Welcome to Day 25 of #30PostsHathSept. [PLEASE READ all my other challenge posts HERE.] I hope you enjoy my post!
Tanka is another Japanese poetry form in many ways quite similar to the haiku. You can see my earlier post about haiku HERE. One similarity is that, like the haiku, tanka is both a singular and the plural form of the word (please don’t call them tankas). Also called waka, it is a five-line poem with the pattern of 5-7-5-7-7, and 31 syllables. The haiku (17 syllables) is thought of as the first, or upper poem, and it is connected to the last two lines that are thought of as the lower poem.
Of course, more modern tanka poetry does not always hold to the strict syllabic counts, but the idea of a “twist” as seen in haiku is more pronounced in tanka, and is found in the third of the five lines.
Tanka preceded haiku by several hundred years, and while it was used originally in the Japanese Imperial Courts, it soon gave way as an ideal method of communicating love through verse between lovers. Maybe the tanka inspired Shakespeare’s later sonnets of love – who can say?
Also like the haiku, the tanka are written to celebrate ceremonial occasions. New Years is one such occasion. The Emperor of Japan and his family continue to carry the long-held tradition by writing tanka yearly on what is referred to as the Ceremony of Utakai Hajime. The ceremony is elaborate with singing and recitations and contests. All of the Imperial Family is in attendance with invited members of the public.
What distinguishes a tanka from a haiku, outside of length, is the emphasis on emotions found in the tanka. The haiku, while evoking emotions, is more observational in tone and less personal. However, so much has evolved in haiku, that finding personal haiku is not unusual. Still, the tanka are deeply connected with love and loss and loneliness.
One interesting thing is that tanka – more so than haiku – were traditionally written by women. There were many famous tanka poets from Japan. One example is Ono no Komachi from the 9th century. The word “komachi” has since become a synonym for beauty in Japan. Here is one of Komachi’s tanka:
“The color of this flower
Has already faded away,
While in idle thoughts
My life goes by,
As I watch the long rains fall.”
Tanka may not be nearly as popular or well-known as haiku, but there are excellent modern poets who feel an affinity for the tanka, including Sam Hamill, co-founder of Copper Canyon Press.
I love both tanka and haiku, and here is an example of a tanka I wrote, to my above photograph.
It isn’t enough
For us to say we love clouds
We must become air
To embrace a billion breaths
Humbled and gasping at life.
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Welcome of Day 24 of #30PostsHathSept. [PLEASE READ all my other challenge posts HERE.] Enjoy!
Western medicine is a problem-oriented profession. Clinicians are trained to interact with patients and families with the purpose of keeping health hazards at bay, and treating those conditions that come along. Not being normal is a disease to be stamped out and replaced with normalcy.
Whatever normalcy is.
As a pediatrician by training, I know this first hand.
In an emergency situation this mentality comes into sharp focus and is instrumental at saving lives. But in everyday situations that are a large majority of medical practice, it may potentially backfire.
We live in a society that is increasingly obsessed with fixing things – sometimes when there isn’t always anything to fix, or normalize. We buy into caffeinated products to boost energy. We rely on sleep aids to help us achieve rest. We long to extend our youthfulness via cosmetic means or hopes of the great medical cure of ageing. Some of our children are erroneously medicated for conditions they actually do not have, like ADHD, due to their behavior not meeting age expectations. We hear of a new pharmaceutical medication on our television and just know it was meant for us, based only upon a series of vague and broad physical and/or emotional symptoms. To some clinicians as well as patients, leaving a doctor’s office empty-handed without a diagnosis and a prescription seems like a wasted trip. Time better spent elsewhere.
So we await the cure for obesity, are convinced every diet is the next big thing, and jump on new untested ideas and medical treatments to somehow make our lives better through medicine.
The clinicians are meanwhile overwhelmed with responsibility and lack of time. Being able to assess un-wellness is frequently taught as the key to success. Wellness sadly comes secondary. Our conversations with patients often follow a routine along the lines of “Can you tell me the problem that brought you here today?” or “How can I help you feel better?”
I was reminded of this in an article by Sandra Smith M.D. M.P.H. entitled “What should be the core conversation between a doctor and an individual s/he sees for 15 minutes per year?” In the article, Dr. Smith references the latest National Academies Press (the publication of the National Academy of Sciences) Workshop Summary on Health Literacy: Past, Present, and Future (2015) In that summary bulletin Dr. Winston F. Wong of Kaiser Permanente writes,
“One interesting proposition is that we should start the discussion with every person we come in contact with by asking ‘what does a good day mean to you,’ because that’s really a much more important question than ‘what hurts’ or ‘have you been taking your medicine today. As a health plan, we have to start thinking about what do we do to proactively address what makes for a good day.”
