Changing dementia
Dementia as a Pilgrimage
March 2023
"Take up your staff and follow me."
From Moses to Jesus we have been implored to pick up our staff and follow. The prophets before Jesus, then Jesus himself, urged us to bear witness. So too can any person living with an advancing dementia say, "Take up your staff and follow me."
Dementia can teach us much - all of us - those living with a condition and those not at the moment. It is not new to believe that dementia can teach us. But each person's travels will be different. Where the person living with the dementia leads will take each of us down a different, although possibly similar, path. But the lessons will be unique. So let's reframe dementia into a pilgrimage. A journey into the spiritual, where we find a connection with the Other.
From Moses to Jesus we have been implored to pick up our staff and follow. The prophets before Jesus, then Jesus himself, urged us to bear witness. So too can any person living with an advancing dementia say, "Take up your staff and follow me."
Dementia can teach us much - all of us - those living with a condition and those not at the moment. It is not new to believe that dementia can teach us. But each person's travels will be different. Where the person living with the dementia leads will take each of us down a different, although possibly similar, path. But the lessons will be unique. So let's reframe dementia into a pilgrimage. A journey into the spiritual, where we find a connection with the Other.
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Read More…The confusing thing about memory
August 2022
Memory is one of those things. Memories can be pleasant and shared experiences, if you have those around you to share such occasions with you. Yet, at the same time, memories can be different for each person who was there. Memories can also be just recollections, a memory without any particular emotional association. And memories can at times bring a smile in the moment and much joy, to then bring tears, especially if the individual or individuals are no longer with us.
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Read More…Have you ever turned your back on someone?
April 2022
During this Easter season let us continue to be mindful that we do not turn our back on someone just because he or she is different, or because of cognitive or physical abilities or disabilities. We can all be guilty, if not intentionally, then unwittingly, of denying another person's existence.
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