Empowered Spirit

Children, just want to play, to share, to explore to question, to know, to wonder, to color. let's dig, and discover! unfolding the worlds wonders or the dust that tickles your nose. the sweet flower thrives, trees present a polychromatic array to fill our eyes, our souls, our spirits! let's explore! ask, please ask - for you are their vehicle to wonder to curiosity read, hunt, cultivate life. Discover disappointment or tragedy and sit with it. Read together, harvest tomatoes! be full.

"I'm entirely interested in people, and also other creatures and beings, but especially in people, and I tend to read them by emotional field more than anything. So I have a special interest in what they're thinking and who they are and who's hiding behind those eyes and how did he get there, and what's the story, really?" -Alice Walker

Advair is one of the most sought out medications through the Patient Assistance Program at the health centers through Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH).  Advair is used for severe asthma and COPD. According to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the pharmaceutical company who provides this medication, "once asthma control is achieved and maintained, assess the patient at regular intervals and step down therapy." My instincts say that GSK is on to something, but why is this not happening? Are the pharmaceutical companies guilty or are the physicians to blame? Aside from my personal frustrations with the pharmaceutical world, I try to err on the side of caution when interacting with our patients at the health center. A commonly used expression in our office:  "I NEED my medicine."  I'd like to believe this need is earnest, but I'm not convinced that patients haven't been brainwashed by the medical world, a world notorious for pushing meds and ingra...

I think all my peers would agree that it is a constant struggle to watch the verbal and physical abuse that exists on the public transportation system in Philadelphia. We've had many conversations about how this affects us while transporting to our host sites and how we feel hopeless in the watching. This is typically occurring from parent to child, but it also happens between two couples or among teenagers. This morning I watched a young mother drag her child up the stairs from the subway station. A child being scolded for talking or saying the wrong thing. It would be erroneous for me to assume that all of these parents are "bad parents" because of the parenting style that I've witnessed. Stress,  financial instability, and lack of support are just a few of the compiling factors that may contribute to this snap that I witness daily on transit. Aren't they doing the best they can? It's also easy to forget (especially not being a parent) that kids, while...

Gestation is fascinating. When I studied physiology during my last year at Santa Cruz, I kept finding myself drawn to the intricacies of fertilization, development, pregnancy, and birth. So, this fall I decided I was going to take a Doula course to learn more about women and babies - and how to support women prenatally, during labor, and during the 4th trimester. I have been able to learn so many incredible strategies to comfort women during this delicate process - techniques and comfort measures to physically cater to women during labor, problems or complications that should be (and are) so normalized, and ways to support during the emotional roller coaster that woman and those surrounding her encounter during this time.  We explored the needs of the mother and the child - the connection that is formed during that first moment, while the newborn is insulated with a coat of vernix, and should be placed skin-to-skin with the mama, creating an eternal bond. The antibodies and s...

I like to give. Giving feels good. Giving to others has always been a constant in my life. Sharing with siblings, serving in the community, gift giving, or giving support. Don't you? Why are we so ready to give? (Okay, maybe I should stop making assumptions that we are all ready to give, but I am noticing that it's a pattern in health and medicine). Is there an element of giving that may be a subconscious (or conscious) escape for us? A way to avoid personal confrontation or personal struggle? I give to you. This feels good. Because as a result,  you feel good. And this is a beautiful thing. However, by constantly giving our services, we tend to lose touch with our own agenda and needs. Beyond this, our services may actually be disservices if we are not mindful, whole, and self-centered. Are my services to you the best possible service (the best, in terms of what I can give - cause, of course, that's subjective) and most genuine? I've have many conversations on...

This is fun. Although suffocating on city air has its challenges,  I am overall content. I am living in a new city, across the country, away from my sweet, little nook of a town - Danville , CA. Let's not get into the politics or my feelings about Danville right now. All that matters (in regards to Danville) is that it holds some ravishing yet spunky individuals (my family, mostly) and contains a truly beautiful landscape (Hello Mt. Diablo, may you remain the mighty and triumphant mountain of 3,848' that you are...no need to mention Whitney or Shasta who triple your peak). With my undergraduate world barely a chapter in the past, Santa Cruz , CA is more of a jem in my heart. Those glorious Sequoia Sempervirens, jam sessions, and Pacific waves. More on that later. I moved to Philadelphia , PA on September 2nd, 2013. -- Philly, oh crisp winter air your colored walls, zestful mural land surround the streets, of trash and must. Quaker land, William Penn contests wandere...