This is so very important of a concept shift. An incredibly different way to look at patient care. And such a powerful one. In Eastern medicine, clinicians are rewarded when patients are well. In Western medicine, when they are ill. While Western medicine clinicians wish their patient good health as much as Eastern medicine clinicians, the approach may often comes from the opposite direction.
In the short 15 minutes we frequently are given in the fragile doctor/patient relationship, we spend an exorbitant amount of that time assessing for problems. An approach that addresses the whole person can raise the focus on health and well-being.
By asking a patient that important question of “What does a good day mean to you?”, a clinician can instill a closer and more caring bond with the patient. Such open-ended questions can be unusual in medicine, where questions are commonly posed to gain information quickly, efficiently and succinctly. For example, “What problem brings you here?” may lead to “I have headaches.” This is followed by a series of questions that help elicit a differential diagnosis, and a subsequent answer to the headache. Appointment complete, and the patient leaves with a plan for addressing the pain.
But so many other questions may be left unasked. For example, why did the patient come in that day for the headaches, and not another? What if the patient has a long history of headaches, but something else in their life changed? What if emotions and fears were the driving factor? Does addressing the fears help more than addressing the headaches?
This is only one of a myriad of situations. In pediatrics, small children ages 0-6 are assessed with what is called the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) for a variety of measures including motor function, social interactions, and language development. The purpose is to discover the presence of developmental disabilities. The newer autism screening for 0-3 years of age also emphasizes the need to discover disabilities and seek treatment immediately.
What’s missing in the DDST is a better understanding of what is normal and what is pathology. In most situations in health, there is a wide range of normal, and treating everyone according to one definition does not allow the concept of the Whole Patient. In the case of a child who passes all the DDST questions to the child’s accurate age says little about what that child is capable of and whether the family may need more support and understanding because the child actually exceeds the scale by a significant degree.
In the case of the early autism screening, while commendable, the screening may both provoke fear in a parent as well as not completely and accurately predict autism in a child who perhaps has a level of developmental asynchrony. Developmental norms are averages. We see this in the varied presentations of ages of walking, speaking, reading, and so forth. We forget that while seeking pathology, we need to also seek health and exceptionality.
Even in the situation where a child has autism, empowerment of the parents can change the entire outlook of the child to a positive one. Many cancer treatments programs have likewise found that a whole person approach by addressing how a particular patient defines a good day, can also potentially increase immune response and help in recovery efforts.
These open-ended questions can give patients a sense of self-confidence, allowing them to think deeply on their life choices and achieving satisfaction. They also give more control to patients, so patients take an active role in their health, and do not simply feel the medical field is doing things to them, but rather with them.
Not all people have the same definition for a good day any more than they have the same definition of a successful life. Addressing each patient as an individual increases their sense of permission to set control over their life. Some people may not feel the need to extend their lives with a complex regimen of medications and treatments if it doesn’t improve their quality of life. Some people cannot imagine life without some of the achievable pleasures that make life worthwhile.
What the question of good day truly addresses is the concept of quality of life. Quality of life is a whole person criterion that may supersede the natural approach to medicine of wiping out disease. Patients are people, and as such, they are individuals. Individuals have the right to choose how they wish to maximize their health while also serving their quality of life criterion of a good day.
The difference may seem subtle, but in so many ways it enriches life. Like a return to the old ways of doctoring, seeking an understanding of the whole patient, and individualizing medical approaches to serve those needs is a powerful statement. As clinicians, we are given this solemn vow of Hippocrates not to vanquish illness (something that not achievable), but rather to maximize quality of life. In the pursuit of maximizing quality of life, we need to be cognizant that too much intervention can sometimes lead to harm on the patient’s part, either in health and/or quality of life.
Of course, every person – patient or clinician – needs to be cognizant of how their actions affect others. A person can go to the extreme to live a good day by doing things that are harmful to the greater population. Impinging on another’s quality of life is the antithesis of the message. There are many examples to fit this scenario.
Ultimately, the message is an important one…Clinicians can do well to always place the motto of “First do no harm” high on the list of absolute requirements for patient care.
So, take a moment and think about the question for your own selves…”What does a good day mean to you?”
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Welcome to Day 23 of #30PostsHathSept. [PLEASE READ all my other challenge posts HERE.] It’s been a busy day, so let’s have more fun with poetry!
Haiku is a Japanese poetry form that began over a millennium ago. To clear up one misconception: Haiku in plural is still haiku. Please never refer to them as haikus. Written in the present tense, haiku reflect the seasons and nature, with the haiku offering a twist – or juxtaposition – of word images to provide a surprise element. The present tense brings the reader in closer contact, providing an immediate emotional response.
