Learn from Opposites

How can the pairing of opposites build our understandings of the world? Let’s explore and learn from opposites of beauty versus ugliness, hot opposite cold and joy against grief.

Beauty Opposite Ugliness

Sometimes while contemplating the concept of ugliness, beauty may be revealed. I was first introduced to this via an art professor. We were assigned the task of painting something in an ugly manner. At the time, I failed to understand how this could have a purpose. I honestly do not remember the critique discussion following the assignment. However, in looking back I know the exercise served to greatly loosen my style. I also found that even though I was striving for ugliness there was actually a sense of beauty in my color choices. It made me question – where does beauty end and ugliness begin?

If you are overwhelmed with some of the ugliness you may see in the world, take a contemplative look at it. Where do you observe a sense of beauty? What can you learn from these opposites?

Learn from Opposites of Hot and Cold

Perhaps thinking about the opposites of hot and cold could help. What temperature would you label as hot? What one is definitely cold? It may depend upon one’s climate or season. It also could be dependent upon whether one was trying to boil or freeze water. Sweat or shivers would also influence one’s answer.

It helps to think of opposites in regards to hot and cold. Remember that two hundred degrees Fahrenheit is cool compared to boiling water. Forty degrees is warm to an ice cube. It is all relative.

Joy Versus Grief

The British-American actor, Arthur Garfield, recently lost his mother to pancreatic cancer. He defines grief as unexpressed love. In dealing with his sorrow, he’s found art helps by “stitching up the wounds”. He exclaimed that he loved speaking about his mum, that it was okay if he cried as expressing this love for her is a beautiful thing.

Look at your grief, right in the eye. Imagine you are gazing into the beloved face of your departed loved one. Tell them now how much they mean to you. It is certainly natural to still love them and pine for them. Yes, there is grief and sorrow. Walk through it. Stroll with it. Where is the love in your situation? Are you grateful for the love you had? Tell them. Feel even just a tiny spark of joy in thinking of them and your times together. Entertain and feed that joy. For your sake, this floodgate of love must be opened.

When we encounter ugliness, cold or grief, we draw the energies of our body inward. Whereas experiencing beauty, hot or joy expands our energies outward.

Just as one person’s art is unique to oneself so is one’s grief. As an art teacher, I’d enjoy giving you license to create! Just as Arthur Garfield urges, art can help to ease our grief. If you are grieving, I invite you to write about it, sing about it, act it out or paint it. Look for the love in your grief, express it. You will find it. I imagine your loved one will know and you, my friend, will feel better.

For other posts on utilizing the arts to cope with grief, click on any of these: Art, Grief and Life, EMPOWERED LIVING, ERASE GRIEF, and BROKEN. If you enjoy my blog, please feel free to follow to receive a weekly post by email. Thanks for reading!

Wisdom of Helen Keller

Helen Keller’s wisdom amazes me. What is even more astonishing is that she was able as a deaf and blind person to achieve what she did. At the age of 19 months, she contracted an illness that left her with these two disabilities. Until Anne Sullivan began working with six-year-old Helen, she lived in a world of silent darkness. Using the sense of touch and feeling the vibration of voice, Helen actually became a world renowned speaker. She most strongly identified herself as a writer. Braille was the method she used to read and write. She was fluent in five languages including Latin, French and German. Born in 1880, she was the first blind-deaf person to graduate with a B.A. Can you imagine making sense of the world without the benefit of sight or hearing? May you learn from the wisdom of Helen Keller!

Here is a brief video demonstrating how Anne Sullivan taught Helen to verbally speak.

Ms. Keller was friends with such notables as Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Mark Twain. Politically, she was quite a mover and shaker. Helen Keller spoke on behalf of those with disabilities as well as those with economic impoverishment. She believed that the highest result of education is tolerance. As an educator, I must concur.

