I just started reading "Women Who Run with the Wolves" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. http://www.clarissapinkolaestes.com/women_who_run_with_the_wolves__myths_and_stories_of_the_wild_woman_archetype_101250.htm I am blown away by her ability to both tell a story and then break it down to its psycho-social-spiritual components in a way that leads to the reader (listener) to have a greater view of themselves.
It reminds me of "The Power of Myth" by Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Myth both a book and a PBS series.
I love how many traditional medicines and indigenous cultures make use of telling a story to help and individual or group heal. Ultimately we are all telling a story. Our life is a story and we also tell ourselves a story in our heads that shapes reality based on how we act out our core beliefs.
I once asked a shaman a question about relationships (close friends are laughing) that I was struggling with, she paused and smiled, an then launched into an animated version of a traditional Inuit story called "Skeleton woman"http://www.redkite-animation.com/index.php?page=skeleton-women The story so captured the essence of the psychological drama, that I was floored by the ability to capture this and to heal the part that my own mind could not see within myself. That is the safety and genius of a story, as it manages to sidestep the Ego's defenses and implant a greater consciousness that normally the Ego would put up many defenses to... After all, it is only a story and what could this possibly have to do with me:) Perhaps everything. Now when I patient or couple comes to me in my office asking me a question about relationships, I can't help but pause, get a slight smile, and then launch into a rendition of "Skeleton Women" knowing that they will leave with a smile on their face and the knowledge that this beautiful oral tradition will continue to get passed down for it still contains the capacity to heal.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
A Shift in Perspective
I had a great run around Green Lake this morning. In the vein of trying new things, I decided to run it with no corrective eye wear. That's right, no contacts and no glasses. I need to first mention that I am blind as a bat from all the reading from too many degrees and my endless quest to find the end of the internet. What a spectacular experience! (Minus nearly getting hit by a car in the first block)
It was like running in a derranged Van Gogh painting... Corrupted by cars, they just have no place in my running painting. After my visual cortex settled in to the fact that it was not going to be overrun with information on this run, it relaxed. Then I started to notice something... Shit! I can smell it, but I can't see it. Oh there it is! I was able to smell it far sooner than I normally would have.
Then I noticed that I could hear the symphony of the world around me, the robins, the crows, the ducks, I-5. BUT It was different! I was part of it rather than a separate entity. I now have a whole different understanding of "The Spell of the Sensous" by David Abrams. A great book about experiencing the natural world as a part of it.
My feet began transmitting lots of information to my brain. The quality of the gravel, pavement, the wetness of puddles I could not see. It helps that I run in Vibram 5 fingers shoes, but still I was getting more feeling out of my feet than I normally would on a run.
I began to "see" that I normally process the world around me using heavy visual clues, while blotting out most other senses. Cutting down on the amount of visual imput allowed my other senses to come into sharper "focus" to paint/compose a different sensory experience of the same world I have been living in!
I think it would be pretty cool to spend a day blindfolded and be lead around the city to have a different experience... Any takers? Never a dull moment in my mind!
It was like running in a derranged Van Gogh painting... Corrupted by cars, they just have no place in my running painting. After my visual cortex settled in to the fact that it was not going to be overrun with information on this run, it relaxed. Then I started to notice something... Shit! I can smell it, but I can't see it. Oh there it is! I was able to smell it far sooner than I normally would have.
Then I noticed that I could hear the symphony of the world around me, the robins, the crows, the ducks, I-5. BUT It was different! I was part of it rather than a separate entity. I now have a whole different understanding of "The Spell of the Sensous" by David Abrams. A great book about experiencing the natural world as a part of it.
My feet began transmitting lots of information to my brain. The quality of the gravel, pavement, the wetness of puddles I could not see. It helps that I run in Vibram 5 fingers shoes, but still I was getting more feeling out of my feet than I normally would on a run.
I began to "see" that I normally process the world around me using heavy visual clues, while blotting out most other senses. Cutting down on the amount of visual imput allowed my other senses to come into sharper "focus" to paint/compose a different sensory experience of the same world I have been living in!