Some haiku are profound, others more light-hearted. Traditionally, many Japanese practitioners of poetry would begin a lengthy poem, called a renga, with an opening haiku. These were recited as a type of song for ceremonial occasions. Haiku eventually separated from the renga, and became a stand-alone poem. Later, humor (sometimes ribald) entered the practice with a type of haiku called senryu. However, with time, some people feel there is less of a distinction between the humorous and the traditional 17-syllable narratives. Also, the 17-syllable constraint is vanishing. What does continue is the juxtaposition of imagery, influencing many poets since its beginnings. I’ll talk more about some of my more favorite contemporary interpreters of haiku in a later post.
Basho and Issa were two of the well-known practitioners from the 17th and 19th centuries, respectively. Basho’s work greatly influenced my enjoyment of haiku. One of Matsuo Basho’s classic haiku, translated by Robert Hass, reads:
“Autumn moonlight–
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut.”
Like other forms of poetry, the haiku has a distinct rhythm. The last line snaps, and if done well, amuses and/or gratifies. Since one of the nature elements that inspires me is water, here are two water haiku, each in response to one of my photographs shown here.
Rain freckles the earth
a torrent of umbrellas
one jubilant frog
And to the featured image at the top of this post…
Downpour, then silence
A solitary raindrop
Geronimo!
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Welcome to Day 22 of #30PostsHathSept. [PLEASE READ all my other challenge posts HERE.] I hope you enjoy this post!
Today my daily blog challenge piece is something completely different. As fall begins, I wanted to share a photograph I had taken one morning last year when the dew sat heavy after a cool night. The deeply forested area behind our home was completely blanketed by many hundreds of spider webs that until that morning were completely invisible to the eye. It was as if a secret suddenly revealed itself. The water vapor in dew had condensed on each thread, reflecting light like a lens. The result was mesmerizing. I just had to try to write a poem about it. As I walked among the webs carefully with my family, I felt truly humbled by nature. It is important to observe the world and see it in fresh and different ways.
“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
My poetic interpretation of the featured image at the top of this post:
Different Eyes
The sun creeps westward, hanging low in the skies,
Tired after a long summer.
With little warning, the trees start to undress.
And I find myself grabbing my coat.
The crisp air catches, curling leaves and my breath,
As shadows hide from the moonrise.
Not to be outdone, the forest arms stretch upward,
Reaching earnestly for the stars.
The sun, the moon, the wind, and trees.
But isn’t it always the little things?
At the break of dawn! Elf-knit gossamer threads,
Transformed as spider tapestry.
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Welcome to Day 21 of #30PostsHathSept.[PLEASE READ all my other challenge posts HERE.]
Say child labor and too many people still instinctively think back to the Industrial Revolution. In the second decade of the 21st Century, the world is far from eliminating this form of exploitation and abuse. Child labor is a persistent and oppressive practice that places innocent children around the world in harm’s way. Child labor is a practice that vanquishes childhood and severely diminishes or eliminates their future opportunities.
The U.S. Department of Labor defines child labor as,
“Slavery or practices similar to slavery, the sale or tracking of children, debt bondage or serfdom; the forcible recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; the commercial sexual exploitation of children; the involvement of children in drug tracking; and work that is likely to harm children’s health, safety, or morals.”
The United Nations states their definition more succinctly as,
“It is work that children should not be doing because they are too young to work, or – if they are old enough to work – because it is dangerous or otherwise unsuitable for them.”
We’re not talking about chores, school-related work, or work that children wish to do themselves. This is exploitation and abuse for the benefit of others, not the child.
How many children are we talking about?
Over all, 168 million children around the globe are victims of child labor. Nearly 50% of these children are doing what is classified as hazardous work. To visualize a better the extent of child labor, approximately one out of every eight children around the world is a victim of child labor. Only one in five are even paid for their work.
Almost 3/4ths of the victims of child labor perform agricultural work. The products of their labors are known to each and every one of us and in part include coffee, cocoa, sugarcane, rice, and cotton.
But child labor is what happens just to children in other countries, correct? Wrong.
While the vast majority of child labor victims are outside the U.S., some children here as young as 12 are known to work legallyharvesting tobacco, a practice that exposes them to not just a toxic level of nicotine (as if that weren’t bad enough), but also to pesticides used by the tobacco industry. Other examples of child labor in the U.S. are not so readily available, but unlikely to be zero.
Outside of agriculture, Children are also exploited. Some pharmaceutical companies even owe their profits to the toil of children laboring for some of the components of manufactured drugs. Hazardous work such as construction, mining, and quarry work is not uncommon. We all love the convenience of smartphones and laptops, yet the harvesting of technology’s precious minerals, and the recycling of used and disposed of electronics, are not infrequently done by children across the world. These are children who are too poor to even own the devices they are helping manufacture.
