Do I have a philosophy of caregiving? No! Philosophers have time to philosophize.
At best I’m guided by an ever evolving kind of “gumbo metaphysics”. I grab snippets from here and there that inspire me and throw them in to simmer. I DO NOT understand more than I will ever understand. Some ideals are inconsistent or even in contradiction if viewed separately. However when simmered together that resulting “gumbo metaphysics” has guided my wandering through the years of spousal caregiving and parenting that resulted from living with Multiple Sclerosis in our family.
I’ll try to make the time to jot down the current recipe in another entry.
Have a good week:)
ReplyDeleteDeb
Gumbo metaphysics... hmmmm... okay, that sounds like a good name for it. Certainly you must share the recipe... many novice "cooks" out there looking for that one special recipe! <grin> You are writing a book, aren't you? Have you published in a magazine? Let me know... I'd love to read an essay you have written on the subject of caregiving. Even if it is particularly in reference to MS. My interest stems from the fact that my mother is 72 years old. She won't let her children take care of her. Yet. She doesn't need that level of care. Yet. Part of caregiving, I think, is being allowed to take care of another. That step has to be made.
ReplyDeleteI think I do the same (generating a philosophy) in the teaching profession. Sometimes all the theories and the pedagogies, methods, and research driven practices surround me and make me dizzy. So much knowledge about what we should do and how we should do it. Then I wake up in the morning, reaching for something that makes me "feel" like I understand my place. Often it comes in the form of phrases and passages from others who have lead, from the wisest of our teachers, including Jesus, Ghandi, a president, a Pulitzer writer, or someone closer to home, a colleague, my pastor, my neighbor, my husband or son. Snippets, like you said... I grasp them, and hold them in my heart and my mind to help me make sense of the world I work in and walk through.
interesting thought; philosophy of caregiving - it needs to be done so you do it? with love and compassion and kindness?
ReplyDeletebetty