A strange and wonderful tapestry this. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin spoke of a noosphere of consciousness that connects us all across the planet. Some would call the pragmatic version of that, the Internet ... but at a conscious, interpersonal level; Lilly Tomlin, Marcelle Pick, and Marshall Rosenberg, (below) are all singing the same riff.
The message: in the face of a daily tsunami of an often dismissive, disappearing, dehumanizing health care delivery system ... It is up to each of us; it is both an opportunity and our responsibility, to make our way in the world with each other, to engage each other with kindness, respect, dignity, empathy, and informed sensibility. Because, as the Native American Peoples would say ... we are all Human Beings. We are all in it together.
When we say "First Do No Harm" - at the very core of this - is our individual intentionality, about how we choose to engage with each other .. and, in this specific context what do we want for outcomes .. how do we choose to engage with our aging parents, patients and the health care system. We can throw up or hands in exasperation. We can abdicate our responsibility to become informed participants. Or, we can learn how to engage in a process - a dialog - that is more inclusive and responsive: and delivers awareness, understanding, agreement and ultimately - ownership ... and (for all the parties) more positive outcomes.
Lilly Tomlin is quoted as saying,"The sensibility in this culture can be so hard-edged, so brutal, so ridiculing and so dismissive that I think the most radical thing you can do now is to be tender". Which I read as - in the face of impersonality - choosing to be authentically present, open, gentle, caring, compassionate, nourishing, empathic, and supportive.
Marcelle Pick an OB/GYN/NP at Women to Women up in Maine,in her article, The truth about modern health care - it's in your hands. "I think it’s time to remind women who is steering the ship when it comes their health care. I know that health issues can instill a lot of fear in women, especially today, but making fear-based decisions is never as safe or effective as making informed ones." To make safe informed decisions - we have to make it safe to ask those questions ... and make it safe to have those conversations.
Marshall Rosenberg MD, is a psychiatrist whose work is focused on NonViolent Communication in the medical profession. "NVC language strengthens our ability to inspire compassion from others and respond compassionately to others and ourselves. NVC guides us to reframe how we express ourselves, how we hear others and resolve conflicts by focusing our consciousness on what we are observing, feeling, needing, and requesting."
This is powerful stuff ... perhaps we could learn to hum a couple bars together.
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