I just sliced up a
few carrots for dinner. Nothing special; just cut them into smaller slivers and
then made diagonal cuts so they do not look so geometrical. I love the way raw
carrots snap and crackle as you cut them up with a sharp knife. I love the
color of them, too. Orange. Deep and brilliant orange. As I cut the carrots I
wondered what their origin was. Where did these carrots grow and when did we as
human beings begin to eat them? So much to wonder about a carrot!
I will throw them in
some boiling water in a little while and cook them for just a few minutes until
they are done the way I like them (tenderly crispy). Once they are cooked I
will savor their gifts of carotene and Vitamin A. Cutting up a few carrots is
simple enough and borrows only a little time from my very leisurely day. As I
was cutting, I could not help but think about how many people think cutting up
vegetables is a chore, including me just a few years ago. When I had a rising
family I know the last thing I wanted to do was to cut up some vegetables at
the end of the day. Food producers and food processors have taken note of just
that as is evidenced in all the prewashed and pre cut veggies that are
available at the market. All you have to do is throw them in some boiling
water. But, you miss out on that snap and that crackle. You miss the aroma of
the raw carrot as it lays slivered up in front of you. You miss out from using
your own hands to at least prepare part of your meal.
Preparing for dinner
and cooking in general is such a calming aspect of my life now. It was not
always so, but as I have taken better care of myself, cooking has been
something that I have grown to relish. It is one demonstration of how I care
for me and for those who I love. Cutting up carrots today was ruminative.
I am somewhat immobile
now because I broke my foot. I did not feel confident venturing out today
because of the rain, instead, I ventured in and read through four New Yorkers. The
most poignant article came from the May 20, 2013 edition with an article by
Rebecca Mead: The Sense of an Ending.
It portrayed a patient centered model of care for the elderly, especially those
with dementia at the Beatitudes Campus (a retirement community in Phoenix,
Arizona). It is a holistic model of
care where the philosophy is: “When you have dementia, we can't change how you
think, but we can change how you feel” (p 94). At Beatitudes there are no fixed
bedtimes or rising hours and no schedules that residents must be showered by a
certain time. The focus is on promoting experiences that are pleasurable
because research has shown that such experiences have an effect on persons with
dementia even after the experience is forgotten. The principles underlying Beatitudes stems from the work of
Thomas Kitwood, a social psychologist, in 1997. He insisted that people with “dementia,
rather than being seen as debilitated should be embraced for what they can
teach the cognitively intact” (p. 97). He promoted “person centered care”. He
believed that people with dementia invite us “to return to aspects of our being
that are much older in evolutionary terms: more in tune with the body and
functions, closer to the life of instant.” My father had dementia, thus I feel
it is likely that I may acquire this, too. When I get dementia, I hope that I
receive the type of care discussed in this article.
TTFN,
Michele
TTFN,
Michele