Looking at the challenges that Ms. Keller faced, I could easily tie the concepts of loss and grief to her situation. She did have full use of her sight and hearing until nineteen months. She surely must have felt loss and grief in puzzling how to make sense of the world. She could have become bitter, but eventually became better through her efforts to help others less fortunate. For any kind of grief or loss, Ms. Keller’s wisdom may prove helpful.

Timeless bits of wisdom from Helen Keller

  1. Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.
  2. Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.
  3. The only thing worse than being blind is having no vision.
  4. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.
  5. What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.
  6. One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.
  7. Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.
  8. True happiness … is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
  9. Until the great mass of people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other’s welfare, social justice can never be attained.
  10. Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.

Helen Keller’s viewpoints, insights and wisdom greatly inspire me. May she do the same for you!

Why Gratitude?

Have you ever wondered why gratitude is an important attribute? Have you considered gratitude in the context of grief? Do you think you have little for which to be thankful? Well, if that is the case, perhaps start with being grateful for the small things of life! If you have more important, perhaps monumental reasons for which you are thankful, lucky you! It doesn’t matter if your gratitudes are small or large, we always have room for more. Whether your gratitude muscle needs exercise or it is bursting with abundance, treasure all of them in your heart. Here are some thoughts on gratitude as well as being thankful when experiencing grief.

Quotes on Thankfulness

  1. For my part, I am almost contented now, and very thankful. Gratitude is a divine emotion: it fills the heart, but not to bursting; it warms it, but not to fever. Charlotte Bronte
  2. The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become. Robert Holden
  3. When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. Willie Nelson
  4. Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance. Eckhart Tolle
  5. We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. Thornton Wilder
  6. This is a wonderful day, I’ve never seen this one before. Maya Angelou
  7. Gratitude also opens your eyes to the limitless potential of the universe, while dissatisfaction closes your eyes to it. Stephen Richards
  8. Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. Oprah Winfrey
  9. Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. William Arthur Ward
  10. Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. Robert Brault

Gratitude Even During Grief

Sometimes when we are in the midst of grief, gratitude may be the last thing on our minds. Through a series of serendipitous happenings, I found myself creating a daily list of ten things for which I was thankful while our son was in hospice. It seemed a shock to my system to even consider this. However, I will say it was one of the most transformative actions I’ve ever taken in my life. If a mother who is anticipating the death of her child can list gratitudes, then anyone can.

During hard times, it is too easy to feel sorry for ourselves. Searching for reasons for which to be thankful broadens our scope to truly see what is before us. Remember these quotes tell us that gratitude can be heart warming and life altering as a transformative practice. We become present, feel alive and induce abundance. Being thankful creates a sense of wonder and limitless potential.

Just last night, my husband and I watched a movie which was an old favorite of our son’s. I could have been sad watching it. However, I chose differently. There was a scene that struck me as hysterical, simply because of memories of our son imitating this silly scene. It felt so good to gratefully laugh about the memories.

Remember the benefits of gratitude. Anything upon which we place our attention tends to multiply. Gratitude begets more gratitude. Concentrating on loss multiplies loss. Be grateful for what you had, what you have and what you will have, but mostly be grateful for now!

For further reading on gratitude, check out Gratitude for Hard Times.

Compassionate Medicine

More compassionate medicine may be here soon. There are amazing diagnostic tests currently under development. These could greatly alter the landscape of patient care. Cancer treatments should drastically change!

Compassionate Tests

The first one I found is from the U.S. Mayo Clinic. Galleri is an early detection blood test. It can detect more than fifty types of cancer with 89% accuracy! Galleri coasts $949.00. https://www.foxbusiness.com/healthcare/mayo-clinic-galleri-blood-test-cancer Currently, the United States only recommends five different types of cancer screenings. These older tests are capable of screening only one type at a time. According to this source, cancers that are not commonly screened for cause 71% of the cancer deaths.

