Tag: vulnerability

The Art of Car Crying

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This one goes out to all the people who can’t cry at home. Whether you are trying to be brave for a loved one or just don’t have the space or privacy to cry at home, I hope this gives you some relief.

Step 1: Park your car somewhere safe, like the edge of a parking lot of a big box store or an off-season community space, such as a pool or tennis court.

Step 2: Be aware of your surroundings. If someone approaches you looking concerned – which has literally never happened to me – don’t roll down your window, just wave them on. They are obviously a carjacker.

Step 3: Let it all out. If you have trouble getting started, listening to sad music usually works. You can also try a crying playlist. This one has 118 songs. 152152149153 This means that if one doesn’t work for you, you can click next until something hits you.  I have included my favorite tear-inducing tunes below.

Step 4: You’ll know when you are done because your mind will start to wander to something unrelated, like if you have enough lettuce for dinner (don’t worry about it; no one really likes lettuce). Also, your breathing will even out.

Step 5: Take ten deep, slow breaths, counting to four as you inhale and six as you exhale.

Step 6: Carry on.

These are my top three go-to songs for crying. The first one completely wrecks me because I always think of my husband Evan. Indie, country, pop – there’s something for everyone (probably).

 

 

 

A new approach to preventing and identifying depression

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Depression is a sneaky beast. It’s the monster beneath the bed, waiting until you’re vulnerable to grab you by the ankles, drag you into its dark, misty kingdom and leave you to wander alone.

I’m just stumbling out of a two month-long bout of depression. I knew I was at risk. In fact, the entire ALS community is at risk according to an extensive list of risk factors 125 complied by the Mayo Clinic.

Chronic illness, major life changes, and stress or trauma are all risk factors for developing depression. Sound familiar? Of course, genetics plays a role, too. My family has a strong history of depression, and I am a link in the chain.

On top of understanding that I was vulnerable on multiple fronts, because this is far from my first rodeo, I know the Mayo Clinic’s official list of symptoms of depression (available here) 126 by heart.

A few symptoms most relevant to my experience are:
1. Persistent sadness
2. Lack of concentration
3. Irritability

Still, despite battling depression for over a decade, I didn’t see the beast coming or even recognized it when it took over my life. The world just grew dimmer by the day. With all of my experience, how did this happen?

I have learned that once the fog of depression envelops a person, seeing the world clearly, let alone recognizing what is happening to you, can be next to impossible. I kept a diary during this round, and looking back, it’s clear that I didn’t link my actions — the way depression manifests in me — to the symptom list.

For example, here is an excerpt from one of my diary entries: “My sadness for my husband Evan is absolutely crushing. If I really think about his situation of watching me decay, if I empathize and imagine myself in his shoes, I feel like I’m dying. Knowing he cries in the car makes me sick. Imagining I’m the one losing him is so unbearable, I end up sobbing to the point that I can’t breathe.”

Read my entire Depression Diary127 if you would like to gain a more concrete understanding and my experience living through a depressive episode.

I knew I felt sad, but even though these fits of crying happened several times a day (meaning my sadness was clearly persistent), it just didn’t occur to me that my feelings weren’t landing in the normal range of human emotion. To learn more about the difference between sadness and depression, click here128 to read Guy Winch’s article “The important difference between sadness and depression… And why so many people get it wrong.”

After a few weeks, I was in agony. I felt like some dark, toxic thing was gnawing through my chest. I have felt like this before — many, many times. However, it wasn’t until my concerned doctor made a house call after I kept canceling appointments that I realized I wasn’t just experiencing difficult emotions. Rather, I was sick and need to be treated. She pointed out that since I was already on antidepressants, a small increase in dose could have me feeling better quickly. Now, I am well enough to reconsider my treatment plan, and I have decided I could benefit from therapy.

My story looks like it will have a happy ending, but there was so much needless suffering along the way. Plus, if my doctor hadn’t come to me, I would still be wandering in the fog of depression, unable to see the landmarks that told me where I was. Knowing that everyone in the ALS community is at risk for depression, I propose a different way to go about identifying and, subsequently, seeking treatment for this disease. Rather than relying on self-insight when our vision is at its most blurry, let’s learn to watch out for each other.

