Reflect, Appreciate, and Prepare

Winter is a most mystical season! Just take a look at the natural world around us. During the frost of winter, plants submerge their essence into their roots, animals thicken their hides, and ponds harden into ice. This is a time of apparent inactivity yet beneath the stillness there is a hubbub of hidden happenings. Gestation and incubation are bubbling away in preparation for the renewal of spring.

What’s happening in nature is echoed in us. Like it is for the plants and animals, winter is a crucial time for humans to slow down, take stock, and accumulate reserves so we can be at our finest when it's time to spring forward. The short days and the long nights afford us time to look deeply into ourselves and reflect on the past year, appreciate our present, and prepare for the coming year.

But alas, the magic of winter is often over-shadowed by the frenzied bustle of the holidays, jam-packed schedules, and the flu; all poised to deplete our energies. So what to do? I would like to offer a short list of four practices I have found to be supportive and restoring.

Thoughtful Activities:

Techniques such as, meditation, prayer, journaling, and counseling can help move awareness of our deeper desires into our conscious mind. These tools have the ability to calm our emotions, relax the mind, and raise our spirit; just the thing for a cold winter’s night.

Phone A Friend:

The winter months can be isolating for many. This is a great time to reach out and reconnect. Write a letter, send a text. Hold a door, share a smile. Ask for help.

Seek Inner Warmth:

Maybe it’s time to reconsider that breakfast smoothie habit (just for the season) and opt for warmer sustenance. When cold weather strikes a chilling blow, warming and concentrated foods such as soups, stews, and porridges should take center stage.

One of my favorite go-to recipes for winter is Commonweal’s Most Nourishing and Healing Tea from Rebecca Katz, a delicious concoction reminiscent of a chai tea. Rebecca affectionately calls it, “… a backrub in a cup” and I agree!  nourishing-and-healing-tea-recipe

 

Express Gratitude:

Be thankful for every day, every moment! Let me start by saying “thank you” to each and every one of you that has read my blog and offered your encouragement. It means more to me than you might ever know. My hope is you will welcome the arrival of winter and rejoice in this beautiful season of reflection, appreciation, and preparation!

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home." --Edith Sitwell

Forgetting and Remembering My “Why”

Lately I’ve been feeling stressed about my writing. Maybe I don’t write often enough. Maybe I don’t share on enough platforms. Should I start tweeting? On top of this self-induced stress, I have been dealing with feelings of pressure to click, like, support, and follow other bloggers and guilt if I don’t subscribe to newsletters and join yet another chronic illness support group. I am overwhelmed by my social media life and I wonder how I let this happen.

The Origins of My Cyber-life

On-line support groups can be a bit of a blessing and a curse. When I was first diagnosed with Crohn’s I became ferociously involved in the virtual world of illness specific chatrooms. I learned plenty from my cyber friends and will always feel an abiding measure of gratitude for their willingness to share and assure me I was not alone. Oh, there were trolls back then and other nefarious types always at the ready to stir the pot but they weren’t the norm and they were quickly stifled. Fast-forward 14 years: The number of places on the internet for help and information has exploded and the dark side of it all has kept pace.

“I’m Tired, Tired of Playing the Game.” Lily Von Shtupp

Jumps to judgment seem to be more prevalent these days. When you are doing well, you want to share and you also can’t sound like a braggart (Do you even have a chronic illness; why are you here?) And when you feel abysmal and want to cry, you don’t want to come across as desperate or hopeless, even if it’s exactly how you feel (Whoa dude, you need professional help!) And heaven forbid you put it all out there only to be minimized or one-upped (That’s nothing; listen to what happened to me!)

I’ve been involved with some stellar groups where cultivating an atmosphere of practical support was their number one priority and I’ve stumbled into just as many that are exhausting. The clinging to pseudo-science “cures” (ah no, essential oils will not cure anything), relentless MLM (AKA pyramid schemes) sales pitches, and typos can be too much to tolerate.

Then there are the unfortunate souls, stuck in the past, unable to move on from old hurts despite receiving the advice and solace they seek. So while it helps to know I’m not alone in my chronic illness struggles, now that I know I’m not alone, do I really need to stay engaged with people rehashing ancient miseries or shilling for a MLM? I think not.

I’m Chronically Ill, Not a Pawn

Join one group or write one story and the rest of social media beats down your door looking for a piece of the action. My news feeds are non-stop full of ads; groups to join, pages to like, and sketchy products to buy. I receive email alerts, pings, and notifications all too often. If you like my page, I’ll like yours. Visitors to your page haven’t heard from you for a while, write a story! Others in your group are sharing, why not join in? Come see what you are missing! You have unread notifications. Ugh!