Secondly, another test is from Japan’s Hirotsu Bio Science. Researchers discovered a roundworm attraction to cancerous tumors. These worms can sense cancer odor in human urine. The test costs $90. It is 96% effective. Breast, lung, stomach, colon and pancreatic cancers are among those detected. https://www.newsweek.com/cancer-screening-kit-blind-worms-smell-pee-1478298

Thirdly, the Japanese company, Toshiba, is developing a test. It uses a single drop of blood. Gastric, esophageal, lung, liver, biliary tract, pancreatic, and bowel cancers are found. It also detects ovarian, prostate, bladder and breast cancers as well as sarcoma and glioma. This particular test is 99% accurate. The cost is 20,000 yen or $175.58 in U.S. dollars. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/11/25/business/corporate-business/toshiba-test-cancer-blood/

Current Tests in Medicine

The above mentioned tests are still being studied. Surely the tests will be integrated into the marketplace soon. Cancer care may be dramatically different. Many cancers do not have an early, effective way to detect them. I especially know that about pancreatic cancer. It took doctors two years to detect it in our son.

Currently, the average CT scan in the US costs $3,275. An MRI runs $1,325. An ERCP averages $5,326. (The ERCP is a procedure to diagnose and treat problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas.) All these tests have a downside besides the expense. There initially needs to be a huge biological clue as to what tests need to be done.

Future Compassionate Medicine

Importantly, the new blood and urine tests are extremely broad based! They are easy and accurate. These tools cause little patient discomfort. A simple blood draw or urine sample is especially patient friendly. Currently, the search for cancerous cells feels akin to finding a needle in a hay stack.

Additionally, these new tests are more affordable. They now range from $90 to $949. Certainly, these tests will be welcome!

In conclusion, all three tests find cancer earlier. Maybe elementary changes in diet, exercise, or mindset could offset the ailments! Each test detects multiple types of cancer. These tests are easier on the patients’ bodies and budgets. More compassionate medicine will surely be here soon!

Grief and Time: Past, Present, Future?

How does grief affect your sense of time? Are you usually contemplating time with a sense of past, present or future? Turning back our clocks from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time made me wax philosophical with our sense of time.

Time and Grief: Past

Do you tend to live more in the past, present or the future? For those of us who have lost a loved one, it is so easy to wish to turn back the clocks to relive our lives with them. We sigh or tear up and reminisce the good times when they were with us. Perhaps viewing old photos or videos may take us to the past. Some may need counseling or therapy to handle the additional stress of grief in their lives. Here is a wonderful resource for grief coping strategies: https://positivepsychology.com/grief-counseling/

Pondering the Future

Sometimes you may be tempted to ignore your current life and strongly desire to be with your loved one in the afterlife. While this may be a longing, it simply is not your healthiest alternative as a focus.

When our thoughts dwell too much in the past or the future, it can lower the quality of our lives by ignoring the present. Let’s ponder the wisdom of living in the present.

Quotes on the Present

  1. If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you must look forward, do so prayerfully. However, the wisest thing you can do is to be present in the present. Gratefully. Maya Angelou
  2. The great science to live happily is to live in the present. Pythagoras
  3. Don’t count the days, make the days count. Muhammed Ali
  4. If you’ve got a today, don’t wear it tomorrow. Tomorrow never happens. It’s all the same day. Janis Joplin
  5. Living in the moment means letting go of the past and not waiting for the future. It means living your life consciously, aware that each moment you breathe is a gift. Oprah Winfrey
  6. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness. Abraham Maslow
  7. Today is the blocks with which we build. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  8. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past and not enough presence. Eckhart Tolle
  9. I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore. Randy Pausch
  10. What day is it? “It’s today,” squeaked Piglet. “My favorite day,” said Pooh. Piglet & Winnie the Pooh

Just as Winnie the Pooh, may you find all of your todays as your favorite day!

Word Harvest

Sometimes a single word can prompt an entire blog post. The word was harvest. I deemed this word quite appropriate as we are in the midst of harvest season. Most of the soybeans in our area are gathered from the fields. As I sit here writing, a corn field to my east has been cleared of crops. To my south, the field is awaiting a combine to glean the good to fill wagon after wagon with harvested corn.