People living with ALS125129, family members, and caregivers should become well-versed in the entire list of symptoms, because each person may have a different set of symptoms. One doesn’t actually even have to be sad to have depression. They may oversleep, gain weight, and lose interest in work and hobbies. If we are all aware of the different ways depression can manifest, we will know that sudden, dramatic changes in behavior may be due to a sicknesses that needs to be treated as soon as possible.

Every day, we fight an epic battle against ALS. If we have any hope of achieving a high quality of life in the midst of this struggle, we need to keep our minds mighty and well. As in every aspect of this war, we can only succeed if we watch over each other.

This piece was originally published by ALS News Today in my mental health column, “The Mighty Mind.” In my next column with ALS News Today, I will discuss different types of treatment options for depression

My Depression Diary

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Trigger Warning!

Forward:
When just over a month ago I sensed that my mind was changing, I was overcome with a frenzied need to record everything I thought and felt. Even before I understood that I was depressed, I realized I was going somewhere that outsiders could never truly visit. I became consumed by the need to write a message from the inside that could maybe serve as a map or even just a sign that says “Keep Out! Here Be Dragons!”

Not so long ago, sharing my diary with strangers online never entered my mind, not even in my worst nightmares or wildest dreams. It was that impossible. However, that was before ALS. The same rules – even my own most personal code – no longer apply. I am braver because I am a soldier now. I take risks because that’s how you fight. This way, even if I die before the cure comes (and it will come), I’ll go knowing I made the path less lonely for my fellow soldiers and just a little easier for those who come after me.

I didn’t sign up for this war, but my enemy means to kill me, so I must give everything I have and am in this fight. Privacy is a luxury long gone. I will share my most secret thoughts and vulnerable moments in service of my fellow soldiers and the people who make my life worth fighting for. Right now, that means showing you what it’s like inside the beast that senses we are battle worn and easy prey. My hope is that if you read my diary and recognize yourself or a loved one in these words, you will realize it’s time to call for reinforcements, whether in the form of a psychiatrist who prescribes antidepressants, a therapist who talks you through the climb out of the pit, or a priest or pastor who provides solace and guidance.

To learn more about preventing and identifying depression, read my ALS News Today column12212627122128. I will share a follow-up post in the next few weeks on different types of intervention and how to choose which is right for you.

Now brace yourself. We’re going in.

Entry 1:

I am choking on the strength of this episode. It wraps ever tighter around my throat, just like his hands. As I write this, I am sitting in bed, watching a funny show while checking my email, text messages, and Facebook notifications. It is the middle of the night, a time of terror for me, so I need the safety of the blue electronic light of my devices. I bask in the glow, then I drown my thoughts in sitcom banter and a whirlwind of multitasking.

Burying my dark thoughts is a high stakes game; if I don’t use the right maneuvers, the shadows win. No matter how scared I am now, it is nothing compared to how I will feel if the memories creep in. The memories open the floodgates of flashbacks, which will sweep me far away and back in time to that room where I was raped and nearly murdered.

I escaped with my life, but certain parts of me died there, namely the part that believed no one would ever hurt me. Well, actually I had never really considered that I could be a story on the news as easily as any other human. I held myself apart in the way we all must to some degree if we want to function in the world. Dwelling on our abject vulnerability would reduce us to terrified shells of ourselves.

Like me.

Entry 2:

I can’t close my eyes in the dark. I can no longer write, I can’t focus on reading. All I can do is mindlessly watch TV. I am afraid to sleep because I want to remain vigilant, and I know nightmares are waiting for me. I am resuming therapy, or at least that’s what I tell myself, but I am desperate for a quick fix. I know that no miracle pill exists to give me relief, but I have been living with PTSD for eleven years, never knowing when it will become active and derail my life. I’m exhausted.

Entry 3:

Thinking about “the event” again. I guess writing “rape and attempted murder” became too clunky since I keep doing it again and again. I wish there was a word for that crime.

Here’s something weird: I had actually been in that room before. It had a great view of the Gulf of Finland, so I took a picture. I put in black and white because I thought it made the photo look artsy. During “the event,” I turned my head so I was looking out the window at that same view. I remember making that choice because I wanted to escape my body. Maybe I succeeded because when I look back, I can only remember the black and white photo. The memory lacks color and sound. In fact, that whole night remains in perfect silence, as if I stepped into the photo because inhabiting my skin was that unbearable.

