Meredith Kendall's Blog, page 7

Sudden death

of a young former colleague. She left a happy life: family and friends, a good education and a good job. Smiling and active just days ago, now gone.

This was a life then. This, the whole thing. Was here, now gone. Does the hole she left harden like cement, or fill in slowly like nearly frozen mud? Does the hole stay empty, a vacuum, or does someday a seed drop in and grow? See the emptiness, be the emptiness, be vast, be the wind and the seed and the sun and the flower.

Rough day

Rough day, tough life? Rest, heal. Sip some herbal tea and listen to the wind and rain.

Be Reiki

Wishing you a very Reiki moment- stop and check in with yourself. Let your thoughts bubble up and take a look at yourself. Be yourself, be Reiki ~

codebook

I'm writing Excel formulas into a codebook for statistics class. There are lots of formulas. I think I have them all correct and then I look and a number has spontaneously mutated. I look and another one has. All perfect, all set, and then another formula has transformed itself. It's like whack-a-mole trying to get all those formulas perfect and set.

With words there is room for creativity and imperfection. With science there must be a perfect structure, or as nearly perfect as can be. The better the structure, the better our conclusions and predictions.

test questions, again

I've been creating courses. Most of them are online. What is your favorite way to learn. Do you like to take a lot of quizzes, write discussion posts, or write papers? Lately I've been writing and rewriting test questions, quiz questions, really. They are more like review questions. They cover the content of the chapter, but aren't worth much as total points in the course. Plus the students can retake the quiz as often as they like, and the system records the highest score. There may be too many questions, but I have hard time paring them down to the most important ones. They are mostly knowledge, not application, but the knowledge is focused on specific details of pathophysiology: cells and processes.

I heard a fascinating concept of pathophysiology recently: life is all about the movement of protons. Proton migration across cell membranes fuels life.

Safe Injection Centers

Safe injection centers provide an opportunity to counsel people and reduce the risk of infection, hypothermia, and assault. Prevention is cheaper than crisis care. And it's kinder. Yes, it can be incredibly frustrating to try and help people with substance abuse issues. We can still try to help.

Universal healthcare, universal basic income

Where is the money for healthcare for all? Insurance companies, legal fees, and outrageous profits. Remove health insurance plans from insurance companies. Enormous pool of money there. Then proceed to the legal system. No need for expensive healthcare lawsuits if everyone is covered. No need to sue. Then regulate pharmaceutical and durable medical equipment profits, et voila. Enough money for universal healthcare. 

Probably enough for universal basic income too. 

clean laundry

What is it about laundry? I love to wash it. I even like to wipe down the washing machine and dryer so they look brand new. I like to run bleach or vinegar or essential oils through the machine so it smells fresh. I feel so lucky to have washer & dryer in my house, so I don't have to go to a laundromat or beat my clothes against rocks in a cold stream. I love the settings on the machine, hot or cold? fast or slow? rugged or gentle?

Drying too is fine. I shake out the wet work clothes and hang them on a line. They dry smooth, no ironing. I toss play clothes in the dryer, in there with the wool dryer balls that I made. Sometimes I put essential oils on the dryer balls. I don't use those chemical dryer sheets, yuck. I like to pull the clean and dry clothes out and fold them.

Then the fun stops. The clean, dry, folded clothes sit in a laundry basket for days. There is a special spot in the kitchen where they sit for several days before making it to the bedroom. Once in the bedroom they sit again, waiting to go into dresser and closet. Sometimes I just get dressed from the laundry basket. Usually I dump the clothes on to my bed, so I have to put them away before I can go to bed.

It's spring, and soon I'll be able to dry my clothes and sheets outside. I love that outside smell. It has been all white and bare branches for five months. Soon it will be green again. Well, we usually get a blizzard or two in April, but soon. Soon there will be crocuses, daffodils, and warm breezes to dry clothes.

vegetarian

I've been a vegetarian for a long time, nearly my whole life. I always say it doesn't bother me when I'm with friends and they eat meat, but really... I just shut down, block it out.

Really it always seemed like cannibalism to me. Eating bodies of other living beings of this planet.

Plants seem different, I don't know why. They have spirits too. But it feels ok to eat plants. It just never felt ok to me to eat meat. Just saying. Carry on.

sharing Reiki

With one hand over my heart, and one hand over my solar plexus, I drop into a meditative state. I think about the person who requested that I send Reiki.

I send Reiki to strangers. They write to me through my fiverr site. They describe physical and emotional maladies. I meditate for them, I focus on Reiki, I am Reiki for them.

Sometimes I get intuitive messages. Sometimes I pass those on. Sometimes I offer nursing instructions. I find myself telling people to rest, drink herbal tea, apply ice or heat, or seek evaluation from a nurse practitioner. Mostly I tell people to drink herbal tea. Sometimes I suggest that they find a Reiki teacher in their area and take a class. I share Reiki. Every person feels different to me. I send several times a day for several days. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share Reiki.

mefk12 Reiki healing