I highly doubt some poor someone has been checking my profile, searching for new content, and has sounded an alarm out of concern for my well-being. Nope! Cleverly designed algorithms prompt me to get involved and share. Website growth and strength depends on the generating of clicks. The more members they have, the more clicks they get, the more sponsors they can get, and that’s brings us to the real boss, money! Well I’ve had enough; I’ll share when I want to and with who I want to! And there it is.

I’ll Share When I Want to

As I was working through this piece, I recalled a similar grappling session from last year. I re-read that post in hopes of rediscovering my “Why.” Why did I start a blog? (the-process-is-the-goal) Re-reading my words of wisdom helped to ground me and bring everything back into focus.

I write because it helps me to sort my life.

I write because it soothes me.

I’m not creating a brand.

I’m not looking for fans.

If my words help another, I’m humbled.

It’s none of my business what others think of me.

So I will write when the mood hits me and bid a fond farewell to many of my on-line support groups and take a sabbatical from the few I will stay in. Social media will not go dark because I decided to leave a few groups, unfollow a few pages, and click a little less. I however, will shine on.

All photos from Pixabay

The Best is Yet to Come

The Wake Up Call 

A few weeks ago while chatting with a dear friend; the subject of employment eventually came up. We discovered, neither one of us is working in our chosen field (nutrition) and neither one of us was too bothered by it. Que será, será was the sentiment we shared. My friend then doubled down on her ‘devil may care’ attitude and boldly proclaimed, if she is not gainfully employed as a nutrition professional by the time she hits 60 (she was 55 at the time of this writing) she would not renew her registration and licensure. My first reaction was, “Are you crazy?! You busted your ass for that, why would you throw it away?”

She explained she didn’t see any value in spending her energies and money to maintain her certification when she would be so close to retirement age. I began to understand her point of view but still thought to myself, “Well that’s fine and dandy for her, I will never give up my creds!”

As days passed, her words weighed on my mind. The more I thought about it, the more I started to think maybe I was the crazy one. I gave up my search for a paying job a few years ago, why on earth was I still maintaining my professional credentials?

Photo: Pixabay

When We Do What We’ve Always Done

My status as a Dietetic Technician, Registered (DTR) has been a part of me for almost half of my existence. I have attended seminars/conferences, taken college courses, and taken part in webinars. All in pursuit of the 50 continuing education credits I need to accrue every five years in order to stay in good standing with my credentialing board. Oh, and it’s not enough to participate; I must also keep detailed records of my activities and document everything in a Professional Development Portfolio (PDP).

It’s a substantial investment of time and money but I always felt it to be worth the effort if it meant retaining my status as a credible nutrition professional. I guess after 25 years, it became a habit, one I never thought to question; until now.

A False Sense of Security

Another reason for keeping up my registration is a case of the “what ifs.” What if something happened to my husband, what if I had to get a job? I always took some comfort in having a professional title in my back pocket. But as the old saying goes, “Use it or lose it.” I haven’t been employed for over six years. Sure, I’ve kept up on current events and trends but I have no recent field experience. “Who wants to hire the old rusty diet tech? Anyone… Anyone… Bueller?”

A Sense of Purpose

Maintaining my DTR designation means I can remain a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) and enjoy all the honors, rights, and privileges that come with said membership. I recently wrote a blog (sense-of-purpose) about how entering the Academy’s Food and Nutrition magazine recipe contest provides me a sense of belonging, community, and purpose, one that transcends my everyday responsibilities.

In that post, I claimed I would never give up my DTR status (twice!) I believed it when I wrote it, well never say never!

Cut the Cord
Over the years, I have convinced myself I can’t do anything else, be anything else. I am a DTR. My credentials give me, well credibility. Without them, what would I have going for me? I always felt letting my credentials expire would limit my options. As I reflect on the conversation with my friend, I realize the limiting factor is the fear of letting go.

I must remember this important fact: There is more to me than my professional self.

Maybe letting go will free me to consider possibilities I would have never dreamed of otherwise. Another recent blog post of mine was about feeling cluttered and creating space (the-gift-of-pain). I think it’s time to consider my own words, let go of ‘Kelly the DTR’, and make room for what’s coming next. I have no idea what it could be. Isn’t that exciting?!