I also sensed if I looked up, I would not survive. I couldn’t articulate it then, but in hindsight, I realized that it I were to look, I would have to confront what he was doing, and I didn’t want that image in my head. If I looked at him, the image would take over my brain like a fungus I saw on a nature show. The fungus commandeers the ant so that it becomes disoriented, out of touch with reality and its purpose. Ultimately, its new biological imperative is no longer survival. It follows the final orders of the sadist in charge by climbing as high as it can. Then, when the ant is paralyzed by vertigo and weakness, it gives in. The fungus cracks the ant and blossoms, sending its spores far and wide, aided by its victim’s lofty position.

Summary: if I looked up him, the images would have devoured my mind until I forgot who and why I was, creating so much pain that suicide started to look attractive.

That kinda happened anyway, though…

Entry 4:

My doctor came to see me. I can’t believe that I didn’t realize what’s going on until she talked to me. It is classic crying, lack of interest in anything, wanting to stay in bed depression. It is not the most severe I’ve had. On a scale of one being fine and ten being suicidal in the mental hospital (true story), it’s a five.

The PTSD fuels the depression by isolating me. I’m so mad at myself. I want to be stronger and fight this off with logic, but everything is scary. It makes me think of Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. There’s a great quote when Grace says something like, “Quilts are so bright like war flags, I think we put them on beds so you take notice. You see the warning that the bed is a most dangerous place.”

That’s how I feel when I get in bed. I still feel the danger of a crime long since committed against me, so I stay awake on guard all night. When dawn comes, I finally surrender to sleep. The end result of all this fear and hyper-vigilance is loneliness. I am only awake when my friends, family, and beloved husband are asleep. I want to have friends over, go write in the beautiful library, and spend awe-filled hours in the art museum. I perpetuate my isolation by refusing to reach out to them.

I also play this game where I don’t contact them and then wait to see how long it takes for them to contact me. The longer it takes for them to contact me, the less they obviously care about me. It’s a shitty game, but I can’t stop playing.

Entry 5:

I feel like a raw nerve in pain after any interaction. I wish I could read substantial books. My intellectual hunger still rages (a good sign), but my concentration is too poor to make it through even the first page of any appealing titles.

Also, lately the library doesn’t have e-book versions of what I want, and I took this REALLY personally. I reacted as though this was a commentary on how little society values me as a disabled person. I am hung up on that anyway because of all the times President Trump has negated the value of the people with disabilities. From mockery to attempts to gut Medicaid and defund ALS research… I don’t want to let him me this way. It’s just that everything hurts me more now that I am depressed.

Entry 6:

I am starting to think this is happening because I am repressing sadness, which is a pattern for me, which I discussed in the post “Leaves in My River, Stars in My Sky123127128123129.” I mean, the major thing that I have been crushing for years is sadness for Evan. If I really think about his situation of watching me slowly crumble, if I empathize and imagine myself in his shoes, I feel like I’m dying in a way ALS has never achieved. Knowing he cries in the car makes me sick. I sob hysterically until I can’t breathe. Imagining I’m the one crying in the car because I am losing him is unbearable, and I am grateful that I am the one who has ALS.

Entry 7:

Evan says to go easy on myself. Getting frustrated with myself does great harm and zero good. I can’t berate myself into ending the episode. I guess it’s time to learn to show myself the compassion I apparently think everyone but me deserves. After all, if I am not on my own team when I’m at my weakest, how will I fight my way through this? I know that logically. Now I have to figure out how to live that truth.

Wish me luck. I need it.

Unabridged: “Is Your Doctor Hurting Your Mental Health? Why You Need an Emotionally Intelligent Doctor and How to Find One”

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If you are anything like me, you do a little research before choosing a doctor. Patients can easily learn about the traditional aspects of their doctor’s qualifications, such as the college they attended, years practicing, and awards earned, with a simple Internet search. However, it’s quite a bit harder to get a feel for a doctor’s emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to think and gather information about emotions, and then to use that information to achieve goals. Goals may include managing one’s own or others’ emotions, like staying calm, cheering someone up, or deciding how to share important news.