I think it would be pretty cool to spend a day blindfolded and be lead around the city to have a different experience... Any takers? Never a dull moment in my mind!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Human development in traditional cultures
I just came back from a great parenting class by a colleague Georgia Faye http://www.goldenmoonguidance.com/. She presented a child/adulthood development model developed by Bill Plotkin http://www.animas.org/ that was quite eye opening. Georgia talked about the ego centric model that we are familiar with in western industrial culture. She then talked about Plotkin's model of soul centric/ eco centric development from his book "Nature and the Human Soul" http://www.natureandthehumansoul.com/newbook/ It was quite intreguing.
I learned that humans are mystical beings that are not just meant to fill a role as a cog in the industrial system and then die a meaningless death. All humans have a soul gift that when expressed leads to a greater maturation in their culture and in the global community. All humans have an innate ability to be a creative visionary whereby they can express themselves authentically without having to abandon themselves to belong in a community.
Humans in development undergo rituals, initiations, and rites of passage throughout life. Plotkin notes that many get stuck in stages of development due to lack of initiation or a lack of appropriate mentors. Consequently, we have lots of chaos in our culture as we loose our initiations, our link to the natural world, and jump through the hoops to become cogs in the industrial complex. This makes me think of many of the shows on TV "reality" where people do what they want, don't cooperate, and create unnecessary drama. Basically acting like toddlers prior to parental direction, yet they are in adult bodies. How can we have a mass initiation in our culture so we can have a culture of adults acting as adults? Don't get me started on politics... that will come in later blogs!
I feel so grateful to have had so many teachers, mentors, and elders in my life to help walk (or push) me through initiations. I am particularly grateful to the Lakota people and those in medicine man Black Elk's lineage as their willingness to share their medicine and initiations with me have lead to a great healing for me personally. A big thank you to all indigenous healers that I have crossed paths with and who were so gracious to share their thoughts and teachings with me.
In summary I learned that we need to reclaim initiation and make new ones to match our changing world. I also learned that we as humans need to reclaim our role and connection to our place in the natural world to live and thrive. It is central to our having a future worth living for and passing on to our children a world in better shape than we found it.
I learned that humans are mystical beings that are not just meant to fill a role as a cog in the industrial system and then die a meaningless death. All humans have a soul gift that when expressed leads to a greater maturation in their culture and in the global community. All humans have an innate ability to be a creative visionary whereby they can express themselves authentically without having to abandon themselves to belong in a community.
Humans in development undergo rituals, initiations, and rites of passage throughout life. Plotkin notes that many get stuck in stages of development due to lack of initiation or a lack of appropriate mentors. Consequently, we have lots of chaos in our culture as we loose our initiations, our link to the natural world, and jump through the hoops to become cogs in the industrial complex. This makes me think of many of the shows on TV "reality" where people do what they want, don't cooperate, and create unnecessary drama. Basically acting like toddlers prior to parental direction, yet they are in adult bodies. How can we have a mass initiation in our culture so we can have a culture of adults acting as adults? Don't get me started on politics... that will come in later blogs!
I feel so grateful to have had so many teachers, mentors, and elders in my life to help walk (or push) me through initiations. I am particularly grateful to the Lakota people and those in medicine man Black Elk's lineage as their willingness to share their medicine and initiations with me have lead to a great healing for me personally. A big thank you to all indigenous healers that I have crossed paths with and who were so gracious to share their thoughts and teachings with me.
In summary I learned that we need to reclaim initiation and make new ones to match our changing world. I also learned that we as humans need to reclaim our role and connection to our place in the natural world to live and thrive. It is central to our having a future worth living for and passing on to our children a world in better shape than we found it.
Some thoughts on healthcare reform
Not an easy topic to find solutions to. Billions at stake, lives at stake. Others have done a good job debating the pros and cons of the current law as it makes its way through the courts, so I will not rehash those, but will just add a few ideas.
Many have an unease in advocating for a single payer system and for some good reasons, the current system Medicare does not pay well for the doctors, and creates many limitations for the patient. I am interested in the Swiss system where as I understand it, insurance is purchased by the individual (and thus not tied to employment), you can purchase a variety of plans to suit your needs and lifestyle, and the companies while private cannot make a profit. It is the middleman without the exorbitant middleman pay. Here are some examples of middleman profit and non-profit in insurance companies in America: (numbers from Wikipedia)
Aetna net profit 1.28 Billion for fiscal year 2009
Cigna operating income 1.3 Billion for fiscal year 2009
United net profit 3.82 Billion for fiscal year 2009
Regence Blue Cross/Blue Shield is Nonprofit (a favored insurance among many doctors in my area due to higher pay rates)
Premera Blue Cross is Nonprofit (another liked insurance due to paying doctors quickly) (Premera did try to go for profit but was rejected by Washington state insurance commission.)