Imagine a corn or soybean farmer during harvest. How surprised would they be to gather a bin full of turnips instead of corn or beans! Our words are no different!

Words are quite powerful. Have you ever thought about what you may harvest with your words? Sometimes we humans, in being human, may forget that our tongues have the potential to hinder as well as to construct. Our words may plant either inner turmoil or peace, depending upon our choices. Let’s check out some quotes on the power of words.

Harvest Some Word Quotes

  1. Words are seeds that do more than blow around. They land in our hearts and not the ground. Be careful what you plant and careful what you say. You might have to eat what you planted one day. Unknown
  2. Your words become your world. Nadeem Kazi
  3. Words are containers for power, you choose what kind of power they carry. Joyce Meyer
  4. If you believe in the power of words, you can bring about physical changes in the universe. H. Scott Momaday
  5. Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa
  6. Speak to yourself like someone you love. Encourage yourself, motivate yourself, and uplift yourself with your words. ATGW
  7. Language creates reality. Words have power. Speak always to create joy. Deepak Chopra
  8. The mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Anonymous
  9. I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it until it begins to shine. Emily Dickinson
  10. Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder. Rumi

My Words

Sometimes we do not know the impact of our words until we’ve already uttered them. Just as anyone else, I’m certain all of us have uttered words which we wished we hadn’t. I prefer to focus on a few which are from the positive realm. One that comes to mind is from a graduation gift thank-you from a former student. This student thanked me for “teaching him to love art”! Did I ask my students, “Do you love art” as an everyday comment? No, but apparently my actions and attitudes spoke of this love and I am grateful that it must have been contagious.

I will share one more, one of my favorite. When our dear son was no older than one-and-a-half, I was holding him up to look in the mirror. I asked him, “Who is that?” You will never guess how he responded. He replied, “Honey”! I truly did not realize that I must have called him Honey more often than his given name. Well, I giggled and told him, “Oh, Honey, your real name is James!”

We must ponder what our words may plant for us as well as for others. Like Emily Dickinson, gaze at a single one of your written words until it shines! May you reap a bountiful harvest from your carefully chosen words!

Apple Tree Postscript

Well, here is my apple tree postscript. Oh, the irony does not escape me. The very year my apple tree sonnet appeared in print was the very year our poor old tree lived her last. In fact, the photo has the publication placed upon the tree stump.

You may have read my recent post with the full text version of this marvelous true story. Here it is the essay if you have not: The Mirror Tree. Many times it is a fun writing exercise to write the same story in a different format. Rather than the essay in this earlier post, today’s sonnet is sort of like the Reader’s Digest condensed version. Perhaps it could also be considered a Cliff’s Notes edition. Sometimes a writing could be only a portion of it as in a lone chapter of a story.

I decided to share two poems in chronological order. Here is an earlier poem which could be considered a mere chapter in the life of our apple tree.

The Summer of One Lone Apple

A challenging spring
     too cold, too wet.
The apple tree
Full of blooms,
     petals tossed to the wind.
Two apples,
     the season's only produce.
One lies golden
     upon the ground,
     ready and ripe.
The other hangs
     high in the tree,
     gathering nourishment.
I think myself an apple tree
     this summer.
I bore two.
One is leaving.
The other still clings.

I wrote this one shortly after our oldest child left for college.

Well, back then, I was very amazed that a tree could actually parallel happenings in one’s life. At that time, little did I know this was only the beginning of how nature could mirror life’s occurrences.

My Apple Tree Sonnet

Now, just as my essay mentioned earlier, my sonnet presents the entire life cycle of our apple tree. Since this poem uses far fewer words, I had to choose only the most pertinent (and delicious, since it is about a yellow delicious tree, after all)!

Apple Tree Reflections

Our apple tree was planted when our son
was five. Then multitudes of sweetness filled 
our lives, as buckets brimmed with juicy sun.
Delicious, yellow orbs of crispness stilled
our hunger. Satisfied and high with life.
This fruiting wonder overflowed our carts,
as crisps and sauces yielded from my knife.
The days, the months and years sped quick as darts.

