By now, you have likely heard the very sad news that our Beatitudes Campus founder, Dr. Culver H. (Bill) Nelson, passed away on Friday April 14, 2019. Beatitudes Campus has lost a visionary leader and our community has lost an amazing soul.
One of the most memorable Christmas sermons that I have heard was preached by the songwriter, activist and pastor, John Bell. He began by asking; “I wonder who among us was once a shepherd?” A quick glance around me didn’t see any hands being raised. We were, after all, sitting in the middle of a large urban area not exactly renowned for its shepherds. Then he asked; “I wonder who among us was once a wise man?”. People began looking slightly uncomfortable, as it didn’t appear by the lack of hands being raised that wisdom was in any more plentiful supply than shepherding skills. He went on with other questions, before there began to be a gradual sense of where these questions were leading. My thoughts were confirmed when he asked; “I wonder who among us had once been the hind legs of the donkey”. So, which nativity characters have you played?
For many people, their introduction to the Christmas story will have been while taking part as a child in a school or church nativity play. For me this annual event was always a highlight of the year, if only for the opportunity to create headscarves out of tea towels, and to challenge each other off stage to duels with our shepherds crooks. The artistic standard wasn’t particularly high in my elementary school. One year, the memory taken away by the audience wasn’t of a fine retelling of the greatest story ever told, but instead of the little girl playing Mary declaring at the top of her voice “this baby isn’t even real” as she looked at the doll in the manger.
The irony of the school nativity play however is that besides the Christ child, there are no children with leading roles in the Christmas story. Many of the characters in the nativity narratives are seniors – Elizabeth, Zechariah, Simeon and Anna have their elderly status clearly underscored often during the account. The Shepherds were certainly not toddlers; and the Magi certainly would not have been considered wise unless they too were old. In these days wisdom did not come through attaining a Ph.D in your mid-twenties. The story of the birth and early years of Jesus’ life center around God expecting and trusting older people to enable new and surprising things to happen. So, if you were once a shepherd or an angel or even the hind legs of the donkey, don’t let Christmas simply be a time for regression therapy…..particularly when now as always, God is looking for older adults to be the midwives for the new ways that love, hope, joy and faith can be born into our world. *
Early on in my ministry, I discovered that most people are uncomfortable with crying. I would not be able to count the number of times that someone has apologised to me for crying. “I’m sorry” they say between sobs, as though their natural reaction to their pain and loss is somehow something wrong, or a display of weakness which should be publically avoided
It wasn’t always the case that tears were seen as a sign of weakness. The bible is full of strong heroes who weep freely and very publicly. One of the greatest biblical heroes, King David, was a famous weeper. He breaks down when his best friend Jonathan is killed in battle, and he is inconsolable when his son Absalom is killed. Upon discovering that their camp had been raided by the enemy, their women and children taken captive, David and his troops “wept until there was no strength left in them to weep.” Lest the reader get the impression that this emotional outburst rendered these men helpless, the bible goes on to describe how David and his men tracked the raiders, resumed battle and returned with their wives and children.
In classical literature, the heroes of Homer’s epics are no less adept at displaying their emotions. The battle-hardened Achilles weeps bitterly when his friend Patroklos is killed, and he also has a tearful outburst when Agamemnon takes his new found love. In turn, Agamemnon’s tears flow freely, when he finally admits his mistake “weeping even as a fountain of dark water, that down over the face of a projecting cliff, poureth its dusky stream.”
Rather than seeing tears, particularly in men, as superficial and weak, these ancient sources imply the opposite. Weeping is an expression of a well-developed interior character. Words are inadequate to express the full depth and range of human feeling. Tears flow when language breaks down. When a dear friend of mine suffered a tragic and untimely death, I found language wholly inadequate to convey the full force of my feelings. To fight my tears would have been both a betrayal to myself as well as to the memory of my friend. Tears are important and necessary. Denying this most human of expressions is not always a sign of strength, but sometimes is quite the opposite. Sometimes it takes bravery to cry.*
Donald F. Fausel
Nov. 22, 1929 – June 12, 2017
For this article, I’d like to share one written by Dr. Don Fausel, one of our residents who passed away last week. Don was a man of great insight and wisdom which you will find as you read his thoughts on “What’s Your Ikigai?”—Peggy R.
