Lesson# 5: The world is sensational!

July 14, 2012.

Learning about the diferrent ways in wich people process the sensory information they recieve every day changed my way of seeing others. I spent a while classifying everyone into "seekers", "bystanders", "avoiders" or "sensory sensitive". Although there are different theories about sensory processing, the thing that surprised me the most is the big difference that can exist between the reactions of two individuals upon receiving the same stimulus. Some can enjoy the feeling of  sand in their feet, of a very colorful room, or strong smells and flavors; while others might not even bear them.

Learning about this helped me understand better the people around me and myself. Although I scored "normal" in the sensory profile I discovered that for a lot of things I am an "avoider" and for others a "bystander". (If you have no idea of what I'm taking about, I recommend the book by Winnie Dunn: "Living Sensationally" in which she explains this in a way that anyone can understand). This topic is very broad and it goes from cell biology and neuroscience, to individualized sensory diets. However, I think the most important thing I have learned until now about the topic is that sensations and how we process them have a lot to do with our behavior and that we have to learn to have respect for those who process them differently. They are not picky or capricious, they just feel the world in a different way!

Lesson #4: Occupation = Meaning

June 18, 2012. 

Occupations have the meaning that the individual and the culture give to them. What for me can be an insignificant thing, for someone else can have a lot of value. I think this can better understood through this story a professor told us:

There was a mother that every single day had to bathe her daughter since, because of her condition, she couldn't do it herself. The OT was looking for alternatives so the girl could bathe independently and in that way alleviate the mother of one more responsibility.  But, the mother didn't want to stop bathing her daughter since for her that was the only moment of  special bonding and tranquility that they could spend together.

Since I started to understand this, I began to value more the activities that for me seem insignificant, but for others may mean their moment of peace, happiness,  release of stress or even give them life meaning. You can't be an Occupational Therapist if you don't value occupations! But, the best thing about it is that it doesn't only help you understand better you clients, it helps you understand better everyone around you :).

Lesson #3: Accepting your mistakes in public helps you grow

June 6, 2012.

At the beginning of this blog, I wanted to write the lessons in the same order I had learned them. But the truth is that it is a little difficult. I have a notebook with the titles of the lessons I want to write about in order, but sometimes (like right now) I feel more inspired to write about something more recent. Here it goes:

It is very difficult for me to accept my own mistakes. Not so much to myself as to others. Probably because of pride, fear of feeling humiliated and inferior or simply because of shame.  A lot of times we fear being judged or criticized for our mistakes. But, with time I have learned that accepting my mistakes in public is liberating. There will always be who will want to humiliate you and who will be glad that you made a mistake, but today I am convinced that accepting that I'm wrong doesn't make me inferior to others, it only shows, that as a person, I know how to grow.

Lesson #2: We are not here to judge, we are here to help.

May 9, 2012.

I started to learn about this since my first days of classes when our professors began explaining to us that we couldn't judge families since each worked in its own unique way and that it is very difficult to understand the circumstances unless you are living in them. But, it wasn't until a couple of days ago that I heard this summarized in the phrase: "We are not here to judge, we are here to help". This lesson was more significant to me during the Active Learning class, when we had a case about domestic violence. I was one of those who couldn't understand how a woman (or a man) could bear being with someone violent. I didn't understand how she could allow to be treated that way, why she wouldn't just leave? In this last case of the semester we watched a series of videos called "4 lives" in which various stories of domestic violence were presented. The one that impressed me the most was about an old couple in which the husband manipulated her wife by harming the lovebirds that she loved so much.

 I never thought how much OT could do for this battered women. I thought that my role ended in identifying the situations and informing the relevant authorities. But I'm happy to know that we can do much more; like helping them prepare an escape plan, develop the skills needed to become economically independent, money and home management, parenting skills, and more.

I always imagined that it would be difficult getting out of a violence cycle once you were in, but it wasn't until I got into those four lives that I could understand the specific reasons why getting out doesn't seem like an option. If right now I were in a situation like that, I don't know if I would have the courage to escape. Getting out means leaving everything behind, being in the uncertainty, thinking about him finding you to kill you; knowing that the protection order is just a paper and not a fort.  Without mentioning what would happen to the kids, would he kill them to?, would he take them away? Leaving means starting from scratch without knowing where to go.  It means to be free, but with a low self esteem and no apparent skills. 