I would love to go into further detail about how insurance contracts work, how much docs get paid, ect, however it is against the terms of my insurance contracts to discuss these details. It is also against the terms of my contracts to change my fee on a need basis other than a 25% time of service deduction. (I did go into it a few years back with some members of congress, that were quite astounded to hear how it all worked... or in our case does not work)
So far in the end I would propose a Swiss style system. Private companies not allowed to make a profit but can still pay CEOs their 6 figure salaries. States that want to, can put out their own plan as they do now... in Washington it is Lifewise a subsidary of Premera. This gives the control at the state level where currently states have the right to control healthcare law. I see the role of the federal government as two fold: help provide states with funds to build and run hospitals and emergency services, and to offer tax deductions for those purchasing health plans. Health plans would all be bought by individuals and would not be tied to employer however, and employer can pay an employee more to buy more insurance if they so choose. Brings alot more competition and free market into the system and does not tie you to a job you hate.
I like the idea of catastrophic plans for young healthy folks tied to a health savings account (HSA). This is a plan that only covers big medical emergencies and 1 annual visit per year, but allows you to put away tax free several thousands of dollars and rolls over from year to year. These HSAs can be used for over the medications, over the counter meds, supplements, massages, acupuncture, chiropractors, ect... Many things that conventional plans may not cover. This is the type of plan I currently have.
Comments, questions?
Many have an unease in advocating for a single payer system and for some good reasons, the current system Medicare does not pay well for the doctors, and creates many limitations for the patient. I am interested in the Swiss system where as I understand it, insurance is purchased by the individual (and thus not tied to employment), you can purchase a variety of plans to suit your needs and lifestyle, and the companies while private cannot make a profit. It is the middleman without the exorbitant middleman pay. Here are some examples of middleman profit and non-profit in insurance companies in America: (numbers from Wikipedia)
Aetna net profit 1.28 Billion for fiscal year 2009
Cigna operating income 1.3 Billion for fiscal year 2009
United net profit 3.82 Billion for fiscal year 2009
Regence Blue Cross/Blue Shield is Nonprofit (a favored insurance among many doctors in my area due to higher pay rates)
Premera Blue Cross is Nonprofit (another liked insurance due to paying doctors quickly) (Premera did try to go for profit but was rejected by Washington state insurance commission.)
I would love to go into further detail about how insurance contracts work, how much docs get paid, ect, however it is against the terms of my insurance contracts to discuss these details. It is also against the terms of my contracts to change my fee on a need basis other than a 25% time of service deduction. (I did go into it a few years back with some members of congress, that were quite astounded to hear how it all worked... or in our case does not work)
So far in the end I would propose a Swiss style system. Private companies not allowed to make a profit but can still pay CEOs their 6 figure salaries. States that want to, can put out their own plan as they do now... in Washington it is Lifewise a subsidary of Premera. This gives the control at the state level where currently states have the right to control healthcare law. I see the role of the federal government as two fold: help provide states with funds to build and run hospitals and emergency services, and to offer tax deductions for those purchasing health plans. Health plans would all be bought by individuals and would not be tied to employer however, and employer can pay an employee more to buy more insurance if they so choose. Brings alot more competition and free market into the system and does not tie you to a job you hate.
I like the idea of catastrophic plans for young healthy folks tied to a health savings account (HSA). This is a plan that only covers big medical emergencies and 1 annual visit per year, but allows you to put away tax free several thousands of dollars and rolls over from year to year. These HSAs can be used for over the medications, over the counter meds, supplements, massages, acupuncture, chiropractors, ect... Many things that conventional plans may not cover. This is the type of plan I currently have.
Comments, questions?
Welcome to my new blog. Some of you may be patients, others friends, and some just stumbled here while on your journey to find the end of the internet. I decided to start this blog as I have alot on my mind and have always turned to writing to explore ideas as well as creative expression. Thank you for joining me on the journey of my Wandering Mind Calm Heart. Fasten your safety belts!
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