“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands,

one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”

— Maya Angelou

 

Remember when you were a kid and you’d say, “Let’s play pretend.”

Let’s revive that game shall we?

Take a deep breath and join me in imagining that we’ve been transported into a parallel universe. This place looks remarkably like our current planet, maybe a little brighter, a little shinier, but more than the exaggerated colours, there is one major difference in how one lives.

 

In this new place, you discover that everyone is assigned another human that becomes their lifetime responsibility. This person is beyond the regular responsibilities found in the usual relationships with parents, children, siblings, friends or cousins.

You learn that as soon as you’re of an age deemed to be independent, this other person that is assigned to you must be your absolute priority.

Your job is to advocate on their behalf. You go with them to any medical appointments. You make sure they are eating properly and drinking plenty of water. You teach them to quiet their mind with meditation. You explain to them the benefits of sunscreen. You make sure they get enough exercise. You work hard every day to let them know they are loved and cared for. You show them how to care for their skin with oils and lotions. Your ultimate assignment is to help them learn to love themselves completely and without reservation. Obviously, this is not an easy assignment.   It is a big responsibility because you still have all your usual relationships that need to be maintained and nurtured.

But this, this special lifetime project, is understood to be your utmost priority.

So…you’ve probably figured this out by now. This is not about a “let’s-pretend-place”.

And the assignment? The human being assigned to you…is you.

You and me.

We are the projects.

I am my assignment. It is up to me and me alone to properly care for myself. Like you, I’ve been cognizant of these things but until my Parkinson’s diagnosis, I’m pretty sure that if there had been an exam, my results wouldn’t have received top marks.

My health is now my absolute priority. It is really the only priority and, as it turns out, that has been true all along. I just didn’t follow through on it like I do now. Now, my day is taken up with taking care of myself.

The means a walk in nature every morning.

 

 

Some days are definitely harder than others. But whether I’m moving slowly or some new awkwardness has presented itself, watching Baxter’s ears do their happy bounce as he explores every inch of the trail, is its own form of healing.

 

 

Prioritizing my health means coming home to stretch, to add some strengthening exercises, and to set the meditation timer for 20 minutes. It means being consistent in taking my pills at 7:00 a.m, noon and 6:00 pm every day, which also means not eating before or after for 30-60 minutes so that my body’s digestion doesn’t compete with the absorption of the medicine.

Every day, I focus on the best intake of fruits and vegetables. I drink tons of water and am sure to schedule some sort of social interaction as a daily part of my ‘medicine’.  I fully understand that creating, whether with paints, collage, photography, music or cooking is not an indulgence. It is an absolute necessity.

We have lived in Kimberley for just over six years and until now, I had never set foot in the aquatic centre. Now I  go to the pool twice a week, building my endurance with each slow lap. Almost every day, I play the piano. And each time, I smile and say, yes mom, you were right. Thank you for pushing me to practise (admittedly, she’s a bit smug about it all, but still I thank her. It seems the least I can do after all the hell I put her through).

I stumble through new pieces and imagine that each time I find the correct note, I am helping build new synaptic connections…working hard to lay new tracks in my brain.

I nap when I’m tired. Sometimes I drink tea and simply watch the branches stir in the breeze.

Daily, I randomly remind myself to take deep breaths.  Slow inhalation. Slow exhalation. Repeat.

Quiet the breath. Quiet the body.

All of this is simply an effort to support my body/my mind/my spirit in the best way possible.

We are each born with our singular constellation of stardust and light.

 

 

Our responsibility is to care for our uniquely perfect selves so we might shine as bright as possible…because truly, like on my pretend planet, we are responsible not only to ourselves, but to each other.  And you never know whose path you might be helping to illuminate.

Shine bright my friends.