But even this depressing picture is incomplete. Children are repeatedly victims in both drug trafficking and in human trafficking. With increased worldwide turmoil, violence, and war, the so-called collateral damage includes these children caught in the middle.
Poverty is and always has been an overriding contributor to child labor violations. Children may be forced to work when one or both parents are unable. By doing so, many children miss out on schooling, further shrinking their future prospects. I saw this myself in my earlier volunteer work in Latin America. Some families in other countries offer their children – both sons and daughters – for monetary payment or as bondage for bills unpaid. Poverty can make people do things that in any other circumstance would be unthinkable.
In 2009, Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said,
“Millions of children are victims of violence and exploitation. They are physically and emotionally vulnerable and they can be scarred for life by mental or emotional abuse. That is why children should always have the first claim on our attention and resources. They must be at the heart of our thinking on challenges we are addressing on a daily basis. We know what to do, and we know how to do it. The means are at hand, it is up to us to seize the opportunity and build a world that is fit for children.”
Today with global strains on the economy, poverty, world violence, war, and the ongoing massive refugee crisis larger than World War II, trying to prevent the exploitation of children is even more crucial. Even more time-sensitive. Even more desperate. Children are being forced to fight wars in armed conflict. They pay family debt via bondage. And in Syria, over 50% of the refugees are children, placing them as a potentially high-risk group for child labor. I wrote about the refugee crisis and this lost generation in an earlier post.
There is some good news. The International Labor Organizations along with the International Organization on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO/IPEC) have seen shrinkages in the levels of child labor around the world between 2008-2012.
But wait before getting too relaxed about this huge global issue. The number I gave at the start of this post – 168 million – is the recent 2012 number. In 2008 there were 47 million more children victimized by child labor. Improvements, absolutely…but a far far cry from a complete resolution.
The first step to stop thinking of these children as other people’s children. They are all our children.The human race. And if it’s difficult to wrap one’s head around 168 million, imagine this: That’s greater than the combined population of both the United Kingdom and Germany. Just under half the population of the United States. And even more concretely, the number of people that could fill the seats of 2,500 football stadiums. These children – our children – deserve their childhoods back.
Listen to this TED.com video by the Fair Labor Association president and labor activist, Auret van Heerden. Please be inspired and decide what you can do to help.
“There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace.” – former Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan
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Welcome to Day 20 of #30PostsHathSept. [PLEASE READ all my other challenge posts HERE.]
“Painting is poetry which is seen and not heard, and poetry is a painting which is heard but not seen.” ― Leonardo da Vinci
After recently reading a blog post on hip-hop by Lisa Rivero, I was reminded of sweet almost-forgotten memories of my early childhood.
Piled into the back of a friend’s parked pick-up truck, we shared fresh shrimp brought to us by one of the dads, and then passed the beautiful fall day reciting off-the-cuff poetry. We were a mixed group of boys and girls, mostly ages 9-14, and it was the late 1960’s. Inspired by billboards, TV, and overheard conversations, we riffed on many things including royalty, Winston cigarettes, cash, and pie. We reflected the life all around us.
There was a definite rhythm and backbeat to our words. The energy felt fresh and not of our parents. In retrospect, our newly found poetry was likely part of the growing movement of what in just a few more years would be called hip-hop.
In my local elementary school, the teachers were deep into the era of the songwriter. In our English classes we analyzed works by all the bands of the day. Words became the transport for ideas and social commentary. They were anthems and protest marches. Hip-hop would later carry that message.
My article’s title comes from the standard measure of a sonnet. Fourteen lines. That’s all.
Shakespeare is commonly associated with the sonnet. My son loves Shakespeare and takes wonderful Shakespeare courses whenever he can. Unfortunately, the teaching of the sonnet and Shakespeare in schools is often done so in a historical way, as if we were looking back at the mummified remains of an archeological find. In many schools, poetry as a whole may become compartmentalized in education as an exercise for younger children, and writers like Shakespeare are left to sometimes be complained about by students and teachers as irrelevant to today. After all, Shakespeare is among the famous set of dead white writers.
But Shakespeare and sonnets are both very much relevant and alive today. This type of rhythm-infused story-telling poetry, has come by way of hip-hop (as well the influences of jazz, blues, funk), transformed, and is now penetrating throughout society. Spoken word poetry is everywhere. Literature itself recognized the importance of verse by awarding the 2015 Newbery Medal Winner, the most prestigious award of children’s literature, to Crossover written by the lyrically gifted Kwame Alexander. I had the thrill this year of being in attendance at a conference session presented by Kwame, and afterwards was able to briefly speak with him. His poetic messages transfix all students – the advanced readers as well as the reluctant ones. Students even perform his works in classroom settings. Does this sound familiar of any famous dead white writer you know?