“It’s never been easy to be a human being! We have always had to wrestle with strong and painful fears. Now, if we face ourselves honestly, or if we merely eavesdrop on the secret murmurings of our heart, isn’t this what we discover—that one of our basic fears, the fear beneath many fears, is the dread of being nothing, of having no real importance, no lasting worth, no purpose in life. It is precisely to this fear of being nobody, having no worth, that our Judeo-Christian-Humanitarian ethic reminds us that our basic value is not something we achieve in competition with everyone else, but something we gratefully accept along with everyone else. We need not become important, we are important. We need not become somebody, we are somebody. No matter what others may say or think about us, or do to us, we are somebody.
As we grow older and become less able to function physically or mentally as we did in our younger years, we need to remind ourselves, that we are still somebody, with the same dignity and worth, with the same God-given inalienable rights. Sometimes, when we’re not able to do a lot of the things we used to do, when our body is failing us and our short term memory is not as good as our long term memory, it’s hard for us to accept the fact that we are somebody worthwhile. That’s why it’s particularly important for us Elders to periodically ask ourselves, what is my purpose in life?
Several years ago, I discovered a Japanese word that captures the importance of having a positive attitude and purpose in our life. The word is Ikigai, (pronounced ee-ki-guy) the Japanese word used to describe why I get up in the morning, what my sense of purpose is. I love the word Ikigai! I like saying it! I like writing it! Ikigai, Ikigai! I think it was the beginning of my interest in happiness. I realized if you don’t have an Ikigai, you’re not going to be happy. I was even more impressed with the origin of the word and its application for us elders. Researchers have identified what they call Blue Zones. These are areas throughout the world with a high percentage of centenarians; places where people enjoy remarkably long full lives. Their lives are not only longer, but physically and mentally, they are more active than elders in other areas of the world. National Geographic’s, Dan Buettner, has traveled the globe to uncover the best strategies for longevity found in these Blue Zones. One of those areas is the Japanese island of Okinawa. It was there that he discovered that one of the characteristics for a long healthy life was having an Ikigai. To a resident of Okinawa, Ikigai can be anything from tending their vegetable garden, taking care of great grandchildren, to walking and exercising every day. Whatever it is that motivated them to remain involved, they give credit to their Ikigai. After years of research Dan Buettner concludes:
“One of the biggest revolutions in thought in our time is the changing of emphasis from physical health to mental health in connection to longevity. The effects of negative stress and ‘inflammation’ are cited more and more frequently as the cause of early death and lowered quality of life. One of the most important methods for counteracting that is Ikigai, a sense of purpose. … Ikigai is something that brings joy and contentment. It fills a person with resolve and a sense of satisfaction in what they are doing. Most of all, it brings happiness.”
In our own way, we need to seriously consider identifying our own Ikigai. We need to know and follow our values, passions and talents–and to share them by example, on a regular basis. It might be by living our lives, with our physical and mental restrictions, as a legacy for our grandchildren or great grandchildren, or showing compassion for those in need, who are less fortunate than we are. Whatever we choose to do, it’s our Ikigai. So what is it that gives your life a sense of worth? What gets you out of bed in the morning? Since I retired, my major Ikigai for the past five years or so has been writing. To paraphrase the French philosopher, Descartes, “I write, therefore I am!” What’s your Ikigai?
As you know, living at Beatitudes Campus has many benefits. Did you know that one of the most important is that you have a full continuum of care services available to you should you ever need them? We would like you to be aware of what is available to you prior to you possibly needing the services.
Recently, while taking part in The Design Studio, I was asked if I could explain what is needed or how we determine what level of care or services someone needs. That was the perfect time for me to give a shameless plug for a presentation which will be given on Tuesday, February 14th. I shared that myself and the Directors of these areas on campus will discuss this information and much more and encouraged everyone to attend. I am sure there’s many of you with questions like—how many of you are wondering what services are provided on each floor of the Health Care Center? What is the difference between Independent Living and Assisted Living? What services are offered on campus that may help support you in staying in your apartment longer? Also, have you been curious as to what Medicare services are available on campus? How about the cost of services? You will find out these answers plus a whole lot more if you join us for this informative presentation in the Agelink Great Room on Tuesday, February 14th at 3PM.
During this 90 minute presentation—graciously sponsored by The Health and Wellness Committee and Lifelong Learners—you will hear from not only me, but also Teresa Borton, Health Care Center Director of Nursing; Elizabeth Kerr, Administrator/Clinical Director of Beatitudes Home Health and Beatitudes at Home; and Ron Ingram, Director of Assisted Living and Early Memory Support.
Please don’t miss out on this great opportunity to learn about what care services the campus offers in what is sure to be a fun and interactive way. Hope to see you on the 14th at 3PM.
