It can be hard to keep working to show people that N95s and cleaning air will actually significantly reduce the number of sick, disabled, and dying in our communities. Here are some words of solace to keep your fires stoked this winter: Sue J. from Cleaner Air Collective wrote a
Continue readingTag: compassion
A Puff of Absurdity: On Hearing Others
Louis Cozolino’s beautifully written book on neuroscience has an explanation near the end about our necessary interconnectedness. Communication from one body part to anther happens when messages throughout our body are transmitted by neurons, but the transmission doesn’t happen inside the neurons but between them, in the synaptic gap that separates the
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: I Needed This Today
Another curious human behaviour: Just by chance, I posted every day for over a week last May rather than my typical range of anywhere from one to twelve posts in a month. Then I wondered how long I could keep it going. And now I’m at a point that I make
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Breathe, Grieve, Love, Repeat
We have very little direct influence over one another but we do affect one another in myriad ways that we often don’t even notice. I had a student once, about 15 years ago who I thought was a delight, as I did almost all my students. He was bright and funny and
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Intersecting Crises: The Winning Mindset
An article from a year ago came my way, about how the super-rich ‘preppers’ are planning to save themselves from the apocalypse. Douglas Rushkoff was hired by some über rich men to field questions about, basically, what they need to do to survive in a bunker. One of their biggest
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Faith, Hope & Love, During Difficult Times
Now is a time for faith. Or if you prefer, and perhaps more important yet: for perseverance, for patience, for forbearance, for resolve, for courage, for confidence, for sheer determination, for resiliency, or sisu (that beautiful Finnish word), or chutzpah – and for a long term perspective, as
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: You Have to Read This – A Beautiful Fable for Caregivers
About a year ago, I opened an email message from someone I’d never met called Diane S. who wrote to tell me that this blog was meaningful to her. It was a beautiful letter – one that I still treasure. She told me, “We are parents of a 26 year
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Maintaining Firm Categories: Do Labels Matter?
This link about people on the spectrum came to my FB feed as “Sponsored Content,” so I’m wary at the get go, but they present this argument to be addressed: “Autism is a neurological difference in processing, and simply having a collection of traits or quirks without this difference in processing
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Spheres of Influence; Human Lives – Syria Teaches Us What is Important
The parochial attitude of North Americans is quite disturbing, and unjustified. We have unparalleled access to information and news from across the globe and by this feature alone we should be attuned to the plight of others and the injustice in the world. Yet, most of us are not.
Continue readingScripturient: Ollie and pet rescue
We are suckers for the face of a cat at the window, a hungry cat, a cold cat, a lost cat, a cat someone has abandoned to fend for themselves and is doing a poor job of it. The pleading eyes, the rough coat, the quiet shiver in the rain
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Emperor of Caregiver Talents: Kindness
The problem with kindness is that we take it for granted. We assume that it will be there when we suffer and need it the most. But human kindness is that rare and natural resource in our world. It’s endangered by the race towards independence and self-reliance, those old enemies
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: A few thoughts on empathy in human beings, and other living creatures
Empathy is natural in human beings, as Jeremy Rifkin has pointed out – and with strong backing by recent scientific findings. Some human beings have more and some less; and some are sociopaths – roughly 1% (and usually, the ones who gravitate to positions of wealth and power, unsurprisingly) –
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Lies I Tell
This video got me thinking about how I have lied to my loved ones. I lied to Nicholas when I said it would be alright after his hip surgery (the truth is, I had no idea.. and in the end, it wasn’t alright). I lied to Nick and to my
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: Special Words and Deeds to Support a Caregiver’s Hurting Heart
Recently, I wrote about friends who aren’t sure how to support a caregiver in distress. I talked about how difficult it is for caregivers themselves to know how anyone could help in situations that are so trying, they are almost beyond description. This week, I came upon two examples of
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Compassion creates happiness, freedom and better relationships
Kozo Hattori, a writer and counselor, explains how compassion creates happiness, freedom from gender stereotypes, and better relationships with others. The post Compassion creates happiness, freedom and better relationships appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: A Compassionate Buddha?
There’s a story in Valerie Roebuck’s translation of the Dhammapada (Penguin Classics, 2010, commentary on verse 6, p 115-116) that caught my eye recently, and it made me wonder what the moral or ethical precept was buried in it. And it makes me question what it says about the supposed
Continue readingMelissa Fong: “I’m speaking with you as a human being and you’re talking at me as a politician.”
"I'm speaking with you as a human being and you're talking at me as a politician."— Melissa Fong (@internationalmf) April 21, 2014 When you ask me to open up […]
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Wisdom of Caregivers – Part 1
What exactly is the wisdom of caregivers? The Oxford Dictionary defines wisdom as the quality of having knowledge, experience and good judgement. Let’s start with knowledge. What do caregivers know? Well, we know our loved ones and they have taught us the skills required for achieving intimacy in loving relationships.
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