Listen to a remarkable TEDx video with hip-hop artist Akala, as he compares Shakespeare to hip-hop in a very entertaining and deeply informative talk.
You’ll not listen to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 the same way again. You can also read more about his message HERE.
Then, listen to hip-hop artist Devon Glover (aka The Sonnet Man) perform Shakespeare Hip-Hop Fusion to Hamlet’s famous speech.
If any of you are educators or homeschool parents, please consider sharing these videos with your students. You can also utilize the Kennedy Center’s ArtsEdge curriculum package on the poetics of hip-hop.
For now, I want to pay due homage to the poets of yesterday and today via an original poem of mine in the tradition of a Shakespearean sonnet. Perhaps in a later post I will post my modern take on the sonnet. Fourteen lines. That’s all.
Sonnet To Wings
They lost their wings when they were born
Left mortal in their flesh and blood
And touched the scars where they were torn
When cast into the earthen mud
How else can we explain their urge
To thus traverse in space and time
Where truth and light together merge
To seek each shadow in the rhyme
To find the walls and tear them down
To worship all the wind and sky
To stare at eyes that walk around
And wonder if THEY too could fly
The rebel souls with second sight
Those wingless ones whose words take flight
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Welcome to Day 19 of #30PostsHathSept. [PLEASE READ all my other challenge posts HERE.] This is a post filled with unanswerable questions, as I ponder the concept of who we are, ending with a reference to Dr. Who as it begins Season 9 tonight on BBC America.
100 milliseconds. The blink of an eye.
Depending upon your reading speed, the first two sentences required approximately 1500 – 3000 milliseconds. Within that short time period, a judgment is determined. A decision. A planned action.
Because all it really takes to formulate an impression is that blink of an eye. We like to think we are independent thinkers and doers. But a considerable amount of our behavior goes on behind the scenes, in our subconscious.
Some researchers are examining whether we have free will at all. Interesting experiments have been done trying to elicit the concept of free will – that is, the innate ability within us to freely and consciously choose a specific course of action. Some of the types of variables internal to the person making an action that are thought to underscore that action may include responsibility, critical analysis, guilt, fear, and interest level.
Thought experiment: Imagine yourself in any situation in which the outcome is an action on your part. How precisely did you arrive at that decision?
When an fMRI was performed on study participants while they were simultaneously requested to make a specific conscious decision, the fMRI findings actually revealed that the conscious decision delayed the brain changes for many seconds. The conclusion was that the conscious decision was secondary to the actual action.
How much of our daily activity is conscious and how much is unconscious. We breathe, circulate blood through a pumping heart, as well as perform a variety of functions we consciously need not consider on a minute-by-minute basis. But how much more of our daily functioning is done subconsciously? For example, how many of you can deny driving on occasion only to arrive at a designated location without a clear sense of the experience getting there?
The real question about free will is one for philosophers, at least until we better understand the functioning of our brains.
For today, I primarily want to ponder first impressions. First impressions seem to fall in line with what we think of as free will. But is it really free? If studies have shown impressions to occur in the blink of an eye, how much of that impression is conscious?
People extensively prepare for job interviews, presentations, dates, and so forth, but if impressions are made so quickly, what possibly can transpire between two people that can communicate to such a depth?
We make first impressions everyday. We see a person’s clothing, regional accent, gender, height, weight, race, ethnicity, and the presence or absence of a disability. We make judgments of intelligence, wealth, personality, and sometimes well before we even interact. Our brains are processing information at great speeds, but how much do we tease apart and actually think through thoroughly?
Recently, I went to a hairstylist who suggested I consider coloring my hair to remove the gray. First I was taken aback that she thought I was old enough to need it. I had not thought much about it prior to that day, but ultimately decided to try a temporary wash to match my usual color. The result was not what I expected. The issue was not with the hair itself, but with me. I missed my white streaks of hair, even though I rarely noticed them. The new version did not look like me. It did not feel like me. I was happy that the new color lasted only six washes.
Throughout our lives we play many roles and have many faces. At each stage of life, there is an adjustment of identity both internally and externally. There were times when I was younger that I looked upon the hands of an older person, and remarked to myself how thin and how frail they appeared. Despite believing myself to be fair and fully conscious of every decision I make, I likely at times have made judgments – hopefully not unfairly – over something as minute as aged skin.
Now, with the same ageing skin, and white-streaked hair, I wonder how others see me. Is my attitude much like a parent who sees their child grow each day, becoming comfortable with the almost invisible transitions, only to find the visiting grandparents shocked at how much the child has grown. But I never noticed that I (or my child) became older, I would say.