The year our son was college bound, this tree
had only two - as me - and then one fell.
When tree was thirty-three it ceased to be.
That year our son escaped his earthly shell.
This tree as good as dead, revived next year!
She's teaming full of life as loved ones dear!

First Publication Rights, Lyrical Iowa 2021, publication of Iowa Poetry Association (First Place Sonnets)

Just a note on the time line, our tree actually lived five more years after that heart-breaking summer. Dear tree, may you grow many delicious apples for our loved ones on the other side of the veil, most especially our son.

A Taste of Peace

Who would like a taste of peace? I know I would! Come and read along with me. Let’s see what some notable people have to say about peace!

  1. If you are depressed, you are living in the past if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace, you are living in the present. Lao Tzu
  2. When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. Jimi Hendrix
  3. While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart. St. Francis of Assissi
  4. There are two ways of spreading light, to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. Edith Wharton
  5. If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliche that must have been left behind in the 60s, that’s a problem. Peace and love are eternal. John Lennon
  6. If you want to end the war then instead of sending guns, send books. Instead of sending tanks, send pens. Instead of sending soldiers, send teachers. Malala Yousafzai (17 year-old Nobel Peace Laureate)
  7. Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. Albert Einstein
  8. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. Nelson Mandela
  9. If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. Mother Teresa
  10. When you make peace with yourself, you make peace with the world. Maha Ghosananda

Resources for Tastes of Peace

You may be curious as to how Malala Yousafzai became the world’s youngest Nobel Peace Laureate. This is her story. https://malala.org/malalas-story

In conclusion, I’ve heard that peace is an inside job. Here a favorite site on achieving inner peace. Many of the tips are things that certainly do bring me peace of mind. https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/40-ways-achieve-peace-mind-and-inner-calm.html The “Arts and Society” blog post listed below is an interview with Dr. Kevin Shorner-Johnson who started the focus upon the “intersection of peacebuilding and music education” at Elizabethtown University. May you find a taste of peace by sampling some of these delectable bits of advice!

Transform Fear

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to transform fear? Please allow me to help. Have you ever dealt with extreme fear? I have. I don’t mean a momentary fear when you observe a near crash or a narrow escape. That kind of fear is more fleeting. I mean the kind of fear when you fear losing someone. That is the kind of fear that has the potential to linger. This is the type of fear I experienced when our son was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

When I felt this, the most extreme case of fear I’ve ever had, I learned what fear can do to our bodies. I could not eat or sleep properly. My weight dropped, my hair began thinning. Until I changed my thoughts and my mind set, I suffered with fear. Essentially, I found that fear was shutting off my spark of life. Let’s start to transform fear by looking at some quotes.

Ten Quotes to Transform Fear

  1. Fear and love can never be experienced at the same time. It is always our choice as to which of these emotions we want. Gerald Jampolsky
  2. Fear is a detour, not a dead-end street. Zig Zigler
  3. Your fears are a kind of prison that confines you within a limited range of action. The less you fear, the more power you will have and the more fully you will live. Robert Greene
  4. Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live. Dorothy Thompson
  5. But fear doesn’t need doors and windows. It works from the inside. Andrew Clements
  6. Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once. William Shakespeare
  7. If you want to cure the world, don’t emanate fear emanate love. Ram Dass
  8. Who sees all beings in his own self, and his own self in all beings, loses all fear. Isa Upanishad
  9. To fear is to expect punishment. To love is to know we are immersed not in darkness, but in light. Mother Teresa
  10. We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Plato

My Freedom from Fear

The quotes which mention love and/or light as opposed to fear reflect my experiences in regards to transforming fear. It seemed that fear was actually the energetic opposite of love. Fear shut down the life force energy in my body, whereas love enhanced this energy.

What can you do to bring more love into your life? Perhaps you could follow your passion, be around kindhearted souls, find a place to connect to nature. Try to concentrate upon what you love rather than what you may fear. Here is another fear related post: FEAR IS THE LOCK.