Whether or not your doctor practices emotional intelligence will make an enormous impact on the quality of your care and mental health. At best, a doctor lacking emotional intelligence can make you feel unheard, unimportant, or confused. At worst, you may end up feeling completely devalued or even traumatized.

Let’s travel back in time one week. Zoom in on me lying on the table in the OR. Right away, things started going wrong. I stayed on the table for a half hour while nurses darted around me like frightened birds, trying to find out where the surgeon was through every phone and pager in the room. One nurse even ran out into the hall to ask random people the question on everyone’s lips: “Where is Jeff?” I knew the instant he finally arrived because he owned that room. Even though my face was covered, I could feel him walk towards me, the nurses falling silent as he passed. He never paused his diatribe about paperwork and how he refuses to do another page today. He didn’t even stop when he put his hands on me. I remember thinking, he should see my face, speak my name, explain the procedure to me, anything to indicate that he knew he was touching a sentient, feeling being. That’s what an emotionally intelligent doctor would do. When he touched me, I felt like a piece of meat.

Next, the team couldn’t sedate me because of my low blood pressure. I was paralyzed when I heard this. That’s right, heard as in, overheard. No one said, “Your blood pressure is pretty low. Has this ever happened before?” No one said, “If we do this procedure right now, you won’t be able to have a sedative. How do you feel about proceeding?” Taking care of a patient means approaching him or her with empathy. A cornerstone of emotional intelligence, empathy consists of admitting ignorance about a person’s inner life and taking steps to remedy that ignorance by asking questions and imagining a different perspective. However, Dr. Jeff was too busy ranting about his least favorite nurses and why they should get fired to address me, much less ask for my opinion.

The team gave me Lidocaine, which didn’t cut it – pun intended. Apparently, Dr. Jeff remembered he was operating on a person because he finally spoke to me: “You are going to feel just a little pressure here.” I braced myself. Then, a fire alarm went off in my brain, screeching, “Sharp! Sharp! Sharp!” as red strobe lights blinded me. I cried out when I felt the blade going in and out of my skin.

“You are going to feel pressure, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Dr. Jeff patronized. Did he forget I was not sedated?

The next thing I heard was, “Wow, she is bleeding all over the place.” This is not what you want to hear immediately after someone slices your jugular. It seems that one of my medications contains an anticoagulant. At that point, an emotionally intelligent doctor would have addressed me to manage my emotional experience of the surgery and reassure me. You probably know Dr. Jeff well enough by now to realize that this didn’t happen. In fact, after he closed the artery, he joked, “Now don’t go repeating anything you heard in here.” Naturally, I interpreted this comment to mean, “Hey, Right Shoulder and Side Neck, thanks for being such a good sport. Feel free to publish this experience as a non-example in your article on emotional intelligence in ALS News Today.” So here we are.

Apparently, a lot went right with the surgery. The results were exactly as hoped for. Still, imagine my surprise when I returned to my room to find my mother and husband smiling. They squeezed my hand, kissed my forehead, and told me how brave I was. “The surgeon stopped by and said that the procedure was a success!” my mom said.

It was then that I started to cry. The experience of being helpless to pain and violence dragged me back eleven years to the night I was nearly murdered. My PTSD symptoms flared to life; anxiety and depression crept in, first through nightmares, then into my waking life. I kept thinking about how different my mental state would be if Jeff had just spoken to me. I remembered how my would-be killer barely spoke to me, either. Why would he? I was meat to him, too.

How does the term “medical success” not take patient experience into account? Answer: when the success is being described by a doctor who shows zero emotional intelligence. No one deserves this treatment, especially not those made vulnerable by disease. Emotional intelligence in doctors is an absolute must, just as vital as the medical degree that allows them the privilege of being in the room with you.

Lucky for me, the doctor I see most frequently, a neurologist named Dr. Goslin, is an expert at practicing emotional intelligence. From the moment I stepped into her office, I felt like I was the most important person in the world to her. She wanted to know all about me, way beyond my ALS story. In fact, she knows as much about me as some of my friends do. The day I met her, all she wanted to do was listen. Then, she asked me about my emotional state and medical goals. I told her I felt positive, ready to fight, and I wanted to survive this terminal, currently uncured disease.