Do people notice differences only in the absence of regular contact? Is this absence a contributor to unfamiliarity? Is unfamiliarity the key in prejudice? If so, how can we explain studies that find decisions made before the conscious mind engages? How much if any of prejudice is pre-conscious? And if prejudice is at least in part pre-conscious, what factors can alter pre-conscious to thus eliminate prejudice? What life experiences may lead to a positive and loving view towards others who may differ, and what exactly may lay the groundwork for prejudice and hate. How much of innate personality may play a key role in protecting someone from building prejudices?
I certainly am not claiming to be an expert of brain science nor social science. But the more we learn of the brain, the more questions crop up of who we are, and how we function as social beings.
What makes people in as brief as 100 milliseconds decide they may somehow know another person’s personality, work ethic, intelligence, and so many critical factors? That’s barely enough time to make eye contact or shake hands. Are more senses at play than vision or hearing? What role does this age of virtual communications play in reducing or even positively affecting these first impressions?
Some other researchers have proposed that we do indeed have free will. Called free won’t for lack of a better name, it is the inhibitory brain response we have to halt our actions and judgments until conscious control takes hold. That’s a far more positive outlook to free will, but more research is obviously needed.
As the burgeoning field of neuroscience progresses, the idea of free will undoubtedly become clearer. At present, barring a brain injury or psychopathology, we are responsible for our actions. We already know children, with their still developing brains, are less responsible for their actions than an adult. That’s a very good thing, but are we responsible for our unconscious thinking as well? And how to influence that?
I have many more questions than answers today. None other than the show Dr. Who inspired me. Below for your enjoyment is the last few minutes of the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) as he transitions to the 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi). In the first segment, Clara sees the 11th Doctor, with whom she has traveled for a great while, regenerate into a much older and less familiar doctor. Listen to the 11th Doctor’s wonderful parting speech, then watch the second segment and see Clara’s struggle with accepting the 12th Doctor as her doctor. These segments are both touching and revealing of first impressions and the ongoing changes within all of us.
After all…It’s what’s INSIDE that matters most.
REGENERATION 11th Doctor to 12th Doctor:
CLARA’S ACCEPTANCE of the 12th Doctor:
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Welcome to Day 18 of #30PostsHathSept. [PLEASE READ all my other challenge posts HERE.] I hope you are inspired and informed by today’s post. Painting by Félix Schlesinger (1833-1910)
Just say or imagine the magic words “once upon a time…” and many of us may immediately relax, wrapped in the wonder of the neurohormone oxytocin.
While bedtime stories do not always begin with this iconic phrase (and publishers today actually strongly discourage its use), bedtime stories have helped generations of children settle down for a dream-filled sleep.
The precise moment when bedtime stories began can’t be traced to a single book or time period. Oral tradition by far pre-dates print books, as do soothing lullabies sung to young children. Bedtime is a quiet time to help children ease into the night.
Surprisingly, the books we consider today as classic children’s books (and bedtime stories) were not originally written for children. These include fables, folktales, world mythology, and fairy tales. Due to their ready availability, these types of stories – and their sanitized variations – were among the first books read to children. Their morals, and the morals found in religious texts which were also widely read, became powerful teaching tools – and bedtime reads – for children during the historical Puritan and Victorian Periods of the 1700’s and 1800’s. Other more recent books, written initially as bedtime stories, are often considered too complex or lengthy for many of today’s parents. A couple of these examples include J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and A.A. Milne’s Winnie The Pooh.
Are bedtime stories now becoming passé?
A study by Booktrust showed that today’s young parents read less to their children than previous generations. A lack of confidence was brought up as one reason. Another study by Littlewoods of 2,000 parents found that only 64% of parents read bedtime stories to their children (and only 13% read nightly). Stress and lack of time were cited as reasons. Almost half of the respondents reported that video games, television, and toys were more engaging for their children.
Sad. I spent countless hours reading aloud to my son when he was younger. Bedtime books. Daytime reads. Picture books. Novels. And everything in between. While I can only speak for myself, I firmly believe parents receive as much pleasure as do the children from the bonding that occurs during these daily interactions. I know I certainly did.
Yet, the average child is read to only three times per week. A different study of 2,000 parents found that 12% of parents believed bedtime was the most stressful time of the day. 36% of parents are motivated – not by love – but by guilt to read to their children. Heartbreakingly, almost a third need to do so via Skype or telephone.
What did this study of parents feel was the “perfect” bedtime story? An average of eight minutes and thirty seconds. That’s it. Just 510 seconds. At an average of only three times per week. Another study found average bedtime reading to last only seven minutes.
