MINDFUL LIVING

Caring for people with diminished capacity as we do at Adagio initiates many conversations about their behaviors and what we can do differently. We never assume they must change. We evaluate what happened before the behavior, what we could have done differently and discuss the new care plan with all the caregivers.  A mobile is the perfect metaphor.

You may wonder about the curly haired lady wearing the blue hat where most blog writers post their own picture. When new people visit our home they see Irene dangling from the living room ceiling. Unless they view her straight on, they think the dangling colored glass odd, usually being too polite to comment.

*Irene is a mobile. Air currents cause her to bob and turn so her hat is askew and her eye balls rotate beneath her immaculate brow. I have taken Irene as my avatar precisely because the parts of her visage dangle from separate lines and when one part veers, all the other parts also meander in the air. And there is a droll similarity between Irene and me.

Caring for people with diminished capacity is not that different from interacting with anyone else, like the members of their family. It takes mindful listening, mindful speaking, and change on our part if we want to see change from them.

“Thinking mobile” requires deliberate, mindful living. The rewards usually make the effort worthwhile.

*Irene is the creation of Dancing Glass artist, Sue Rena Curtis. Her mobiles make wonderful gifts for yourself or others.

http://www.dancingglass.net/  or  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dancing-Glass-Stained-Glass-Mobiles/125583347504636