by Kate | Apr 13, 2022 | Chronic healing, connectedness
Last Saturday, my husband and I got together with my two brothers and their wives. It’s the first time in about two years because of pandemic separations. There is something wonderful about being in the same room, breathing the same air. Yet, I immediately started to...
by Kate | Mar 23, 2022 | Chronic healing
Each month, I try to look at the intersection of illness with my current blog subject. Lately, I’ve been writing about the Buddhist paramita of wisdom. At its core, wisdom is about seeing and understanding the truth. When I was diagnosed (at age 20) with an incurable,...
by Kate | Feb 24, 2022 | Chronic healing
I am sitting meditationin this bodydamaged from yearsof neural degradationhere I sittorso pocked with scarsfrom surgeries designedto keep it all runningto keep me aliveand mostly functioningwho knew it would bea revolutionary actto sit with this bodywith kind...
by Kate | Jan 20, 2022 | Chronic healing, kind promises
When we are so ill that being sick seems like our whole world, how can the Buddhist notion of “exertion” help us? Exertion doesn’t mean hard work (though being sick is hard work.) Instead, it’s about showing up even when we don’t want to and, more than that, showing...
by Kate | Oct 20, 2021 | Advocacy, Chronic healing, chronic illness, Well-being
A friend was behind in her book club reading. “I have to read four chapters,” she sighed. Editing herself, she amended “I choose to read four chapters.” I suggested “you get to read four chapters.” She was re-ordering her thinking as we listened. Living with chronic...
by Kate | Jul 31, 2021 | Chronic healing, Well-being
before they flitter away, I wanted to capture some of the lessons I think the latest hospitalization (four nights last week) brought with it. I don’t mean the practical, body care tasks, but rather the soft skills I want to cultivate as part of my well-being. 1. Ask...