Also to be considered is the importance of sociocultural development and learning amongst the many differing cultures. There may be differences in which cultures respond better to written word vs. those who have deep and lasting oral traditions. Either way, the importance of story remains. The need also remains that bedtime books and stories must aspire to more closely align with sociocultural norms in each population. There now exists a large and healthy push towards diversity in books for children.
What might all these different studies tell us?
Parents are stressed. Time is increasingly limited, in part as more families earn dual-incomes. Many more children today are children of divorce, with visitation often split between parents. Nearly 30% of families are single-parent households. While individual homes may not own any more or less books than a generation or two ago, access to libraries and increasingly restricted library hours – as well as the physical availability of libraries in poorer neighborhoods – may contribute to making the act of bedtime reading more difficult. Current bedtime books may also not speak to all children of multiple ethnicities and races.
More factors may also play roles.
The distractions of video games and movies, as well as regular computer use by children, all coalesce to make both reading time and sleepiness more challenging. Some parents even use computer apps that read stories with their children. I recently wrote a blog that touched upon our addiction to technology. Overuse of technology can make falling asleep more difficult, both because the activities can stimulate neurotransmitters, and that the blue light emitted from computer screens as well as all artificial light can affect our circadian rhythms.
Children are not getting the same level of physical activity as in the past. Physical activity is a known to aid sleep in adults. Exercise and physical activity likewise improve sleep in children. It isn’t uncommon for some parents to place white noise machines in their children’s bedrooms and medicate them nightly with melatonin.
Some parents have found themselves utilizing bedtime books that assist them solely with the psychological aspects of sleep deprivation. The popular new book, The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep, may owe its success to its ability to act as subliminal messaging, instilling a feeling of sleepiness in a child. Other such bedtime books using psychological techniques help with children of trauma and anxiety, and contain repetitive, calming and specific meditation methods (including deep muscle relaxation) to help sleep arrive.
But are these bedtime stories? Or therapy? And how does the bonding differ between parent and child? Not to be overlooked is the 2011 bedtime book for adults (not for children) that may speak to the stresses of modern parents. Entitled Go The F**K To Sleep, you can watch Reading Rainbow’s LeVar Burton read the book to a group of parents HERE.
Some of you may be aware of reports touting bedtime reading as a way to boost academic performance, increase vocabulary, improve literacy, and contribute to the social and emotional well being of children. This is also true worldwide. Many pediatricians’ offices now provide free books to children through a program with organizations like Reach-Out-And-Read, Too Small To Fail, and Scholastic. Other non-profit organizations like First Book have been helping families in need enjoy books for a long time.
But for some families, bedtime is a time reserved for other activities. For example, the Freschi family in California watches TED.com videos as a replacement for bedtime stories. The disadvantages remain of blue light and computer use, but the togetherness and the sharing of information, language, and story add serious advantages. At 14-18 minutes in length, the duration of a TED.com video is twice as long as the average bedtime read, and unlike movies or video games, the videography is not hyperactive or disorienting.
Bedtime books and bedtime stories. Their benefits are known. The bonding is irreplaceable. The need for more diverse books is obvious. But will bedtime books persist despite the complexities of life today? Or will they evolve into something that fits people’s hectic lives?
I can’t say where bedtime stories will be in a generation or more, but in the words of the remarkable Mr. Fred Rogers,
“Bedtime is especially hard for young children because it means being separated from parents….Young children can’t be sure when they’ll be back again with the people they love.”
And listen to him talk about bedtime,
So cherish the time in life when you have the privilege to read to your children. Every book, every minute. You are building dreams. And so much more.
I’ll certainly sleep on that.
[You can enjoy all the daily posts from the #30PostsHathSept bloggers HERE]
Welcome to Day 17 of #30PostsHathSept. [PLEASE READ all my other challenge posts HERE.]. Sometimes a word isn’t just a word.
Light. We’re all inexplicably drawn to it.
“My first memory is of light — the brightness of light — light all around.” – Georgia O’Keeffe
Artists. Poets. Scientists. Dreamers. Faces upturned, we coax its warmth. Tiny fingers of wide-eyed children reach out to grasp it. All of life seeks its nourishment.
Light. What is it?
Simplified, light is electromagnetic radiation dispersed in waves both visible and invisible. Books recite a miscellany of information on frequencies, wavelengths, photons, optics, and particle-wave duality.
But light is much more complex than anything read in a book. Or theorized in a laboratory.
Light is the child rollicking in a meadow.
Light is the look in a beloved parent’s eyes.
Light is the familiar hello at the door.
Light is the hope for a better tomorrow.
Light is the unexpected thank you.
Light is the meal brought to the homeless.
Light is the arm helping someone cross the street.