Her response? “I think that’s a great goal, and with the way research is going we definitely have reason to hope.” I knew what I had said would be laughable to many people, but she managed to respect my feelings without making me promises she couldn’t deliver. That conversation set the tone for every future interaction we had. We follow a treatment plan that focuses on the goal of survival by staying ahead of the disease and minimizing its strain on my body while I wait for the cure. Dr. Goslin used emotional intelligence to learn about me and achieve her goal of designing a treatment plan for me, not just my disease. Now every time I see her, I feel empowered. She is an important part of keeping my mind healthy.

When I decided to write about how the emotional intelligence of doctors can affect a patient’s mental health, I asked Dr. Goslin if I could interview her. She agreed with enthusiasm.

At the beginning of the interview, she said, “I think that emotional intelligence as you have defined it is one of the most important aspects of being a good clinician. Acknowledgement of the importance of emotions is part of treating the whole person and not just the disease. [However], my medical training did not address this aspect of care at all.  There wasn’t any acknowledgement of the importance of emotions (of the patient or of the self) in caring for patients.”

Well, that explains Dr. Jeff, but what about Dr. Goslin? Where did she learn about emotional intelligence and how to practice it?

“I have attended various educational meetings regarding awareness of this topic, particularly based on mindfulness, meditation, and being in the moment. It is definitely something that I cultivate,” Dr. Goslin said.

She went on to explain, “A lot of emotional intelligence comes from experience and a willingness to be open to emotions, both mine and others. When emotions arise that would typically be unpleasant or uncomfortable I tend to allow them to flow over me, and I sit with them, without actually judging them as negative. I then use awareness of the emotions to help determine what the patient finds most important to have addressed and how best to do this.”

Being a doctor who practices emotional intelligence sounds difficult, even draining, but Dr. Goslin can’t imagine treating her patients without interacting with their emotions. “I believe that patients’ emotional response to disease and to their care factors heavily into how effectively they can be treated. Fear and anger are two common emotions that occur in the setting of illness and that can impede medical treatment. Often when a doctor can recognize and address these emotions, road blocks to treatment can be removed.”

“How does practicing emotional intelligence affect you on a personal level? Is it challenging?” I asked.

“I think that emotional intelligence sometimes allows me to have a closer relationship with patients, which can make my sorrow for the patients more extreme. It is also important but sometimes difficult to recognize my own emotions and not let them interfere with patient care. For example, before going into a room to give a patient a diagnosis of ALS, I might be feeling fear and anxiety about how the patient will accept the diagnosis and how well I will be able to respond to the intensity of emotions that are likely. I have to control these emotions so that the patient can be the appropriate center of focus.”

When I asked her what emotional intelligence brings to the table when dealing with a terminal disease like ALS, she answered with the optimism that is perhaps her defining characteristic: “While ALS is terminal, it is not without treatment and hope. I think that use of emotional intelligence results in a closer patient doctor relationship and builds a level of trust and openness. I hope that the positive emotions that I bring to treating diseases (even terminal ones), increases the likelihood that patients will also have positive emotions.”

So, how can you find the emotionally intelligent doctor you need and deserve to keep your mind mighty? Dr. Goslin, of course, has the answer. “In some ways, I think the web based assessments of doctors can reflect their emotional intelligence because I believe that patients have greater satisfaction when treated by a doctor with emotional intelligence. Of course these assessments can be also be done by patients who are unhappy with a doctor for  unrelated reasons, like the doctor wouldn’t prescribe narcotics.”

Keeping that caveat in mind, I recommend using the following free sites for finding reviews: healthgrades, RateMDs, Yelp, and Zocdoc. Once you have a list of a few you like, you can call each doctor’s office or sometimes even email the doctor directly to ask if he or she follows what I call “The Goslin Equation:” mindfulness + meditation.

Need help planning what to say during your phone call or in your email? Check out this script:

“I am interested in working with a doctor who practices emotional intelligence. How is emotional intelligence part of the way you treat patients? Can you tell me if you have had any mindfulness or meditation training?”

Now go get the fantastic care you deserve!

