Author Archives: bethpow06

FMM 8 23 19 The Essential Migrant

“But please don’t cry, dry your eyes, never let up Forgive but don’t forget, girl keep your head up” ~ Tupac Shakur. Around the time that Florence Nightingale was charged with leading a team of 34 nurses to work in a Military hospital in the Crimea, another nurse (or as she was also called, a […]

FMM 8 16 19 Nursology

“They don’t want to see us live together.” ~ Robert Nesta Marley.  My first official job as a registered nurse in this country was at a large private hospital on Miami Beach.  In those days (and perhaps still, for all I know), non-residents had to apply for a police identification when working on the Beach.  […]

FMM 8 9 19 Yardism

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” ~ Marcus Garvey.  I was a young teenager when Rastafarianism began to come out of the corners and into the light of day.  It was mostly (if I remember correctly) due to Bob Marley, who not only […]

FMM 8 2 19 Self-inflicted pain

“Life isn’t as serious as the mind makes it out to be.” ~ Ekhart Tolle.  One of the hardest lessons to learn, or at least to put into practice, is the art of living in the present.  I can remember, even as a child, trying to prepare for new events by seeing them in my […]

FMM 7 26 19 Don’t get it Twisted

“The finest language is mostly made up of simple unimposing words.” ~ George Eliot. “Farmer Jones walked up the path, drunk as usual.” I have never forgotten that line, the opening line to a book thrust into my hands when I was maybe eight years old.  I had just started school in the hills of […]

FMM 7 19 19 Mythomania

“The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.” ~ Carl Jung. My first introduction to the panoply of Greek gods and goddesses was in first form (sixth grade) in my Jamaican high school.  We were decked out in our shiny new uniforms, proud of […]

FMM 7 12 19 Taken for Granted

“Nature’s beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude.” ~ Louie Schwartzberg.  I am neither a sun-worshiper nor a frequent beach-goer.  As a child I have two sets of memories of going to the beach.  In my early years in the UK, beach meant a cold and usually rainy campsite within walking distance of […]

FMM 7 5 19 Low Expectations

“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” ~ Anonymous.  I was never fond of competitive games as a child.  Maybe it was because I was the youngest.  I was not as smart, as quick, as experienced as my older siblings, and my feelings would get hurt […]

FMM 6 28 19 Clashing Symbols

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” ~ Langston Hughes.  I was born in a part of the world that was always famous for its rain.  Manchester, in the north west of England was so wet and dreary that […]

FMM 6 21 19 I’ve looked at Clouds

“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” ~ Aristotle. When I think about it, I had the childhood that an anthropologist would have paid money for. Being plunged into the Jamaican countryside was an immersion experience for this eight-year-old English girl.  In typical Jamaican […]