Sensorium & Color Scope workshops: EX-pand your professional toolbox
Sharing Life: Let’s Sit Together
Let’s Sit Together
Living in a household of eight, with both my grandmothers, I was exposed to the beauty of books, playing games, laughter and learned to appreciate the value of generational strengths. My family showed me the power of engagement in activities of daily living, meaning every one had tasks that made our family “village” run. MomMom Bertha was the laundry Queen, made a killer pound cake and reveled reading my English compositions and giving feedback. Meanwhile, Grandmom Marie breaded the smelts, darned socks and a voracious appetite for news and reading made her a wonderful conversationalist.
Then there was my Great Aunt Hilda, the Aunt whose house you always wanted to visit, because she had a totally pink bathroom, down to the Rosemilk soap and fluffy shag rug yet more than that was the life of the party and lived life out loud. She loved to connect with people through jokes, music and games. Aunt Hilda always made people feel welcomed, wanted, connected. She was a guiding star in my life. I accompanied my Aunt on Sundays to visit my great Grandmother in a nursing home and would see folks who appeared lonely and my Aunt encouraged me to go and sit with folks. This experience revealed that each person has hidden treasures waiting to be discovered and that someday I too will want someone to sit with me. That pivotal point cinched that serving elders would be in my future and thirty years later here I am in the best profession on earth!
I am deeply grateful to my Mother who supported my various senior communities with donations, book suggestions or loaned family antiques when we hosted the annual country fair. And to the many pioneers who helped to pave the way for this profession, specifically Anne D’Antonio-Nocera, Nancy DeBolt, Cat Selman, Dr. Peckham, Mary Miller, Nadine Touhey, and my best team leader and mentor Pam Keely. Every elder I have been blessed to serve has gifted me with wisdom, humanity and invaluable life lessons . As Thomas Edison said “the secret to success is making your vocation your vacation.” I view each day with curiosity because the human spirit is not linear rather ever changing. May we encourage one another across the life span, continue advocating for quality eldercare and the power of engagement and the importance of play with gusto!
BRAVO! Activity Professionals Week
I return to the spirit of the first ezine I released in 2016 which focused on the power of words. Important then and important now.
Word. A simple f-o-u-r letter word that can carry pleasure or a pinch.
How, when, why and which word we use matters.
Every time. Kipling said “Words are the most powerful medicine known to man.”
So I ask , what words and thoughts are floating around your brain? Are they positive? Affirming? Energizing ? Or are they negative, self doubting, depleting?
We, as professionals use words to uplift, heal, create and engage.
As we c-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-e our profession this week, make sure that you are “feeding” yourself positive words. Words that lift you UP to a higher ground. There is plenty of negativity to go around however it does not serve us. It depletes us. We need to keep ourselves and team members on track taking notice what words are being used and how we are using them. Positive statements can become our fuel. Motivation for ourselves. Our teams. Our services.
January 22-28,2017 is Activity Professional Week.
How will honor yourself, your team and the profession?
In focused and persistent pursuit of creating elder care services that know NO boundaries, only possibilities
Join me on this journey and TOGETHER let us create positive change in eldercare.
I encourage you to reflect, refresh and renew yourself after all you cannot pour out care from an empty cup. Keep your caregiving cup filled. Let others add to your cup.
Anchors Across the Life Span
Activities, leisure, recreation, hobbies in life appear simple, perhaps small, however digging deeper, one finds a rich inner world. These interests define us, show our multi layered dimensions, and speak volumes even when we are not speaking. Revealed are color preferences, competitive or collaborative nature, knowledge base, rhythm, sense of humor, curiosity, vulnerability. And this is only the short list! Plato said “you can learn more about a person in a hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
I LOVE it when someone joins a game activity and states “I play to win.”
Clearly proclaiming, game ON! ” Play BIG or go home. BAM!
While others join the game to socialize and collaborate.
Again, individuality matters.
Activities provide opportunities to learn, flip on the mind/ body recall and sensory system. Don’t forget activities are available during every season of life and must NOT stop. JAMA of Psychiatry released an article linking leisure time and depression showing that “…being physically active three times a week reduces the odds of being depressed by approximately 16%.”
I hope that you find that as motivational as I do.
So what about an anchor? Consider its function. Weight, stability, guidance.
It also keeps a craft from drifting due to wind or current, can be temporary or permanent and vary in design and weight. My favorite activity anchor is power walking, during any season here in Pennsylvania. It resets my switch and I am ready for the winds of life and wherever they may blow.
I believe that activities across the lifespan become our human anchors and for that matter, lifelines.
Until we meet again, stay brilliant!
Nancy Richards
Founder, CEO Activity Pathways
Your mentor for impactful leadership &
creating meaningful connections through the power of activities.
A shot of professional inspiration
A shot of professional inspiration during a “gray” season.
Gray is a popular interior design color these days. It “works nicely” with a lot of complimentary colors however when it is the dominant color, it can dull the senses. Much like, too much of anything can produce imbalance, overwhelm or even keep one “stuck” in a certain situation.
I love living in southeastern PA where we experience, embrace and celebrate four diverse seasons. I can navigate multiple cold winter days in the teens when they are balanced by bright skies. That sun, ever potent provider of vitamin D and brain stimulator which releases endorphins, keeps me in balance. Being honest here, this is the fourth day of either light rain or gray skies. It is feeling heavy about now and I am pulling happy strategies out of my proverbial “life tool bag.” Wearing a bright peachy orange tee shirt, neon green socks, cornflower blue printed scarf and my happiness pendant, a gift from a precious friend 😉 Brilliant music by Bruno Mars, Earth Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder blaring and the drapes in the office are wide open, allowing every bit of light to bathe my work space. Thinking about a dear lovie who does all of the above plus turns up the space heater in her office for that complete body wrapping element and uses a Key West screen saver image to soothe her eyes. PLUS uses that location as her weather update, even though in reality she too lives in southeastern PA and is sharing the same gray spot lingering in our current zone. Now, that is creative!
Our workplaces can become gray, clouded, and heavy and our professional motivation takes a dive. I witness this in the MEPAP class when students are struggling to survive in harsh work environments, strewn with pressure, judgement and healthcare trying to operate at warp speed.
I ran into a colleague, an accomplished leader, Activity Director Certified and caring heart who has committed fifteen years of service. She shared privately that she is down, dismayed by the negative work culture and the pressures it brings. Scarce support from corporate, pressure to “perform” for upcoming survey, working short across the building with very little positive, nurturing provided. How can one serve others when individual vessels have been depleted?
I see this across the long term living spectrum. Great educated, heart centered souls, committed to serving elders stretched beyond human capacity.
Respectfully, corporate “there is more to life than increasing its speed.”
In that moment I encouraged her not to lose heart, that her contribution is important and that collectively we, as a profession, must uplift and nourish one another.
I encourage you to call a colleague, use a life line and ask for help in the moment. Then, when you are nourished be available for some else.
We are a small but MIGHTY profession, on a mission.
We CAN and WILL keep rising to honor every person served and honor the WHOLE person.
Activities are the glue that holds organizations together. Don’t lose your mission or resolve. We’ve got this. We’ve got one another.
Until we meet again, stay brilliant!
Nancy Richards Founder, CEO Activity Pathways
Your mentor for impactful leadership & creating meaningful connections through the power of activities