Light is the phone call to say “I’m O.K.”
Light is the door held open for another.
Light is the heart that shatters hate.
Light is the friendship between two who just met.
Light is the first crocus of the spring.
Light is the first snowflake of winter.
Light is the gratitude for life’s mystery.
Light is the smile of a stranger.
Light is the laugh that vanquishes fear.
Light is the hug of a friend.
Light is the secret of imagination.
Light is the wonderment of each moment.
Light is the birth of a new life.
Light is the serenity of a life well lived.
Light is the heart on a sleeve.
Light is the realization of a dream.
Light is the joy of a beating heart.
Light is the forgiveness of mistakes.
Light is the wisdom that calms us.
Light is the love that needs no words.
Light is the warmth of a crackling fire.
and…
Light is the promise we keep for our children.
The next time you sense light, never forget what that light really is.
“Had I not seen the Sun
I could have borne the shade
But Light a newer Wilderness
My Wilderness has made –” – Emily Dickinson
[You can enjoy all the daily posts from the #30PostsHathSept bloggers HERE]
Welcome to Day 16 of #30PostsHathSept. [PLEASE READ all my other challenge posts HERE.] Today is a serious post about a topic that is deeply important to me.
Suppose there is a disease that:
Affects 46.7 million people living in the U.S. (1 in 7 people)
Affects 16 million children (1 in 4 children)
Affects 1/6 of all births (2/5 of all black births)
Will affect 40% of all children at some point in their childhood
Negatively affects brain development
Is found clustered in many communities across the U.S.
Makes affected individuals three times as susceptible to chronic health diseases
Lowers life expectancy by at least 10-15 years
Costs an estimated $500 billion per year
Would we demand an immediate treatment? Would it make the evening news each night? Would it trend on Twitter?
Would it matter if I said this disease has been among us for a very very long time?
There is such a disease – That dis-ease is POVERTY.
Poverty is widely prevalent across the U.S. The Brookings Institute reports that 70% of the most distressed communities ( the communities where >40% of residents living there are living in poverty) are found in the 100 largest metropolitan regions.
While we often think of the poor living in urban areas, the grip of poverty has no borders. Even regions like Silicon Valley, considered wealthy by usual standards, also experiences poverty.
The Urban Institute, founded by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 to fight poverty, has followed the trends for half a century. The recent Great Recession has damaged any gains made in the last two or more decades in reducing poverty.
And the current numbers are horrifying. Last week I wrote a post about the immense suffering of the Syrian refugees, their fears and their hunger. It can’t be overlooked that here in America, we have so many suffering as well. Many hidden before our very eyes. Some hiding their poverty as if out of shame.
Kids go to school, often with empty or hungry bellies. While many food programs are in place at schools across the nation, chronic lack of food affects not just brain development but also attention and emotional control. Students who are hungry can be (and sometimes are) misdiagnosed with conditions such as ADHD, conduct disorder, and social anxiety, to name a few. They may then improperly receive treatment for these types of illnesses when what was needed were steady nutritious meals.
Students who are poor are just as likely to need glasses as any other child, and without funds, they may go through school unable to adequately read. They may also not get proper dental care even if they are covered by subsidized health insurance. They are susceptible to a number of chronic illnesses including diabetes, asthma and obesity (from a lack of healthy food choices). Children in poverty may live in homes not properly heated in the winter nor cooled in the summer. They may live in older homes with lead paint which increases their risk for long-term cognitive damage. Many people may be unaware that to a desperate hungry child, lead paint is soothing and sweet tasting.
So many such communities have been entirely overlooked by most Americans. We saw evidence of some of the painfully poverty-stricken areas after Hurricane Katrina. Areas that did not in any way resemble the American dream. Then there is the reservation of Pine Ridge South Dakota, home to several indigenous American Indian populations, and where 97% of the people live below the poverty line. Infant mortality is 300% above the national average, and life expectancy is lower than nearly anywhere on this side of Earth. 70% of students there drop out before completing high school.
There have been so many discussions and differing arguments on how to best approach reducing poverty. Creating jobs, assuring healthcare coverage, providing assistance for food supplementation, affordable daycare, and subsidized housing, are all important. The worst assumption a person can make about people suffering from poverty is that they are lazy and without hope. No one can imagine the life of someone in poverty. The word itself is so abstract. We can learn much about resilience from those who have survived.
Listen to Mia Birdsong, in this TED.com video tell us “They may be broke – but they’re not broken.”
That a country like the U.S. has such a large population of people living in poverty is incomprehensible. The answers to solve this issue may be complex, but one good place to begin the healing is to look into the eyes of the children.
““Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future” — President John F. Kennedy
Please read and learn more on how all of us can help:
Marianne Kuzujanakis 