Through my work with frequency healing, I found this YouTube video which can help to transform your fear. As with any frequency healing, please check with your doctor to be certain that your body can handle it. When listening to this, it is best to be in a reclining or a flat position.

As it has the potential of making one light headed, wait until the feeling passes before resuming activity. After I sampled several, this one proved t o be the most relaxing. In fact, it is also labeled as “sleep music”! May you find any fears harboring within you transformed!

Dr. Siegel’s Wisdom

Dr. Bernie Siegel’s wisdom has made him one of our family’s favorite doctors, and yet we’ve never set foot in his office. Our son loved listening to audio versions of his writings during his daily commute. This doctor is a popular and well known physician, an M.D., who has authored many books on wellness. His philosophy greatly aligns with what I have experienced. May you find comfort in ten of his quotes!

Dr. Siegel Says Body Communication is Two Way!

  1. The doctor I would want for myself or for anyone else I cared about would be one who understands that disease is more than just a clinical entity, it is an experience and a metaphor with a message that must be listened to.
  2. If you talk to your body, it will listen.

I love Dr. Siegel’s empowering message that we have the capacity to positively affect our own health. This uplifting concept more than likely had an impact on our son’s longevity during his illness. Illnesses speak to the fact that you’ve not been listening to your body. If your body needs a little attention, perhaps try having a chat with yourself! It may seem silly, but tell your body that you care for it and you love that it has been so supportive of you.

General Good Advice in Dr. Siegel’s Wisdom

  1. You can’t control the world, but when you control your thoughts, you bring order.
  2. The spiritual message is we lose our lives in pleasing others; if you’re the good child who pleases Mommy and Daddy but internalizes anger, you’re setting yourself up for disease.
  3. Stories change people while statistics give them something to argue about.

Again, his thoughts give the patient control over their health. He asks for us to feel into what our very own thoughts are doing to our bodies. This involves mentally doing a body scan and determining where you hurt. It also means paying attention to when you sense discomfort or tension and pondering what created the discomfort. This site tells how to do a body scan: https://draxe.com/health/body-scan-meditation/

As to stories, some of his books are filled with recounts of cancer patients who have successfully improved their health by using various tips Dr. Siegel recommended. He formed a group called ECaP. It stands for Exceptional Cancer Patients. Here is a resource detailing his group. https://healingartsreport.com/3-alternative-resources-for-cancer-patients/ It is always uplifting for patients to read the survivor stories, especially when compared to crying over fatality statistics.

Dr. Siegel’s Mind-Body Wisdom

  1. The mind and body are not separate units, but one integrated system. How we act and what we think, eat and feel are all related to our health. Physicians should be capable of teaching this behavior to patients. Mind-body medicine should not be an ‘alternative’ nor should complementary and integrative medicine be something doctors are not exposed to during their training.
  2. Traditional doctors say I’m a mystic. I don’t deny it. For me, consciousness is non-local, not limited to the body, and can exist independent of it.

I’ve noticed that much of the time the most successful health practices involve working with not only the body, but also the mind. Incidentally, Dr. Siegel also feeds the spirit in his work with patients.

Arts and Inspiration Wisdom

  1. Inspiration is the greatest gift because it opens your life to many new possibilities. Each day becomes more meaningful, and your life is enhanced when your actions are guided by what inspires you. True inspiration overrides all fears. When you are inspired, you enter a trance state and can accomplish things that you may never have felt capable of doing.
  2. One of the best ways to change is to act as if you are the person you want to become. When you behave as if you are a different person, you change on a very basic level – even your physiology changes. When actors and actresses perform, their body chemistry is altered by the roles they play.
  3. I use music in the operating room to help create a healing environment for patients and staff. There is a reason that certain heart rates are healthy and certain beats of music heal and relax us.

I find Dr. Siegel’s Wisdom so refreshing when he validates the healing power of the arts. Isn’t it amazing that role playing can actually affect our physiology? Allow yourself to be inspired by the wisdom of Dr. Bernie Siegel!

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