I was working in the Palliative Care Unit at Vanderbilt when the pandemic hit. Palliative Care is a specialty in medical care that focuses on treating the symptoms of a disease that cannot be cured. Sometimes it leads straight into end of life care in a short period of time. I had been doing this work for the past 7 years and found it rewarding and that it was my calling.
Read MoreWhether I am playing or experiencing it, music always continues to enrich my life. I consider it a gift to be able to step onto a stage and forget about everything except for the task at hand. I always receive back ten-fold what I put out into the environment as a performer. It is a shot of adrenaline to my spirit that I am always grateful to experience. It truly is magical.
Read MoreI was on the way to work a night shift when I learned I had ‘a cancer’ in my breast. I really thought it was the hospital calling to tell me I had to float to another unit or that we were overstaffed or something, but it turned out to be the results of a recent biopsy I’d had. Of course, having the biopsy alerted me to the possibility of such a situation but I had tucked it away as something I’d ‘hoped was wrong.’ But ‘I knew all along.’
I worked my shift that night with that new knowledge, and I couldn’t even speak of it because I would have fallen apart. I took care of my patients that night extra carefully and in the downtime googled reasons why I might have given this to myself. I had a hard night. I couldn’t call anyone. It may have been the longest night of my entire life.
Read Morehe inspiration for ‘Dance of Caring Souls’ came from a tattoo Dara got when she first moved to the US from Ireland. The tattoo was based on ‘the Dance’ by Henri Matisse. Later as she was completing her graduate program in Nursing, the image was part of her studies in a nursing textbook demonstrating the Theory of Caring.
To me, this song is an anthem to caregivers around the world, joining hands in peace, with the mission to take good care and support each other not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as well. It’s also a thank you note to all of the great teachers we have had that have taught us to care deeply in so many ways…
We all hold a few names… that guided us along the way… they’re the ones who twirled with us… in the dance of care and love
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