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Happy Friday! Here we are with some crocuses coming up on Monday after work. They are later than usual due to the cold weather not wanting to give up it's hold.
And here are the same two crocuses on Tuesday morning after it snowed (again!) on Monday night. Thankfully, crocuses are hardy little things and these are still blooming.
I think we are out of the woods as far as snow goes but I am afraid to believe it. It's supposed to rain pretty hard all weekend so outdoor activities may be out of the question. But we can handle the "liquid snow".
Peter Kevin continues to soldier on at work. Monday is the meeting to discuss the progress of his Performance Improvement Plan. He's met all of the goals, just not by the deadlines set in the Plan. Partly this is due to the changing requirements of one of the managers but I'd bet they are not going to take that into consideration. He's been bringing home personal things a bagfull at a time so that if and when they tell him he's terminated, he won't have to be escorted out with a big box.
One of our new doctors (a good one) is leaving on July 1st to work in another part of the health system. His wife is pregnant so I'm trying to whip up a baby sweater to give them before he leaves. I hate that he is leaving. He's bright and personable and works hard for his patients. He's also young and ambitious and I can see him running the entire system before the end of his career. We've hired some new young doctors to take the place of the ones that have left but they don't start until July so until then we juggle.
If someone asks you to describe yourself, what's the first word that comes to your mind? Woman? Mother? Wife? Author? Craftswoman? Artist? Do you identify your role before your gender? I've been thinking about this alot because I want to try it with my social rehabilitation group on Wednesday. I'm curious to see how they define themselves. Where will the illness fall on the list of descriptive words, or will it be on the list at all? I don't identify myself as a person with arthritis, hypertension and thyroid disease. Why would someone with a mental illness add that to their description of themselves? Unfortunately, I have a feeling that more than half the group will say whatever their illness is first. It's what society has taught them. "the most important thing about you is your mental illness". It's what they get the most attention (both positive and negative) for so I guess that makes it the most important.
So, what would you say? I think I would describe myself as a Woman, Wife, Mother, Social Worker, Craftsperson, but those are my roles. I would also describe myself as compassionate, kind, loving, hard working, patient and allergy prone (especially to strong scents).
I am part of a team in a study of movement, walking in particular. I had to install an app on my phone and it keeps track of my steps all day and then transmits them to the study people. When we signed up, we had no idea that there was a minimum number of steps we are supposed to hit each day. It's 7000 steps. I hit 2000 yesterday but didn't come close to the 7000. My team is never going to be eligible for prizes at this rate! I think the idea is to see if with encouragement, people can be coaxed into walking more steps. Pk has offered to walk around the block with me after work to make sure I get my 7000. I'm going to take him up on it. We've wanted to get some exercise and since we don't like the gym, this may be a good way to get started.
I'm getting sleepy sitting here at the computer so I am going to get up and walk around for a bit. (More Steps!!) Today is a mostly paperwork day so I'm going to be fighting off sleep for a bit I think. Have a good Friday and a restful weekend.
7 comments:
Interesting question. I do tend to include "celiac" in my description of myself because it's usually important for other people to know at some point. And I have casually dropped the PTSD diagnosis into conversation, mostly to normalize it--not because I feel defined by it but because I feel I shouldn't feel shamed by it, nobody should, and one way to work against that is bringing it out into the open.
I am practicing putting "artist and writer" closer to the top of the list. I have to write bios whenever I submit something and I realize I don't even always put "mother" in there. It depends upon the context. But also, it seems something so integral to my self, so obvious...I think I just skipped it on a few bios because it's like saying I'm a human. (if that makes sense)
How we define ourselves, particularly in relation to illness of any kind, is an interesting question. When I worked in hospice, we didn't want people to spend their last days, weeks,or months defined by their disease. In all of our discussions we tried to frame it in terms of being a person who is an artist,mother,friend who has a disease. One nurse friend always told people, "your disease is part of your life but it is not your whole life - it is not who you are."
Good luck with the walking. I bought myself a pedometer but am afraid to see how little I move! I'm sure it is probably less then 2000 steps!
Describe myself? The first word that comes to mind is tall. I have friends who would start their description with, "gay." What a fascinating thing to think about. How did things turn out in your group?
Sorry you are losing the good doctor. Luck with that sweater!
And good luck to PK! Maybe he can devote himself to wood butchery and craft fairs. I'm sure there's a market for peter-heater blockers!
And by the by, Kyle and I got FitBits (an apple product that links with our computers and cell phones) and over the year have each increased our step count by thousands. We walked five and a half miles today! There have been nights when I have circled the dining room table to get in those last few dozen steps. Walking with your sweetie is lots of fun!
Poor little flowers, all the white stuff is trying to keep them down.
Interesting question re/ how do you describe yourself. In terms of work, I usually say I'm an author - although writing is sporadic work for me. It depends on who I'm talking to and the context, really. Sometimes my disease does define me but not often. I rarely use 'family roles' like wife or mother.
I have a Fitbit too (like Roxie) - my daily goal is 3,000 steps — with chronic severe foot pain, I'm happy if I manage that much! Nifty little devices, though :)
gorgeous flowers. i've thought about a fitbit but i hate the whole idea of the quantified self. but i sometimes wear a pedometer and aim for 10 000 steps. its a lot of steps.
i am looking forward to coming and meeting with your group this time. it is such an interesting question and your analysis of the answers is spot on. i find it hard to go past Academic, it's so much a part of who i am now. but Person is second :)
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