Abridged version originally published by ALS News Today on October 2, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

Writing Through It

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Ever since Donald Trump won the election, I am a stranger in a strange land. For our next leader, my country chose a man who personifies rape culture. My PTSD from when I was sexually assaulted is already severe because of him. Listening to him for the next four years and knowing he has power over me will make it worse. Plus, Trump wants to slash the health care legislation that allows me to receive wonderful treatment. Without my current insurance, my medical expenses are $200,000 per year. Things could get really bad. My sister has already offered to sell a kidney and her eggs if I lose my coverage.

I hang onto my sanity by writing through the madness. I now have the privilege of writing regularly for The Huffington Post and am currently composing an essay on Portland’s post-election protests and riots. Working on this piece has been an emotional process. It forces me to sort through my heartbreak. It challenges me to experience the election and protests in a way that aligns with one of my core values: choose hope over fear.

Fear’s long, dark fingers are already trailing down my back, though. They tug at me persistently. Giving in would be so easy, it would almost be a relief. But then I think back to that stream, the one that carries my emotions like leaves. There are many leaves in the stream. I picked up fear, but I can put it back in the water and watch it drift away. Maybe this is how I’ll choose hope: by opening my fists and letting everything else go.

“All your darkest sorrows, did you ever just give them back?” – Stevie Nicks, “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You?”

 

Wheels

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My enunciation is getting rough. The letter “s” is my particular nemesis. I slur and lisp so badly, I have stopped using plural forms, and I avoid contractions. This afternoon, though, my sloppy “s” saved the day.

By 4:00, it felt like everything that could go wrong had already happened. A scheduling error left me without a caregiver, Pickle threw up after eating too much of the food that our parrot Jasper enjoys tossing to him, and the taxi I had booked way in advance never arrived to take me to a doctor appointment.

However, I didn’t want to end the day this way. I simply refused to let the sun set on this note. You see, I have a mindset that has led to me being labelled naive and unrealistic, but I can’t seem to shake it. I suffer from a relentless optimism, a belief that it is never too late for things to get better. Maybe that really does make me naive, but I like to describe myself with such words as “resilient,” “resourceful,” and “dauntless” instead.

Consequently, when my new cab arrived bearing a kindred spirit, I was delighted but not surprised. Every day holds some shred of happiness if only you remember to look for it. Doju, my driver, also had a rough start to his day. The cab he usually drove was out of commission, so his boss saddled him with the taxi outfitted as a wheelchair van… a vehicle full of equipment Doju had never seen before.

Anxious not to mislead me, as soon as he parked at the curb, he confessed, “I’ve never worked with a wheelchair van. I don’t know exactly what to do.” His anxiety aggravated his speech impediment, and I could tell he was now embarrassed on multiple fronts.

“That’s OK,” I replied, not bothering to hide my slur over the contraction; you have to be willing to give if you’re going to get anywhere important. “Let’s figure it out together.”

And we did. Rather quickly.

We fell right into conversation once we hit the road. His stutter grew less pronounced as I waited with patience to hear him out. He got the hang of my own impediment, and then it was easy to talk and listen. We shared chocolate chip cookies I had in my purse (welcome to my life in the Clinic weight maintenance program; must love calories), and relaxed into one another’s company. It ends up Doju has a wicked sense of humor.

“Rachel, you are just great. Here’s my card. Call anytime,” he said.

“You are so sweet!” I replied, taking his card.

“Oh, no, you misunderstand,” he grinned. “You may call me anytime, but I never promised to answer. I think I will see your number fill my call log and just click delete, delete, delete…”

It ends up both stuttering and slurring disappear in laughter.

Stuck in traffic, I learned he had been born in Tibet, but was whisked away so quickly to a safer patch of earth that he cannot remember his home. Despite this, and knowing he can never return, he chose not to tell his story as a sad one. Instead, the tale he shared was about love and accepting loss. I was amazed, not for the first time, at how deeply our most distant brothers and sisters can speak the language of our own messy hearts.

Traffic crawled, and I knew I would miss my appointment by a half hour, but the day was still salvaged in my eyes. As we sat on the glimmering hot road, Doju marveled at the brilliant sunshine after such a rainy spring. I pointed out the riot of colorful flowers spilling out of gardens lining the street.

