If you are so moved, make time to connect by phone, zoom or in person with a friend or family... on Tuesday June 16th, 2020 in memory of our late teen son Kaelan Palmer Paton
One of the groups I am fortunate to have found and joined in a few sessions with in person about 5 years ago is growing strong in the tri-corner area. They are having some zoom meetings to replace the in-person ones and help each other with projects along the way as they can whether cheering or challenging one another as a person requests. Getting help with chores, childcare, moving, cooking and cleaning, applying for jobs and celebrating milestones.
There may be ways to team up for more involved efforts of helping someone who is sick or in need of support even with facing the loss of someone or their own terminal condition has all been part of the network's 'additionaI helping one another.' While many of these kinds of things unfold in the course of being community, relatives, friends, members of a faith group or other program, some are more 'homegrown organic' efforts.
With technology, meal trains and fundraising can happen more readily. With CV 19 everyone in the country has experienced the challenge of being asked to help others or needing to request help 'in case something happens.
That's happening again with the collective concern about injustice and racism, police brutality and protocol that allowed for leeway and severe misconduct and criminal behavior to occur. Losing one's job is not the same as someone losing their life, and the call for reform, reparations even and justice moving forward is coming to a peak.
Now is the time to speak, bravely and earnestly and as not only 'one person' but as one of many and the greater whole. Together we can evolve with love. These are difficult themes and times, yet not that different from what has unfolded over many generations. Now we can decipher ways to Make a Different Choice and Stay United with One Voice.
Here are some comments I shared with the group I was part of that is still meeting online and will focus on the #BlackLivesMatters issues, and ways for people of privilege to reflect on their own experiences and insights, hopes and ways to bring matters into balance in their own lives and communities and the wider forums as well.
I shared some reflections with that group on Facebook about what this time also means to me...and am thinking of meaningful yet practical ways for people to consider the gift of love that's ours to give in how we die and in how we live.
Some of that statement may speak to how we care for ourselves if we become terminally ill or injured badly. Would we want to push through with maintaining our life force even if our body and ability to think or talk were largely impaired? Making such decisions in advance to ease the worry and give guidance to family, medical or social contacts can be done with free online forms from one's state or MyDirectives.com which will be securely stored online for easier access. I am learning a lot about that aspect of life which has been in the shadows of our modern society but is clearly becoming more acceptable if not necessary to address candidly and with care.
Options to be an organ or tissue donor are worth exploring and may be listed as TBD, To Be Determined. It may be worth seeing Institute of Healthcare Directives or ihd.org for more information about how well medical orders are understood and followed and what can be done to clarify them, ideally speaking with a medical professional about options and terms.
These are not everyday talks but may occur to 'anyone, anywhere' and having a few important talks and naming a healthcare representative can ease the way for important decisions to be weighed in directly by a person or someone that will advocate for them, considering that the medical community has its own standards and doctors and nurses are people 'doing their best based on their training' but can be fallible.
There are many other posts on this Livfully.org blog so feel free to take your time over the course of the seasons to explore what the last 7 years or so have held for me and many that I share. Meanwhile as this Tuesday, June 16th, 2020 rolls around, please take a half hour or so to really connect with someone or even by yourself with a greater appreciation for the gift of life and ways to help yourself and others in a balanced way.
Forgiveness, healing, advocacy and accountability can keep a lot of progress growing on many fronts. Thanks for doing your part and considering also tuning in to part of all of the memorial service (even skimming through the 10 minute segments for instance) that was held for Kaelan (Palmer) Paton in July 2009, about a month after his passing when saving his friends with rescuer Skip Kosciusko's skillful rope maneuver, coming down from on high for the third friend from the Housatonic River in Salisbury and Falls Village Ct.
My late teen son Kaelan crossed over on Tues. June 16, 2009 so this is a week I'm especially holding him and our community in my prayers...and even advocacy since summer and kids out and about can mean 'things happen' that ideally could be avoided with better plans and agreements to follow them. I'd be happy to have a call or zoom with anyone who may be interested for a half hour on Tuesday at 2pm.
Sputhern Berkshire Toastmasters(which someone may join online as a guest or new member which we'd benefit from having as a group, let me know) meets that day from 11:30-1pm and I had been there that day 11 year ago, so it's rather 'coming full cycle'.
.I had been home by 2pm that day and he passed by about 3pm just a mile from where I lived, with his friends and all having some fun at the very high falls (which had strong undertows even down river a bit and along the edge that looked rather calm at times.)
So I mention that to allow us all to ponder that we ways we can fine tune (as many of do on most fronts) to avoid the 'unseen dangers' and ways to plan for a better overall experience in life. Many of these themes are being explored in the #BLM and even CV19 concerns.
Reverencing the enormity of the losses and stress of CV and historically and currently from racism, slavery and worse are huge areas we are facing as a nation and world.
Women and children also need special consideration at every turn since there is growing evidence that the power structure has harmed women (including protective Moms seeking safety for themselves and their children in custody or divorce matters.)
It helps to know there are hundreds of advocates but that they are all doing a great deal 'on their own nickel' and often at great risk. Black Women in SC for instance are 10x more at risk to be killed in Domestic Violence cases. Coercive Control is being acknowledged in England, but Trump has rolled back a lot of the level of criminal DV to be based on physical harm.
These kinds of injustices were the kind that worried my son since his childhood, whether people or the planet were in peril (and the combo of climate change was perplexing as well.)
That and 5G which may 'fry us from the inside, harming our lungs and brains...two of my favorite pairs of body parts...are the biggest bully type issues we need to face.
But getting fired up about one thing can help us emerge and see (during the emergencies and for years to come, should we get that time with a good planet to work with.)
Okay, I realize this is a bit Heavy Duty...but it seems our duty to pay closer attention to all this jazz And even to stay inspired about healing in amazing ways (not often covered in the mainstream media save for in a movie or sci-fit talk.)
Hope that wasn't WTM, way too much... so again, feel free to take time to check on someone or enjoy time alone for a half hour or more at 2pm on Tuesday 6/16...and again at 7pm for those who'd like to reflect 'collectively apart' in the evening... )
Many thanks to all connecting tonight... it'd be nice if someone could take notes and share some of the ideas anonymously etc but maybe that's not how the guidelines work..no worries. We'll all hear a lot to keep us going I'm sure. By the way my phone to text or say hello anytime (and get a walk in on our nice road and see my garden...and brainstorm ways to get more positive outreach and networking energy in the northwest corner of CT and into Dutchess County with informal outreaches and so on..
Many may need help planning ways to collaborate on projects and help others too, and get a car by the way... I didn't have a car back in the summer of 2009 either so in a way it's a kind of 'reset' that way too...with much of the world still on slow-mo so it kind of works for me...
