Cherishables

For a writing exercise today, I was asked to ‘number from one to ten. List ten things that you can cherish in the life you’ve actually got.’ That seemed to be quite easy however after the first couple of things, I started having difficulty deciding what to put in my Top Ten. My first inclination was to say ~ my kids, all of my family, my friends. On second thought, none of these who I do cherish are ‘things’. The author of this exercise, Julia Cameron, specified things. So I took another tack and started my list. All of the 'things' on this list require people to give my life the resiliency I cherish.

1. My seizure free status. Diagnosed with epilepsy in the summer of 1967, and after many false starts, I learned to manage the epilepsy residing, uninvited, in the amygdala of my brain. That took many years. Unforeseen difficulties arose here and there, but at this writing I have now achieved 19 years seizure free.

2. My career in nursing: I have learned so much, from so many other nurses, doctors and my patients while in three provinces in Canada and several U.S. in employed situations. Additionally, I have learned from health care professionals in seminars, workshops, conventions and online conversations.

3. Retirement: As little as about eight months ago, I wouldn’t have said this. Retiring from a cherished nursing career into a dark oblivion did not appeal. Over the last 53 years, along with all of the rest of life, nursing (and the pay cheques) has been a part of my life and living. So how can I say that I cherish retirement ~ quite frankly because I am tired. Retirement offers time to rest, to recuperate and to rebuild. 

4. Writing: My first desire to ‘write a book’ was in Regina in the 1970’s, the most accurate I can be about the time. I kept diaries and journals almost every day and still journal every day. There were blank weeks, months and sometimes a year or two, but always I have returned to writing. A light bulb moment one day suggested that writing is what I could do in retirement.

5. Sunshine: I love and miss the prairie skies that are big, wide and beautiful. Sunshine that colours have been cherished since I first stepped outside on a sunshiny day. Sunshine that paints clouds in reds, pinks and golds on this Island, where grey skies predominate winter skies. I cherish each ray of sun entering my living room, each ray that brightens trees and sidewalks and that warms my face.

6. Cooking: To prepare, cook, plate (a chef expression) and eat good food is a joy that I have difficulty describing. It is meditative, it is creative, it is nourishing, and allows me to participate in my own life on a very basic level.

7. Dirt: not the dirt that is dirty, dusty and makes a mess, but the dirt in the garden. The dirt, better called soil, that tucks in seeds and roots. The soil that gets under my fingernails in the spring time . 

8. Order: Order lends a calmness within my day. Creativity does require an energy that can also create disorder. But at the end of my day, I put my ‘toys’ away to create the quieter energy I need to sleep.

9. Beauty: Colours, shapes, the mechanics of our bodies….I seem unable to describe what beauty means to me. I only know that I cherish beauty in all people, the environment and my personal surroundings.

10. Body Awareness: Body awareness goes so much deeper than body image. Learning how my body functions and what causes my precious self to feel good or not so good, I become alert to the life I want to live.

“Cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey.”

~ Jack Layton