There were so many words neither of us could manage to say, but still, we chose to speak to each other. We chose to see roses.

Don’t Talk-A-Thon: Part 3

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“You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet” – Franz Kafka.

Those of you who participated in the Don’t Talk-A-Thon are sharing such a wide variety of stories with me. I must thank you again for being both involved and open about your experience. Like any well-designed activity that includes thoughtful people, the results were not entirely what we expected. I heard two main opinions of the hour of silence.

First, the most predictable and popular opinion: silence is uncomfortable! I know this is what I expected to hear, and I imagine the event organizers did as well. Being silent in a checkout line when a clerk is asking questions and you are fumbling for your credit card is awkward to say the least; you can practically hear people behind you wondering what is wrong with you. Or when you see your dog eating garbage and you are too weak to stop him and unable to call to your husband in the next room… that’s enough to make a person panic. Believe me. I’ve been there. Forced, unbreakable silence makes you dependent faster than you can imagine. Your position shifts to observer rather than actor in your own life, especially in a culture that values talking incessantly, quickly, and loudly. In conclusion, silence sucks.

This brings me to the second opinion of the hour of silence, the one that caught me off guard: there is peace in silence; why don’t we embrace it more often?

I know I said that I no longer find peace in silence, largely because choosing when to be silent is a luxury I hate losing. It makes every silence a tiny prison. Still, when a friend wrote the following, her words resonated with me the more I thought about them:

I’m silent a lot of time, between reading, writing and gardening. I wish we lived in a culture that didn’t value talking, incessant talking, so much. It’d be easier to hear what matters.

My first, sleep-deprived, frantic thought was, “This is not about gardening! It’s about my life!” I wrote back to her in what she would probably generously call a snappy tone.

And that’s the thing that got me thinking in those guilty minutes after clicking send… My friend is generous, and wise, and infinitely kind. Her ideas have always been worth hearing, her words respectful, so what was I missing?

I read her note once more and remembered her passion for gardening. Whether she is working alone or with family, it is clear she is most in her element when quietly nurturing precious little things. She’s got wit and sass – plenty of it – but she knows the value of balance. She understands what Franz Kafka meant when he said the world will unfold for those who wait for it quietly. However joyful a chatty dinner with friends can be, revelation and wonder don’t live there. They live in sitting side by side watching a sunset together, letting yourself feel deeply in another’s presence.

This is such an important reminder for both pALS and their loved ones. Those of us with ALS who are losing our speech will continue learning new ways to “talk” and asking for better technologies to give us our voices, but healthy people will always talk faster and louder than we can manage. We will still be in an endless race to keep up. So maybe, every once in a while, give us a rest. Take us to your garden. Put our stiff, curled hands in soil, and for once, let our breaking bodies be a part of creation. Join us every now and then in the silence until we forget to think of it as a cage. After all, the greatest, freest things are silent…

“See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” – Mother Theresa

Love and Dirty Dishes

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It’s scary to show people just how sick I am. I let visits go way too long to avoid cutting people off or kicking them out, then end up exhausted with worse speech than ever the entire next day. I feel so guilty cancelling plans; after I do it enough times, I am sure I’ve become too unreliable to deal with. There are some people, though, worth being vulnerable for if it means keeping a friendship going and growing. They make it safe to be weak.

I knew I was feeling awful when I agreed to a cooking date with my friend Brandi last night, but I had already cancelled on her a few times and I hadn’t seen her in 2 weeks – the longest we’ve ever been apart since meeting last year. She came in, hugged me, got to work chopping, and I reclined my wheelchair while she updated me on her latest adventures. I ultimately could not eat the amazing food she made, but that was fine. We talked about books and listened to music while I dozed on and off.

Part of me hated that she was seeing me droop in my chair like a wilting flower too weak to speak, but the part of me worth listening to focused on the sounds of dishes gently clinking in the sink as she tidied up. It was so normal. This is my new normal. I am not the one washing dishes anymore, and I feel some shame over that. However, I have learned there is beauty in vulnerability. I know now that love can sound like familiar, gentle hands scouring a dirty pot.

Brandi, this song is for you.

woman-woman

Woman, Woman by AWOLNATION