Do you work around people with dementia or Alzheimer’s? The answer is yes. Many residents here on campus suffer from this disease but not all live in our memory support areas. Sometimes you can get in difficult situations with them because you don’t understand how the feel and how they are interpreting their surroundings. There are ways of deescalating these situations in a quick and positive manner and luckily we offer that training right here on campus. Also it will help in future encounters if you can better understand this disease.
We have an eight hour Comfort Matters class scheduled for Thursday, August 18th in the Facilities Management Meeting Room. To sign up please contact Karen Mitchel at x8460 or [email protected].
Some of the more “seasoned” tech users may remember floppy disks, cassette tapes and VHS tapes. All of which we could record and store data on in the form of files, voice recordings and video. I remember these took up a LOT of physical space too. Even when CD’s came along we thought their storage capacity was amazing but it still required a suitcase to carry around your collection. As with all technology, portable memory has come a long way and Flash Memory has paved the way.
So what is Flash Memory? You may recognize it as a Thumb Drive, USB Drive, Jump Drive, Flash Drive, SD Card, Micro SD Card, Solid State, etc. These were mostly popular in cameras and were great for transporting data that was too large to send via email. However, now days they are much more useful due to their increased capacity. They started out low with high prices but recently the storage sizes have gotten amazingly high and the physical size is amazingly small with a price that is surprisingly affordable. The largest available now is 256 GB but they expect to have them in 1 TB sizes soon. I just bought a 64 GB Micro SD card for a video camera that was the size of my fingernail and only cost $30. To put it in perspective, this itty bitty spec of a flash card is equal to 4 six hour VHS tapes or 16 CD’s or 6 DVD’s or (believe it or not) 42,667 floppy disks.
How does this affect/help you? With this type of storage capacity, you could actually use them to back up your computer. And with the new USB 3.0 speeds, the transfer speeds are pretty fast. Or you can also use them to store thousands of pictures. A 10 megapixel picture usually takes up about 3 megabytes of space. So with a 64 gigabyte SD Card or USB Drive, you can save up to 21,334 pictures. If you like taking a lot of pictures. 🙂 It would be close to the same amount for songs as well.
So if you’re running out space on your hard drive, would like a backup copy of your data, or just want to store files that you can take with you to any device with a USB port, grab a Thumb Drive. Or even a few.
History Tidbit: Flash Memory technology was actually introduced by Toshiba in 1984. It’s an electronic non-volatile computer storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. According to Toshiba, the name “flash” was suggested by inventor Masuoka’s colleague, Shōji Ariizumi, because the erasure process of the memory contents reminded him of the flash of a camera. Now days Flash Memory is in everything from computers to cameras, tablets and even your cell phone.
Neither! At least when you’re referring to computers. 🙂
RAM is actually an acronym which stands for “Random Access Memory”. Because of this, it’s reference is typically shortened to “Memory”. For example, How much memory does your computer have? It’s size or capacity is measured in powers of 2 and these days the increments are in Gigabytes or “GB”. For example, 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB etc. Without a doubt, RAM has the greatest effect on computer performance. If there’s not enough, it can choke and slow your computer to a crawl no matter how fast the processor is. The processor actually relies on RAM to do its job. Imagine RAM as being the top of your desk. The bigger your desk is, the more things you can work on at the same time. If you have a tiny little desk, chances are you can only work on one thing at a time. So still the question remains, HOW MUCH?? To be honest, there’s no exact science for determining this. It’s kind of up to you and your intended computer use. But here’s a road map to help.
All software programs and applications loaded on your computer will take a bite out of available RAM while in use. Including your operating system and antivirus which are always running many services in the background. So if you add to that by opening more programs and applications, you continue to subtract from available RAM. This means the biggest consideration when determining the amount of RAM you may need is how many applications do you intend to use “at the same time”. The most typical user will have email open while browsing the Internet or social sites like Facebook (4 to 8 GB). A more heavy user may do that but add to it heavy word processing, PowerPoint presentation or publication creation (8 to 16 GB). And an even heavier user may be a photographer or graphics artist engaging in heavy duty photo editing and movie creation (16 to 32 GB). So you see, while I’m sure any salesman can convince you that more is always better, in the end only you hold the answers to “How Much” RAM you really need. Be aware, It’s possible to reach overkill if you don’t truly need it and additional RAM seems to come with a pretty hefty price tag. The beauty is that it can be upgraded later if you find you really need it. So don’t stress. Think about what you might need and go for it.
