Lunch ‘To Go’

Meals to the field
School lunches
Lunch to take to work

What do these three things have in common?
 
Good food and presentation

Stopping
in the middle of the field;

at noon between classes;

half way through the shift

to nourish the body so work and studies
are not delayed too long

But what about the person 
who prepared the lunch ~
a small meal just for me?!

My mom showed me how to make my lunch
I love designing my lunches
I love creating my own mealtime
My joy in whatever my day has brought me
because my creation is more than just the food.

It is about the presentation.
A pretty place setting,
Nicely wrapped sandwiches.
Hot coffee or tea in a china or glass mug
Cold milk in a glass tumbler (or fancy jelly jar)
And a little dessert to round out the meal.

So many of us
just throw something together from the cupboard (often not a balanced diet) or 
run to the deli across the street for something good that fills the stomach
(costs too much in time and money)

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking
if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.”
~ Voltaire

Friday, May 25, 2012

The Magic of Imagination


My best, or maybe,
my most prolific ideas
are when I am busy.
images and words arising 
from tactile busy actions.

My hands involved in
doing dishes
pulling weeds
planting vegetables
painting a picture
walking along a lane or byway
or interlaced and behind my head as I watch 
clouds
birds
sunsets
sunrises.

Fragments of
story
poem
that I file quickly away
in a less than orderly
filing drawer in my mind.

Right now I think of
re-imagining that filing cabinet.
It is made of beautiful holographic oak wood.
with a magic drawer that
from the front appears small and space saving

However, reminiscent of God’s filing cabinets, 
that one drawer can pull out infinitely.
This bit of imagination, in the movie Bruce Almighty,
was when God was played by Morgan Freeman!

And in that drawer in my creative mind?
File folders every colour of the rainbow.
Tabbed with golden labels that define
theme
topic
genre
swooping out for presentation whenever I ask.

Unlike my literal file drawers,
this magic file drawer
orders itself should I put something amiss.

Is there an app on the face of the drawer
that will send me to the right place to find
my brilliant idea?

In my imagination
I can make one

In my imagination
I can create anything.

In the real world, it is much more labour intensive,
but I can still create anything.

Creating small gems or small swatches then
stringing or sewing them together, to make 
tapestries
quilts
jewelry
full of beauty and eclectic designs - all from imagination.

“Think left and think right
and think low and think high.
Oh, the thinks you can think up
if only you try!”
~ Dr. Seuss

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Learning to Write

Writing equals penmanship
Writing ideas, facts, stories in
a sentence
an essay
a poem
a book 
is a very different subject.

I learned penmanship in school
from printing big rounded letters 
to learning cursive lettering
in wide lined notebooks

In school, I also wrote 
sentences
essays
and read 
poetry
story 
history

In the land of higher education, I read books written 
academically
clinically
poetically

Now I want to write mstories and poems with
better grammar
clearer images
one metaphor at a time

So I gathered together
a ‘curricula’
and home studied from 
the wisdom of authors.
I set my own time table
Went to classes - composed of work shops
Listened to interviews with authors.

My shifting nursing career is now about more than 
blood pressures
clinical assessments
interdisciplinary communication.

My nursing career provides a wealth of 
essays
stories
poems
to write.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep 
interested in your own career, however humble; it is 
a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
~ Max Ehrman

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Labels - Helpful or Not

Labels have been on my mind this week

The value of labels
The detriment of labels

Labels are everywhere
On soup cans and bread bags
On the tag of clothes
On bright file folders in desk drawers
On bottles and cans
Everywhere

Telling us
what the contents are
how to care for an item
what temperature to use
calorie content
quantity
size
what to watch out for.
legislated facts providing
lots of really good information
for whomever is buying or selling any item
a new shirt
a can of soup
Items can be 
bought
consumed
disposed of

Health labels, on the other hand, hold
opinions
myth
emotion
curiousity       
judgement
excuses
Researched facts providing
lots of really good information
for health care workers or any person blessed 
with certain health conditions in any one of three categories
medical - physical disorders - brain, liver, lungs & other body parts
addiction to alcohol, street or prescription drugs.
psychiatric - mental illness from chemical brain dysfunctions

So how are labels helpful?


"They stick you with those names, those labels - 'rebel' or whatever;
whatever they like to use.  Because they need a label; they need a 
name.  They need something to put the price tag on the back of it."
~ Johnny Depp