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Purpose redefined

By Amy Nielsen

I spent the weekend away from all things reality in the land of Faeries among dear, far flung friends in a land we lived in a lifetime ago.

To do so, I had to complete all of last week’s assignments for my master’s program by Thursday morning. Pushing through the early mornings and late nights afforded me the peace of mind and freedom of spirit to truly enjoy myself. This weekend away happened to coincide with my midterm exams this week.

I needed the brain break.

I love to drive. If you have followed my blog for any time at all, you know this. It is my most creative time. This trip included a long drive along a well-worn route following ancient trails laid down by our First Nations Peoples from the northern edge of the Chesapeake watershed down the tributaries in valleys bordered by greystone cliffs to its very heart in the fertile fields above the Washington basin. It is one of my most favorite drives along the eastern bones of our land.

I left the house still reeling from the massive brain dump of information I had typed in the preceding 72 hours. I had most recently completed a short supported blog post for my Principles of Complementary and Integrative Health class (CIH) covering how my background contributes to creating sustainable change in our immediate community’s health outcomes.

Talk about right up my alley! The day before I had been to the neighboring counties Healthy County Summit discussing current and planned health initiatives. I was surprised at how few truly CIH options were offered. The vast majority of options were strictly biomedical and largely hospital based. Because they had to have evidence based measurable metrics to present to the insurance company paying for the free services they are adding to the wellness plans.

As the only truly Complementary and Integrative Health practitioner in the room, I was struck by the opportunities knocking at my door. The conference, then the following assignment got my brain working and turning as the wheels under my feet crunched down the miles.

How could I create a collation of both biomedical and CIH practitioners that could address the whole sphere of our community, body, mind, and spirit.

As I drove I started to compile a list of people I would have sit down in a room together. As I imagined the scene, those mid-nineteenth-century literary lunches came to mind. I have no idea how to get them all in a room and comfortable enough to discuss the possibility of bridging the barriers to create a culture of wellness that includes CIH approaches on par with the biomedical ones. Some of the largest hospitals in the world now have truly evidence based, licensed or credentialed, complementary and integrative teams working along-side biomedical teams seeing better outcomes in a much more measured setting than we have ever had access to before. It is possible to do successfully and cost effectively.

So maybe I should do that. I mean, get them all in a room. I think first I need to cast a large net and talk to a whole whack load more people. I’m new to the area. I’m new to this soapbox. I am still a student in so many ways. So I know I need to tread lightly, listen deeply, and see where the trails have been laid before. There are other newbies to the community like me who are equally gung ho and full of vim and vinegar to build up this place we have come to love, but we need not only the support but also the grace of the spirit of this place to build anew on the deep bones already here.

So now I have a redefined purpose, thanks to a tight schedule, too little sleep, much faerie magic, and a few thousand miles. I have part of a list of people to sit down with to start spreading the intention around. Once the seeds are sewn, I’ll be able to tend them for a bit as I develop my own skill set to match the eventual task I am creating.

 

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