Author Archives: bethpow06

FMM 3 23 18 Mining your Life

“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.”~ Mark Twain. I grew up in a family that made a joke of everything. My father had a wicked sense of humor, he would say the most outrageous things with a straight face, and it was only the hint of a dimple, or […]

FMM 3 16 18 Blinded by the Light

“If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing.”~ Gail Sheehy. I remember the simple joy of owning a flashlight.  Being English by birth, I first knew it as a ‘torch’, but once we moved to Jamaica we soon adapted to the more American name. It was small […]

FMM 3 9 18 Free to be Me

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.” ~Soren Kierkegaard. I was once told that researchers can be either bees or butterflies.  Either they are attracted to many different topics, and flit from one tempting flower to another, sampling tasty nectar here and there; or they […]

FMM 3 2 18 Join the Dots

“The need for connection and community is primal, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food.”~ Dean Ornish. It was my good fortune as a child growing up in Jamaica, to have aunts who would send packages at Christmas. Well they would be intended for Christmas, but as to when they arrived, that […]

FMM 2 23 18 Upcycling

“We should give meaning to life, not wait for life to give us meaning ”~Stacy. At the end of a long week, one which challenged me and my team professionally, I am waking up still drained, so I have dipped into my recycling bin for this week’s message. Once, driving through the beautiful Blue Mountains […]

FMM 2 16 18 Keep your head up

“Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.”~  Martin Luther King, Jr. My nursing education began in a patriarchal era, a time when doctors made unilateral decisions regarding healthcare.  The patient did as they were told.  Because of course, Doctor knows best.  But my education was not limited to […]

FMM 2 9 18 Fusion not Fission

“Love is the affinity which links and draws together the elements of the world… Love, in fact, is the agent of universal synthesis.”~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. I am not sure how old I was when I started dancing.  I have memories of entertaining one of my aunts with my version of ballet, self-accompanied (some […]

FMM 2 2 18 Good for You

“The right to protect the health and well-being of every person, of those we love, is a basic human right.”~ Elizabeth Holmes. Country children in Jamaica (I don’t know if it happened in ‘Town’ – Kingston also) were subject to a particular tradition.  At the end of every summer vacation, in order to be ready […]

FMM 1 26 18 Blind Faith

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”~ Martin Luther King, Jr. They say you should never discuss politics or religion.  After the past couple of years in American politics, you would have to be completely deaf, dumb and blind not to have been pulled into a conversation involving […]

FMM 1 19 18 The Nosebleed Section

“I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it.” ~ Maya Angelou.  I first felt the full force of racism in Jacksonville, Florida.  It was 1978.  I had driven there to take my Nursing Boards, what is now known as the NCLEX-RN.  At that time there were three sites […]