I think that, as humans beings, our heads will always be going around  getting into hasty conclusions. But I also think that it is possible to get used to think like the saying in my town: "nobody knows what is in the pot, except for the one who stirs it". Only that way, we can learn  to admire the courage and resilience of others, and be always ready to help instead of judge.

Remembering my first scientific article

March 16, 2012.

It's 6:12 am, and while I make a list of about 15 references for an assignment I'm laughing remembering the first scientific article I had to read and summarize. It was on my first year of my baccalaureate in the Introduction to Biomedical Sciences class.  I remember that when they explained that part of the assignment I didn't even know what a scientific article was! The professor made us chose from several articles and I didn't have a clue of what I was doing. When I came to do the reference list it was a disaster! All those weird names and little numbers on the top of the names.....I had no idea where they came from!

It has already been 5 years, and I have already lost count of all of the scientific articles I have read, summarized and analyzed.  From hating them to death, in some point at the end of my BS I started to like them, and I even started searching in data bases for fun (yes, that worried me a little haha). But today, I want to thank my past professors, particularly the one from the Introduction to Biomedical Sciences class for introducing me to my first scientific article. 

Lesson # 1: Go back to yourself

My first reading assigned as an OT student was “Basic Awareness of Self” from Carol M. Davis. As I mentioned before, my previous studies had been in Biomedical Sciences and although I learned a lot, self-awareness wasn't one of the topics in the syllabus. In my years of High School, I did  read a lot about those topics since I enjoyed self'-help and Christian books which helped me get to know myself better and get out successfully of that identity crisis that all adolescents go through. However, self-reflection was something I had neglected while submerged in carbon molecules, cells and their receptors. Talking again about those topics was like dusting off an old book.

 I remember that the reading talked about the persona, the ego, the shadow and the self. It said that the persona was that mask that we put for society, the ego was what told us what was right and what was wrong and kept our feet on the ground; although sometimes the reality that the ego told us about ourselves was distortional and made us believe we were better or worse based on what people said. The shadow was the part that no one knew about us, and that sometimes came out unexpectedly.  Finally, the self, that was what made us unique (God, for others the "energy" within us, the connection with truth) lied beneath all those layers and it would only come out once we learn to accept ourselves just the way we are.The author tells us that since we are born, we have that connection with our true self, but when we start learning the rules of society, we start becoming more like others want us to be than what we really are. We act in the way that we think will bring us love and recognition, but deeply we know that the persona is only a mask.

I think it's important to follow the rules of society to be able to interact successfully with other people but, at the same time, I think that unconsciously we care too much about what others think about us.  That first day of class I learned (and I'm still trying to apply it to my life) that I shouldn't hide my personality or my opinions to please others. I need to worry about accepting myself first. Only that way, when I learn to respect my true self, the rest will do the same. All this relates to Occupational Therapy because only from the true self is that we can give the best care to our patients. If we live from the outside, we can take the risk of using our patients to satisfy our personals need for love and recognition, which is not ok.

“We all have the desire to be recognized  by what we are,  not by what we think others want us to be. Free from the need to be right, and the fear to be wrong"

-Carol M. Davis
 

The reading warns us that achieving this takes hard work, suffering and compromise. However, starting this journey also lifts a weight out of your shoulders. Thanks to that reflection, I have started to realize that if someone treats me badly, or doesn't accept me, it's probably not my fault.  Maybe that person is living from her/his outer emotions instead of living from her/his true self. The same thing happens when I have a hard time accepting someone else's personality. Now I can analyze if the real problem is my attitude that needs to change. It's difficult to apply this to everyday life, because our ego constantly tells us who we are based on the critics or compliments we get from others. I think that getting to the real self is an effort that lasts a lifetime. The important thing is: it's worth it.

The gain of a friend

What's left of my gift 

I want to make a stop to talk about the little chocolate interchange that my OT class group decided to make for Valentine's day. It was something really sweet, since we decided that along with the chocolates we will give our secret friend a little card or something with the positive attributes of that person. My secret friend got me 6 strawberries with chocolate and 5 kisses and in each one she put a positive characteristic about me. Some of them where: leader, responsible, creative and perseverant.We had a lot of fun at a local pizza place interchanging the chocolates and the cards that, by the way, were VERY creative! Besides the strawberries and kisses my fried gave me this quote which I would like to share:

"Each new friend that we gain in the race of life improves us and enriches us more because of what he discovers about ourselfs, that what he gives us about himself"-A.R.