Sobbing, she throws her arms around me. “I just can’t take one more thing. I’m totally overwhelmed. All the things I need to attend to are flying around me, and as I try to grasp onto one, I come away empty.” She rests in my embrace and the storm slowly…
“Hey, Doc, you don’t look so good. Like a walking zombie,” Neo says with genuine concern. (Neo is my brain’s neocortex. I’ve mentioned him in previous columns.) I let out a bigger sigh than usual. “This move to St. Louis, Missouri, halfway across the country is unusually difficult. The…
For my PhD research, I wanted to examine in more detail the processes by which humans move from traumatic injury, like traumatic brain injury, to a place of well-being. My clinical experience led me to consider two things that people drew upon. I found that, firstly, they drew upon cognitive…
“Oh, poor me. I have lost so much,” I moan, hanging my head down and shuffling my feet. My partner looks up from her book. “Did you say something, dear?” “Just another rough period,” I say with an affect as flat as the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport. It’s a personal…
“What? You’re moving again? Are you insane?” Neo exclaims. (Neo is my brain’s neocortex, which I’ve mentioned in previous columns.) “I’ve been called many things, yet still retain my sanity. I hope to do so through this very stressful process of moving,” I respond. “How do you plan to…
At my last presentation to a support group for Parkinson’s disease (PD), one attendee said, “My husband wobbles a lot when getting up from the sofa. I’m afraid he will fall. What can we do about that?” I asked her husband to stand, which he did with grace. A slight…
“Oh my gosh! The presentation was amazing. And I’m not just saying that because I’m your partner.” It was my first presentation about my experience with Parkinson’s, and it flowed smoothly. It had been a long time since I was in front of an audience, reaching out and connecting. Time…
Researchers have said that combining acceptance with meditation works better than meditation alone. That sounds like a fantastic idea. I’ve been having trouble with meditation ever since the ruin of stagnation. Maybe if I search for and discover how to combine acceptance with meditation, it will make…
I was out gathering flowers, peach tulips, and blue orchids. It was a beautiful sun-kissed day. I wondered where I would discover new blooms in the garden. Out of nowhere, a chasm opened beneath my feet, and I plummeted into unknown depths. Jagged rocks and outcrops tore at me and…
Boom! A cannon shot shakes the windows of the house. No, it’s not terrorists showing up in rural New England. It’s just winter. We have a steel roof. When the temperature is just right, the snow slides off the roof with the force of a cannonball and hits the ground…
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